New Christmas series starts this week!

'Your Christmas Carol' Video Promo from Matt Walker on Vimeo.

I love Christmas! What an awesome time of the year when the whole world is open to hearing the gospel. Sure, it may get buried in sales ads, tinsel, lights, and cheesy inflatable lawn Santas, but it's there all the same. How we leverage that as Jesus Followers is crucial.

Perfect segue way into our new Christmas series at Church at the Ridge. Pastor Steve will be unpacking the spirit of Christmas past, present and future in Your Christmas Carol. Pinging off the hit Disney movie, we will explore the fulfilled promise of a foretold Savior, who is God with us even now, and is returning again soon! Don't miss it! Invite your friends and family, neighbors and coworkers and classmates, everyone!

Big thanks to Matt Walker for putting this promo video together. Matt, you rock!

My latest video project...

We shot this video as part of our marriage series, Love Handles: Getting a GRIP on God's Design for Marriage. It was a lot of fun to shoot! These are our good friends of ours from our small group. They were good sports to let us dump actual garbage in their bed!

I actually had this idea back in Vegas but never got around to filming it. It is based on the scripture in Hebrews 13:4 about not letting the marriage bed be "defiled."It's a funny but all-too-true picture of the garbage couples bring into the marriage but never deal with. They just try to ignore it, hoping it will go away or at least not cause too much trouble. But sooner or later, it begins to stink up the relationship until it has to be dealt with. If both will realize they both need God's grace and stop expecting each other to fulfill them, they can "take out the trash" so to speak and lay it at the foot of the cross.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did at Church at the Ridge!

Love Handles

So we are starting a major series on marriage at Church at the Ridge this week. It's going to be awesome and there is such a dire need for it. But I created this video to promo the series and we showed it in church this past weekend. I have to tell you, I was laughing so hard when I was working on this, I almost couldn't hold the camera steady. Bill is my hero!

Zoom Out

Yesterday I found myself in a unique situation: I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on Highway 278 in Hiram -- and I was grateful to God to be there! I know, it sounds crazy to me, too. Normally, I would be frustrated or disappointed or even angry at the inconvenience. But there I was, sitting in horrible traffic, smiling like a fool, relieved to be there. How did this come to be? you ask.

For the past few days, our area had been pounded with relentless rain and the ground had become saturated. Creeks and rivers began to overflow their banks and spill into neighborhoods. Roads were washed out and many collapsed. Lots of folks lost houses and possessions, a few lost their lives. It was a nightmare.

I had tried to drive in to the office that morning but kept running into closed roads and washed out bridges, doubling back and detouring. Finally, it became clear that it was futile so I decided to head back home. Only I couldn't seem to get back home. Road conditions were worsening by the minute. Every route back was either blocked or submerged. Except one. Highway 278 was still open and passable and would get me back to where I needed to be. And it was clogged with traffic for miles.

I looked down and noticed that my gas gauge showed nearly empty. The fuel range indicator said I could go maybe 10 miles before I ran out of gas. I tried to fill up several times but every gas station was out of service due to the flooding. Traffic lights were out here and there and things were getting ugly. My only hope for gas and escape became Highway 278. Now if only I could make it there before I ran out of gas.

I finally found a way back on to 278 and found a gas station still open and working. I filled up and with a sigh of relief and a quick phone call home, settled in, relieved to be sitting in stop and go traffic, because at least I was going home.

You know what changed my attitude toward sitting in traffic? Perspective. As long as I believed there was another way, I wasn't willing to endure it. But when the truth of my situation became clear, not only was I willing, I was thankful! Was it fun? No, but it was necessary. How's that for some perspective.

Isn't that what we all need sometimes? A change in perspective. We think we have it bad until we see someone who has it worse. We think we know everything and our parents are stupid until we turn 40 and have kids who think they know everything and we are stupid. We need the curtains to roll back and give us a glimpse of the entire scene, not just our little corner of the stage. In video production, one way to do this is to zoom out. You start a shot focused on something close up but as you pull back and the rest of the surroundings come into view, the object that once seemed so big and significant begins to take it's proper place.

I think that may be what Paul was talking about when he told the Philippian church,

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phil. 2:3-4)

He said, "Hey, look around you! There are other people here, too. There are other stories, other lives. It's not about you!"

He then points to Jesus as One who had every right to focus on Himself. It really was all bout Him! But look at what Paul says,

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:5-11)

Scripture zooms the camera out further in Romans 8:

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God... And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." (Rom. 8:18-19, 28-30)

We are destined for glory. We are to be conformed to His image. Justified. Glorified. even if it means suffering through the longer, harder, more frustrating route for now. If that is what it takes than we should be not only willing, but grateful.

God, zoom out on our lives until we see the big picture and our place in it. Give us the humility to endure whatever it takes with a thankful heart because it is producing in us "an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." (2 Cor. 4:16) Grant to us the grace to see each other through the lens of Your Spirit, and give each other the benefit of the doubt when it seems like we don't deserve it. Make us more like You, Jesus!

I got to try out Beatles Rock Band!

Erik and I stopped by Blockbuster today and had a go at the much anticipated Beatles Rock Band game. Unfortunately, the guitar controllers weren't working, but we both played a song or two on the drums in Expert mode. It was really fun and the graphics looked great! Erik did really well on "I Feel Fine" and "Here Comes the Sun," but I stunk it up on "Can't Buy Me Love." Apparently you have to hit the pads pretty hard and dead center or it doesn't register.

Anyways, it looks to be an awesome game. Maybe Santa will notice that I've been extra good this year! :-)

Worth + ship = worship

Worship.

It's one of those church words we religious types like to throw around. We use it to describe our music. We use it to describe how the music effects us. We use it to describe the programming at our churches. In fact, we evangelicals use it so widely and so liberally that I fear the meaning is going to be lost to the church. If it is not already.

Our English word worship actually is a combination of two other words: worth, meaning the value of something and the suffix -ship, meaning to show or possess a quality, state, or condition. In other words, to declare or reveal the value of something. In essence, the word worship asks a question: What is God worth to me? And we answer that question, whether we mean to or not, by the way we live -- all day, every day, in everything we do or say or think.

Worship is not merely what we do in church, though that can be a part of it. Or not. We come in and sing love songs to Jesus, we lift our hands or close our eyes or sway, and those can be good things when we are loving Jesus from our hearts. But that's not necessarily worship. It's PRAISE, but that's not the same thing. Many of us praise without worshipping. In fact, we are not worshipping if our worship is lacking one thing: sacrifice.

Worship and sacrifice are inextricably linked in scripture. Because only by sacrificing something that costs you dearly can you ever answer the question, "What is God worth to me?" The greater the sacrifice, the deeper and more authentic the worship.

Genesis 22 tells the story of Abraham and Isaac. God promises Abraham a son in his old age and tells him that through this particular son He will make Abraham the father of a great nation, and that from this particular son all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Abraham waits for a long time for this promise to come true. And when it does, it means everything to him. And then God says the last thing any of us would expect Him to say, "“Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." (Gen. 22:2) And according to scripture, Abraham didn't argue, didn't object, didn't complain or get angry or demand an explanation. The Bible says he obeyed.

He packed up Isaac, loaded the donkeys with fire wood, gathered a handful of servants, and took off for Mt. Moriah. Now when he gets there listen carefully to what he tells his servants:

“Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” (emphasis mine, Gen. 22:5)

Abraham was declaring what God was worth to him:

Everything.

Because he believed God's heart was good and He was faithful, and no matter what it looked like on the surface to him or anyone else, God would keep His promise even if it meant bringing his son back from the dead. (See Heb. 12:2)

It was worth it.

And look at what God says in response:

"Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen. 22:12)

In other words, "You are telling me how much I am worth to you, since you held back nothing from Me."

Thousands of years later, Paul would write to the church in Rome, "Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Paul was saying, "Answer the question: 'What is God worth to you?' by offering your whole self to Him, freely, holding nothing back."

Worth-ship. What God is worth to me.

And then...

When we've answered that questions with our lives all week...

How we treat people He loves.
How we spend the resources He so generously gives us.
How we regard His precious word.
How we approach Him. Or not.
How we respond when others treat us unfairly.

Then, we can come into church,
and lift our hands,
and close our eyes,
and sing our love songs to Jesus
and really, truly, authentically PRAISE Him,
from the overflow of our worth-ship.

Special thanks to Jeff Riley who taught me this principle while serving alongside him at Hope Baptist Church in Las Vegas, NV.

Take the long way home...

It seems like we have been driving for weeks! We are actually about a day behind schedule of what we planned due to a few unforeseen incidents. We left really late Tuesday so we only got as far as Kingman, AZ. Wednesday morning we got up and started driving toward Flagstaff when the AC went out in the Kia (our minivan). There was no way I was dragging 3 kids, a dog, and a bird through hundreds of miles of desert in July with no AC!

We're not cool enough (or rich enough!) to have an iPhone or a GPS so we did the next best thing and called back to Vegas and had our good buddy Eric Hoenigmann find us a mechanic in Flagstaff. He did and off we went.

Well, after about 3 hours of sitting around, the mechanic determined that it was a switch in our compressor and he couldn't do it. So we called the Kia dealership. They were booked through Friday so we called ahead to Albuquerque. One of the two Kia dealerships there said, "Sure, we can fit you in tomorrow. Come on in as early as you can." Great! So by this time we just rolled down the windows and toughed it to Gallup. It was actually pretty cool outside because of the higher elevation.

It was getting late and we were zonked by the time we pulled in to Gallup. Unfortunately for us, there was a junior rodeo in Gallup that weekend and EVERY room in EVERY hotel was booked. So we drove another hour and a half to Grants, New Mexico. We almost didn't get a room there because the spillover from the rodeo in Gallup had spread. But we did manage to find a pet friendly hotel with a vacancy, even though it was a dive. Unfortunately, for the second night in a row, our dog, Piper, had trouble settling down for the night. He was a little freaked at this whole different room every night thing. Finally, he settled down about 2 AM. Then at about 6 AM a dog in the next room started barking his head off! This dog was losing his mind, I'm tellin' you! I guess his owners went off to breakfast without him or something. Anyways, we only got about four hours of sleep that night.

So we get up and hoof it to Albuquereqe to meet up with the Kia guy and get the air working. We drive for about 2 and a half hours and when we find the place the uys says, "I can't see you today! We are booked into next week." Of course I didn't get the name of the idiot that told me to "come on in." So he called the other Kia dealer and they said the same thing. I pleaded my case to the guy but he wasn't budging.

By this time I was about done with Kia. I called their 1-800 customer relations number and told them how badly their customer service stunk. There response was that since my vehicle was no longer under warranty, they could not help me. I was hot!!!

Pastor Steve Whipple to the rescue. Steve, our pastor at Church at the Ridge, has been great to call and check on us every day. When I told him what was up, he immediately jumped on the computer and Googled a Kia dealer at our next stop in Amarillo, TX. I called ahead and made an appointment so they would be sure to see us.

We drove on to Amarillo and stopped for the night. It was cool most of that day but toward the end of the day it began to get warm, The next morning I took the Kia in to Nelson Bridges at Pete's Car Smart Kia. He was awesome!!! At last, some customer service! When I told him my story and how the other Kia dealers weren't willing to help us out, he just smiled and said in his Texas drawl, "That ain't how we do things in Texas." Well, yeehaw!

Nelson got us in and out before check out time at the hotel. Sure it cost us $600 but we had a LOT of miles still to cover and it wasn't going to get any cooler as we went. Only more humid! So thankfully, the trip turned around from that point and has been great since then.

As I write we are at our last stop for the trip, Tupelo, MS. We will get up tomorrow and drive into Georgia. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and encouragement. I gotta go eat pizza now so I will write mmore later. Later!

The Davisons have left the building...

Well, this is it! We crammed the last piece of luggage into our overstuffed minivan late this afternoon and got the heck outta Dodge. Sure, it was about 7 hours later than we planned but we fin ally got on the road.

Our first stop was to gas up. We pulled into Sam's and who should we meet but Brad & Dominique Carlson! It was just like God to send us a last reminder that our time here was blessed with great friends and faithful allies. What an encouragement they were to a tired family!

As soon as we hit the road, my son Erik plugged in his iPod and Steven Curtis Chapman's "The Great Adventure" came on. This was a significant song for our family when we left Georgia 7 years ago to come to Vegas. He said he wanted it to be the first thing we heard pulling out to go back. Cheryl was in the other car and she called me on the cell phone. Some close friends had made us a CD of songs that they said reminded them of us. She was listening to it in the other car. "You'll never guess what the first song was!" she said. Yup. "The Great Adventure." When I told her that was the first song we heard too she said, "I think I'm going to cry! Isn't God good to give us that confirmation that we are following Him?" Yes indeed it is!

We also got a very encouraging phone call from Vance Pitman, our pastor from Hope Baptist in vegas. He called to say how much he loved and missed us and that he was praying for us. Then we talked for a while about how much Transformers 2 STINKS (did I mention that?) It was a great call and we are thankful for the encouragement.

So here we are in Best Western in Kingman, AZ. I know it's only a few hours from Vegas but it was important for us that we get on the road today. Even if it's just across the border, we are on the way! Can't wait to see all our Georgia friends again. And we are so excited for the new relationships God has for us at Church at the Ridge!

Top Ten Things We'll Miss About Living in Las Vegas

Outside in my driveway is a 16' x 8' storage unit with everything we have stuffed into it. It's a sobering inventory that I highly recommend every few years or so. Suddenly priorities are redefined. No longer is the value of a thing determined by how rare it is, how beautiful it would look on your wall, or how badly you have always wanted it. Now the determining factor of whether we keep a thing or throw it away is if we can fit it in the container. Like I said, sobering.

As we sat in church today, Travis Ogle was preaching (he was awesome, btw!) from Philippians 3 and came across verses 7 and 8:

I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ (NLT)

All this stuff is just that: stuff. The whole reason we are packing it up, deciding what to keep and what to throw away, is so that we can follow Jesus. We count everything we are leaving behind as loss compared to knowing Jesus, experiencing life with Him as our Guide. It's precisely because we'd "rather have Jesus than anything" that we have quit our jobs, put our house up for rent, and said goodbye to some of our dearest friends and allies.

It's hard and there were tears today at our final service at Hope Baptist. But we are pressing on and reaching forward in response to the call of God. Having said all that, we'd like to recap a few of the things we will miss the most about living in Las Vegas these last seven years...

1. Our dear friends and allies. The relationships that we have made here and the way they have poured the love of God into our lives. We won't name them all for lack of space and fear of forgetting someone, but the friendships we have made are the greatest treasures of the time we spent here. Someday we will all be together again in Heaven. What a day that will be!

2. Hope Baptist Church. Most of the relationships we have are a direct result of serving Jesus alongside them at this wonderful body of believers. The preaching, the music, the heart for the city and the nations. Thank you Hope for the way you have loved our family and allowed us to lock arms with you in taking the gospel to Las Vegas, the west, and the world. It was such an honor to be on staff here.

3. Sushi Bay. Our place. The majority of our Friday lunch dates were spent here, discovering the miracle of Japanese cuisine. We will especially miss Sunshine, Paradise, Yum Yum Salmon and Crazy Horse. Just incredible. I think I feel a tear coming...

4. Winter in Vegas. I remember calling back east on Christmas Day where everyone was freezing and I was standing in my driveway in a T-shirt and shorts and no shoes. The weather here is great all year round except for summer, when Hell just sort of spills out onto the earth and sucks your soul out. Other than that, it's very pleasant.

5. Easy to get around. There is virtually no traffic in Vegas. Even at rush hour in the worst parts of town, at least it's moving. And it's impossible to get lost. Everything is flat and laid out in a grid. You can see from one end of the valley to the other from practically anywhere.

6. Being close to so many great vacation spots. Grand Canyon. Lake Tahoe. San Diego. Yosemite. Zion National Park. Monterey. San Francisco. Disneyland. Knott's Berry Farm. These are places we got to vacation while we lived on this end of the country. Places we will likely never visit after we move back east.

7. Mojo from Havana Grill at Eastern & Pebble. Pronounced Mo-ho. I could drink this stuff from a gallon jug. It's a tangy dip for bread and such at this amazing Cuban restaurant across the street from our neighborhood. It's so good I could just by pass the bread altogether! If you live in Vegas, you must go to Havana Grill and try the mojo. The sandwiches are to die for.

8. Sunsets over the mountains. We never saw real mountains until we moved out West. You begin to understand what the scripture means when it says His creation declares His majesty. Breathtaking. We will miss seeing that every evening.

9. Pizzookies from BJ's. It's a huge, warm gooey cookie covered with a big glob of melting ice cream. The come in a variety of flavors -- chocolate chunk, white chocolate with macadamia nuts, Oreo, etc. Until they open a BJ's in Atlanta, this will have to be a thing we'll miss about Vegas.

10. "It's a Grind" coffee shop at Pebble & Eastern. Every Wednesday night while the kids were in AWANA, Cheryl and I would have a coffee date here. It became quite a special place for us. This is where we wrote our marriage curriculum, "Staying Married on Purpose." This is where we held deep discussions about the weighty issues of life, love, parenting, following Jesus, etc. We will miss the Triple Chocolate blended and the Caramel Macchiato especially.

Stay tuned for the next post... The Top Ten Things We Will NOT Miss About Living in Vegas. I'll give you a hint of number one.... Today it was 110 degrees. I think I felt my life oozing out of my pores.

Transformers 2 Stinks!!!

I don't have a lot of time as we are in the middle of packing our lives into cardboard boxes. But I did want to take a few minutes to warn all my friends and family (and anyone else who might stumble across this) to AVOID TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN AT ALL COSTS!!!

I absolutely love the first Transformers movie; it was smart, hip, clever, action-packed and probably has the best special effects I have ever seen. But Michael Bay doesn't seem to understand what made the first movie such a success because the sequel seems completely devoid of any of these elements. The story is weak and difficult to follow. The dialogue sounds like it was written by a couple of 8th graders with a pinache for potty humor. The profanity is gratuitous as is the sexual content. Why is Megan Fox always so sweaty looking? She always looks like she hasn't showered in a week. And I haven't the time to go into the racist stereotypes! Where'a Al Sharpton when you really need him?

If I could sum it up in a word, it would be: LAME. Remember the last of the old-school Batman movies, that stink-fest with George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzeneggar? It's THAT bad. Seriously.

Not only should you not waste your money, but you should definitely NOT take the kiddies to see this one.

There. You've been warned. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to packing. Later!

My last day

This has been a week of "lasts":
My last staff meeting
My last staff lunch
My last morning staff prayer time

And now today was my last day at work. I spent it tying up loose ends, copying over files to my hard drive, packing up my things. It was a little sad but to be honest the excitement over what God has for us overwhelmed the sadness of leaving.

My friend and co-laborer David Quiroz, who made the great family photo you see on our blog, made a large print of it and framed it for us. It was great! It will serve as an incredible reminder that wherever we go, as long as we are together, we are home.

Pastor Jerry?!

We have had a LOT of surprises in the past few days, some of them not very pleasant. But we got a very nice one today when the staff here at Hope Baptist gave me a surprise lunch of Dickie's BBQ complete with homemade banana pudding (yum!) They brought Cheryl and the kids in and honored us for the last seven years of serving at Hope. But then they really surprised me by presenting me with a framed certificate of ordination into the gospel ministry. My pastor, Vance Pitman told everyone that during the past seven years they have observed my life, my character, and the evidence that the call to full time Christian ministry is on my life. Then the whole staff gathered around and laid hands on our family and prayed over us to send us out.

It was a truly sweet time and we were moved to tears. It has been such a joy serving God at Hope Baptist and we absolutely love the people there. And the honor of being ordained and sent out by that leadership team is something I do not take lightly!

As for the less pleasant surprises, Cheryl found out that she may have to have surgery before we move. This will not only take her out of commission of packing and moving but will prevent her from working extra days and earning some much-needed funds for the transition. Most importantly, my li'l sweet-pea will be hurting and that's not okay with me! Please pray for God to heal her, whether by doctors or by His direct touch, and that her recovery would be quick and painless. God has already been good to us by providing great pastors on both sides of the move, who are working together to make sure we are covered with insurance. What a blessing!

More than meets the...ear!!

This is just too cool! One of my favorite bands of all time, Cheap Trick, is doing the Transformers theme for the new Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen movie. Check it out:

Transformers The Fallen Remix (Radio Edit)_123966.mp3 - Cheap Trick

Moving Update

25About three o’clock in the morning ◙ Jesus came to them, walking on the water. 26When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost. 27But Jesus spoke to them at once. “It’s all right,” he said. “I am here! Don’t be afraid.”
28Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you by walking on water.”
29“All right, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
31Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him. “You don’t have much faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
(Matt. 14:25-31, NLT)

We felt God stirring in us something new, something that would call us out of the comfort of the boat. We prayed Peter's prayer, "Lord if this is You, command us to come." He did. And then we had to grip the rail of the boat, swing our legs over and drop down into the stormy sea. Now we are walking slowly toward Him on churning, swelling waves. They are screaming for us to look at them and take our eyes off Jesus. "What if no one rents your house?! You haven't booked the movers yet? What about that tile in the kitchen? That has to be fixed! You have no insurance!! What about that?!"

It's freakin' scary. No shame in admitting that. But we believe that God is bigger than all that. "The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!" (1 Thess. 5:22, The Message paraphrase)

How can you pray for us? So glad you asked! :-)

1. We need to rent our house. Until the market turns around, selling is not an option. Of course, God could do it if He wanted. But it looks like He wants us to rent it for now.
2. We need a place to land on the other side. We can't afford a down payment and I don't think we could get a loan without selling our house in Vegas anyway. We need an affordable place to live (that will allow us to keep our dog!) until we can buy our own place. There are a few things in the works but nothing is settled yet.
3. We need affordable health insurance. This is huge. The church we are going to serve with doesn't have a group plan but pays for the pastors to buy their own insurance. But as we all know that stuff ain't cheap. We need wisdom and guidance in finding something affordable with enough coverage for our whole family.
4. I need to raise some support money. While I will have a set salary, the church is still young and asks all its pastors to help offset payroll by raising a fourth of their salaries in support. I will be drafting a letter in the next few weeks and sending it off, along with a short DVD. Please pray about helping support us in this new work God has called us to.

Right now we are targeting June 30th as a departure date. That's coming up fast so start praying NOW! :-) When we have a packing date for the movers, we will let everyone know who has expressed an interest in helping. Thanks so much to all of you who have been so encouraging to us these past few weeks. Stay tuned...

There's something about Norman...

There is a volunteer here at our church, we'll call him Norman. Everybody has a Norman. He's the guy that knows a little something about everything and wants to tell you everything he knows in every conversation. He's nice enough, but he talks, and talks, and talks... and talks. Norman is that guy in your office that you try not to make eye contact with when you walk by because to do so means you are committed to at least 20 minutes of mind-numbing conversation on how a building is wired, or how a computer works, or what kind of carpet cleaner works best. He's the guy you have to plan your route back to your desk around, so you will be sure not to run into him. And even there you're not safe because he walks into your office unannounced at the most inopportune times imaginable just to shoot the breeze about whatever happens to be on his mind that day.

It's easy to get smug about Norman. You know what I mean. To write him off. To caricature him and label him and set him aside in your brain as an annoyance that must be tolerated. We can do that to people without even thinking about it sometimes. If we never take the time to pay attention to what's going on in their lives they can easily become a cartoon character or sitcom stereotype that drifts in and out of our lives like Kramer in a Seinfeld episode. Norman pops in, interrupts our deeper thoughts, makes some bizarre pronouncement about a random subject, and fades off behind the scenes while we look into the camera, shaking our heads and rolling our eyes in comic disparagement.

So when Norman showed up at our staff prayer time this morning with a prayer request, no one took him very seriously. He began to describe, in that annoyingly painstakingly detailed way he has, of an encounter he and his wife had on the bus the other night. You see, he made some bad decisions and ended up without a job, without a car, and so now he and his wife have to take public transportation everywhere. He'll be the first to admit that he is lying in a bed of his own making. But sometimes we have a tendency to think that lets us off the hook somehow. "Well, he wouldn't be in that situation if he hadn't done this or that, so I don't feel sorry for him one bit."

Anyway, his story rambles on, filled with all the unnecessary details and sidebars we've come to expect from Norman. You can sense the room growing impatient. The gist of his story is that they struck up a conversation with a woman on the bus, and she began to share her story with them. She was part of a church where the pastor wasn't a very godly man and they only seemed interested in money. She was very interested in our church as Norman and his wife began to describe it to her. He told her all about how they really feed you with the word of God, and care about people, and love their city. The lady told Norman, "I want what you have!" So he pulled out a card and invited her to attend worship service this weekend. Norman's simple prayer was that she would come and find a church that would love her and encourage her. It took a long time to tell it, but that was it in a nutshell.

The prayer requests came more quickly after that, much to our relief; a sick relative, a new baby, a friend who lost her job. I watched Norman carefully after that and noticed some things. When an elder staff member came in late and there were no seats left, Norman immediately jumped up and offered his chair. No one else moved a muscle to offer him a seat. Norman stood off to the side while others shared their prayer requests. When it came time to pray, Norman had no chair so he got down on his knees on the floor. It was as though the Holy Spirit was saying to me, "Do you see what I see? Are you looking at Norman the way I do?"

Here we were, staff members. Paid, professional Christians. Church leaders with important things to do. Yet Norman was the only one who shared a story of engaging a total stranger and listening to them, inviting them to church. I thought about what it takes to get a stranger to open up to you like that. You have to be friendly, warm, compassionate, a good listener. Norman was the only one to stand and offer his seat to an older staff member, showing honor and respect and kindness in exactly the way God tells us to in scripture. And when it came time to come into the presence of a holy God in prayer, Norman was the only one on his knees.

I felt ashamed at how I had thought of him before, as the comic relief in my own self-centered story. I voiced a prayer for the lady on the bus and thanked God for Norman and his willingness to listen to her and invite her to church. For being the kind of Jesus follower that this woman, who had every reason to be discouraged and disgusted with Christianity, would look at him and say, "I want what you have!"

So later that morning, when Norman walked into my office, plopped down in a chair and began talking at length about whatever he was thinking about that day, I listened. I offered my insight. I asked questions about what God was doing in his life. And I encouraged him. I told him, "Norman, I was watching you at prayer this morning and I noticed something about you." I told him all the things I noticed and said, "I just wanted you to know that I can see God working in your life. You have really grown."

The writer of Hebrews says this: "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..." (Heb. 10:24) To consider something implies that we slow down and carefully think it through. We watch, we observe, we process. We can't label and categorize and file each other away, all in a moment based on some perceived character flaw or annoying habit. If we do we might miss what God is doing in unlikely places. That's where the richest treasures are most often found.

Leaving Las Vegas...

This has been a long time coming, but we can finally be a bit more open about the decisions we have been praying through for the past several months. Some of you know that we have been praying about a position that Jerry has been offered at a church in the Atlanta area. We spent many months praying and listening intently and feel that we have a clear word from God. Jerry has accepted the position of Pastor of Creative Arts at The Church @ The Ridge in Hiram, GA. It is a wonderful church with a terrific leadership team and people who love God. We will be moving there in July.

For our Vegas friends we want to assure you this is not a decision that we made lightly or quickly. We truly believe that this is the next step God has for our whole family and we are excited to follow Him in this faith adventure. Believe us when we say, it is a hard thing to leave behind the incredible friendships we have made here. You are all amazing!!! The love you have shown to our family and the investment you have made in us and our children will never be forgotten. We can truly say that following God to Las Vegas was one of the most enriching and wonderful experiences of our lives. And now we look forward expectantly as He leads us to our next stop on the Journey.

Please pray for us as we try to get our house ready to sell. We are asking Him for wisdom in this... and a good real estate agent! :-) Seriously, we are trusting that the same God who supplied our every need 7 years ago when we first moved here will provide for us again. We believe that we are being obedient to His call and that He will honor that to His glory!
We feel so blessed to have so many dear friends on both ends of the country who have stood by us and prayed for us. We love you and look forward to the Day when we can all be together forever in Heaven!

"For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (Phil. 1:8-11)

Stay tuned for more news as we get closer to our final days in Las Vegas...

Jerry, Cheryl, Erik, Whitney & Wil Davison

All In?

I want to share with you, whoever you are reading this, something that God has been showing me that is revolutionizing my relationship with Him.

For many months now, Cheryl and I have been praying hard about whether or not we should move from Las Vegas. We came here in 2002 to be a part of new church and ended up on staff. It has been incredible and we absolutely love the church and the people. But we began to sense that maybe God was getting ready to move us. We have been praying about this for over a year, asking God, "What are you trying to tell us? Should we move? Or should we stay? What should we do? Where should we go?" We couldn't deny that there was a restlessness and it seemed God was stirring us to something new. Then when the economy took a downward turn it added the weight of being absolutely sure that we heard from God before we did anything that would put our family in jeopardy. Our prayer times had become consumed with getting answers to these questions.

During this time, my wife and I have been reading through a Harmony of the Gospels for the past several months. If you're not familiar, it takes the events in the four gospels and puts them into chronological order. It's a great way to read the gospels, all at once instead of one at a time. It really gives a great perspective on things, hearing the different viewpoints on the same events from Matthew, mark, Luke and John.

A few weeks ago in my morning quiet time, I came across the story of the Widow's Mite in Mark 12:41-44:

And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

I have been in the practice of praying through whatever scripture I am reading, in response to whatever it seems God is saying to me. When I read this story and the corresponding version in Luke 21, I felt God was saying to me, "Jerry, I want you to picture this widow in your mind. What do you see?" I pictured the story as I had always seen it depicted in Sunday school flannel boards and Bible story books. "Well, " I said, "she's very, very old and bent over..."

"Where does it say she was old?"

I looked. Nowhere in the scripture did it say she was an old woman. It simply said she was "a poor widow." I felt God was saying, "Forget what she looks like. Think about what it meant to be a widow in that place and time." In that culture, a woman without a husband was alone, helpless, without a provider or protector. The scripture said she was poor and that her two copper coins were "all she had to live on," so it is doubtful she had any family to care for her. I thought about her loss, her husband, her lover, her best friend and partner in life.

Then I thought about what it meant for her to be down to her last two pennies. Did she wrestle with God about what to do with it? Did she consider all the ways she could use it to maybe buy one last meal before she was completely destitute? Did she at one point say to herself, "I'll just give one and keep one back for myself, just in case..." That's still 50% of all he owned! Who could fault her for that?

Then I thought about the kind of faith it took to walk into that temple knowing that when she walked out of that place, if God didn't come through, she was finished. Did she hesitate, her hand hovering over the treasury box? Did she pray as she let the coins fall from her hand? Whatever else she might have done, she had placed herself in a position where she had no choice but to be completely dependent on the goodness God. No safety net. No Plan B. She was all in.

I asked the question that had been building all the while I was thinking about this widow. "God, what am I holding back? Am I all in? Or am I keeping something back as a safety net, in case You're not enough? Show me where I am not all in."

Later that morning I was driving to work and I was listening to a podcast by John Eldredge. The subject that morning was "Answers vs. Intimacy." He and his co-host were talking about how we so often come to God with a laundry list of needs, concerns, and questions, but don't take the time to just be with Him. It's like a son rushing into his father's presence. He's in panic mode, anxiously asking question after question in rapid fire, desperate for answers. The dad stops the son, "Whoa, slow down. Have a seat. Let's talk." Then John said, "Many people come to God with a question. 'Lord, I need a job. Where do I go? Do we move? Do we sell the house?' They are trying to hear from God in a vacuum. There is no context of intimacy out of which a conversation with God would flow. Of course God wants to speak, he wants to guide us. But not at the expense of a relationship with Him."

That hit me like two tons of bricks. That was exactly where I was living at that moment. We were asking those very same questions! Do we move or do we stay? If we move, what about a job? Do we put our house on the market and see what happens? "Okay, Lord," I said, "I'm listening." I became convicted as I listened to the rest of the podcast that I had let my intimacy with God take a backseat to getting the answers to these questions. I felt He was telling me, "You just seek Me for Me and let me worry about all that stuff." OK, Lord. I repent. Help me to just seek intimacy with You and trust that You will make everything clear in due time.

Fast forward to that night. I go to sleep. I suddenly wake up at 4:00 AM. I'm barely awake. I stagger to the bathroom. Then it happens. Have you ever had those times when you just know that you know that you know God is talking to you? There I was in the bathroom, more asleep than awake, when I felt God was saying, "Jerry, if you will stay up and spend time with me right now, I will tell you the answers to your questions." I'm thinking, I know God didn't just say that to me. I could barely function, I was so tired. All I wanted was to crawl back into bed. I remember thinking, I can't stay up! I'll only get four hours of sleep! I have to be at work tomorrow. I can't function on four hours of sleep! So I said, "Lord if this is really You, keep me awake." Then I staggered back to my bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, in the shower, I was feeling very convicted about what happened. I asked God to forgive me. And once again, it was very clear inside me. He was saying, "I knew you weren't going to do it. I was just answering your prayer from yesterday. You wanted to know where you were holding back. You wanted me to show you where you were not all in. That's it. Right there. I'm not enough for you." Ouch. Of course, he was right (I mean, come on, He's God!). I wanted my sleep because I believed I couldn't function without it. It was like I was holding my two pennies and saying, "I'll give You one, Lord, but I'm holding on to this other one in case You're not enough." If I had stayed up in obedience, I believe He would have supplied me with everything I needed and then some to get through the day. But I was holding back. I was not all in.

Since that time, I have been concentrating on focusing on my intimacy with God in prayer. Not demanding answers. Not petitioning needs. But just spending time with Him, letting Him speak. It hasn't been easy. Several times since then I have caught myself trying to figure things out for myself. "Ok, if we move here, then we can do this and this. But we could stay here and do this thing and that would be great." Then I feel a gentle nudge like the Holy Spirit clearing His throat. "Ahem. Did you forget something? Am I not enough?"

I am reading two great books on this subject right now that are hugely helpful. I highly recommend these to anyone who is experiencing this same thing. They are "Hearing God" by Dallas Willard, and "The PAPA Prayer" by Larry Crabb.

I want to finish by sharing these verses from Psalm 16, the same Psalm God used 8 years ago to confirm our call to Las Vegas. Note the connection between spending time with God and His direction in our lives:

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me. ◙
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being ◙ rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption. ◙
11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Are you suffering from Separate Lives Syndrome?

by Jerry & Cheryl Davison

Back in our college days in Atlanta, Cheryl and I would get together with some friends and spend the afternoon floating down the Chattahoochee River. We used to call it “shooting the ‘Hooch.” We would all rent inner tubes and put in together at the entry point. It was great fun, relaxing in your tube, soaking up the sun, and letting the current carry you lazily down the river. It was so peaceful and the gentle motion of the river so soothing that you could easily find yourself in your own little world, daydreaming about anything and everything, even drifting off to sleep in the warm Georgia sun. The problem was that after a while you would look up and your friends were nowhere in sight. The currents and eddies had one-by-one carried them off in different directions or held one up while the others moved on past. By the time you reached the take out point, the close friends you couldn’t wait to spend the day with were so scattered that you might as well have gone by yourself.
On one occasion I remember “shooting the ‘Hooch” with some friends and seeing a couple glide by in a canoe. They were sweating and their faces were tense from the exertion of paddling. The man sat in the front of the canoe setting the pace and calling encouragement to the woman behind him. They sailed swiftly past us, their paddles plunging in perfect rhythm. I remember thinking, “That is way too much work! They need to learn to relax like us.”
Looking back on this, it dawned on me that when you went down the river in an inner tube you almost never finish together. But if you took the canoe, even though it was more work, you finished together every time. The tube requires no intentionality, no effort. The canoe, however, is much harder work and requires a high level of cooperation. Sometimes it can get a little tense when one is paddling against the other, but they always finish together. They know from the second they sit in that canoe and grab the paddles they are in it together until the end.
Many marriages these days have become more like inner tubes than canoes. They start together with the best intentions but over time the demands of life – career, kids, and the fast-paced culture we live in – pull them in different directions like the currents of a river. They share a house and a mortgage and a bank account but at the end of the day they are more like roommates than marriage partners. We call this phenomenon Separate Lives Syndrome and it is one of the most lethal threats to marriages today. Unless a couple is intentional about staying connected every day and in every area of your lives, the natural tendency is to drift apart like that old inner tube on the river. Here are some practical strategies for finishing together:

Carve out time together. It has often been said that if you want to know what is important to a person, look at his checkbook. We would go a step further and say, “Take a look at the calendar!” We make time for what is truly important to us. Yet very few couples are making room in their schedules to build their marriage. A 2004 study in England revealed that, after subtracting sleeping, work and passive activities such as watching television, the average married couple only spends about 15 minutes a day actually interacting with each other.
In most marriages, at least one spouse works a full time job, forcing them to spend 8 – 10 hours apart almost every day. Cheryl and I decided a few years ago that we would not let an entire day go by without staying connected in some way. We began texting quick messages just to say, “I’m thinking of you.” I set up instant messaging on my computer at work and leave it open in case she needs me. We take a minute each day to drop what we are doing and call. All of these things are free to do and only take a few minutes, yet they keep us connected all day.
In addition to daily time, we carve out time for a weekly date. A few years ago, we began setting aside every Friday at lunch as a special time just for us. We found a great little sushi restaurant that has become “our place.” It is blocked out on our calendar and everyone knows it. Nothing is allowed to preempt this scheduled time. By making it a priority we are saying, not only to each other but also to everyone around us, that we value our marriage.
If a weekly date night doesn’t fit your budget find some other way to spend time together. Don’t let money be an excuse. Cook a meal together. Ride bikes together. Take a drive out of the city and just talk. The main thing is that you don’t allow distractions or interruptions to make space between you. Turn off the cell phone, put down the remote, and deliberately focus on each other. Making time regularly to focus your undivided attention on your spouse will keep you connected and help close the gaps.

Make sure your circles overlap. The inevitable byproduct of busy schedules is that so much of our time and energy is spent cultivating relationships with people other than our spouses. If we are not careful, husbands and wives can become completely immersed in their own circle of influence. This circle usually revolves around the workplace and includes its own set of goals, dreams, life-shaping experiences, and personal relationships. If a couple isn’t intentional about making sure these circles overlap at some point, they will inevitably begin to pull that couple apart and create space between them.
It is essential that couples make a strategy for overlapping these circles. According to statistics from the private investigation industry the co-ed workplace has become the number one place for extramarital affairs to begin. If you are suddenly realizing that your circles have drifted too far apart, here are some practical ways you can bring them back together again:
• Make time every day to sit down with your spouse and tell them what’s going on in your world. Ask him/her about their day. Make an intentional effort to stay in touch with what you both are experiencing.
• If possible, drop by your spouse’s workplace. Bring him/her a gift, meet for lunch, or just drop in to say hi. Introduce your spouse to co-workers. Make your presence known and felt.
• If you can’t go to your spouse’s workplace, invite his co-workers to dinner. You want to know whom he’s spending time with… but more importantly you want them to know you!
• Take an inventory together of all the things you are involved in apart from each other: career, ministry, sports, clubs, or organizations. Are there any of these things you could do together? Are there any relationship bonds that are competing with your marriage for attention, energy, or influence? Be prepared to let some things go for the sake of protecting your marriage.


Take an interest in what interests your spouse. Remember when the two of your were dating? You did things and went places you didn’t particularly care for the sole reason of just being together. Now ask yourself this: Why did you stop? What if you had to make your spouse fall in love with you all over again? What would you do? What are her passions? What are his dreams? Do you know enough about your partner to pull it off?
If you don’t know what pushes your mate’s buttons, ask! Take some time and study each other. Take notes because you will be tested on it later! Here are a few things to consider when getting to know your spouse better:

• Simple pleasures. What is his favorite food? What kind of music does she like? If he could spend the day doing anything he wanted, what would it be?
• Gifts and talents. What is your spouse great at? What unique gift does he or she possess that would bless others? What do they feel the most fulfilled doing?
• Heart’s desires. What did your husband want to be when he was a boy? What dreams and desires does your wife have that have gone unfulfilled? What calls to her in the deep places of her heart? What does he have a burden for?

Now ask yourself, “Have I been an encouragement or a discouragement to my spouse?” Pick one of these passions and make it your personal mission to help them achieve it. Now what are you waiting for? Get out of your inner tubes and get in the canoe together. Make a plan to finish together no matter what!

Is Facebook Safe for My Marriage?

By Jerry & Cheryl Davison
Since the social networking craze began, there have been concerns expressed over the safety of our kids but very few have considered the threat they can pose to the unguarded marriage.

“Have you looked at Facebook today?” Something in the tone of Cheryl’s voice warned me that this was not a casual question for the sake of conversation. My wife and I had opened an account on the popular social networking site a few months prior at the urging of some out of town friends as a way to stay in touch.
“No, I haven’t,” I replied tentatively. “What’s up?”
“You got a message from an old friend.” As soon as I logged in to our account I saw what she meant. We had a message in our inbox from a former female classmate. Apparently she was going to be in town for a few days and wondered if I would meet her for lunch. Even though Cheryl and I clearly share an account, the message was addressed only to me. We decided it would be best to reply as a couple to send a clear message.
We began the reply with the words “My wife and I would be happy to meet you for lunch!” and even invited her to attend church with us that weekend. If her intention was an innocent albeit naïve reunion, then no harm done. If, however, there was anything more behind the request, it communicated firmly but politely that I was not interested. In the end, it all came to nothing because her schedule prevented her from meeting us.
We can look back now and laugh about this story because it has a happy ending. For many couples, however, a reunion of old friends on Facebook has not ended so happily. A newspaper in England recently ran the story of a woman whose husband left her and their two children after rekindling a relationship with an old flame on Facebook. One need only to Google “Facebook” and “divorce” to discover that this tale is an increasingly common one. In fact, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers recently reported that the number of divorce cases involving internet-based infidelity is on the rise. When it comes to Facebook and it’s social networking peers, ignorance is a bliss that marriages can no longer afford.
For those who may not be familiar with it, Facebook.com is a worldwide online community of more than 100 million people. Members can send each other pictures and videos, write on each other’s “wall,” and share what they are doing with their friends and family at any given moment. It has grown so popular that it recently outpaced its only real competition, MySpace.com, and became the 5th most visited website in the world in terms of traffic. It’s easy to see why it has become so popular: it’s free to join, fascinating to explore, and – let’s face it – it’s just plain fun!
But for all it’s fun, Facebook can have a dark side for the husband and wife who have not set boundaries to protect their marriage. Here are a few simple strategies that you and your spouse can easily implement to reduce the risk while enjoying the fun of Facebook:


• Have a joint account . When Jesus said that married men and women “are no longer two but one flesh” He wasn’t just speaking figuratively. You are truly one – a whole new entity with a new identity. A terrific way to reflect that reality to your Facebook friends is to have one account for both of you. It also serves as a safeguard against potential temptations to build relationships with the opposite sex apart from your spouse.
Remember the story of the old friend who wanted to meet me for lunch? Imagine that same scenario between a couple with separate Facebook accounts. Suppose they had also been going through a rough spot in their marriage. It would have been very easy to hide the message from their spouse and arrange a meeting. At the very least, the couple would have been exposing their marriage to a temptation they may or may not be able to withstand.
Some Facebook junkies may object that having a joint account limits some of the fun of the website. For instance, there is only room to list one birthday or one graduating class, making it more difficult for old friends and classmates to find you. These are minor objections, however, and easy to work around if you are resourceful. Cheryl and I alternate birthdays and graduation years every so often. Whatever small sacrifices you may have to make, your marriage is worth it.
If you do choose to have separate accounts, be sure to allow each other easy access at all times for accountability purposes. Don’t hesitate to check up on each other. It doesn’t communicate mistrust, but rather says to your spouse, “I value our marriage enough to protect it.”

• Do it together. Another great way to make the most of your Facebook experience as a couple is to wait until you can check it together. This may be a tough adjustment for those who are used to logging in whenever they want but it brings a lot of extra benefits to the table.
Checking Facebook as a couple provides a fun and unique way for the two of you to come together and spend time doing something you both enjoy. Cheryl and I get a kick out of reading our friends’ status lines, quick one-sentence updates on what they are doing that day. It gives us another thing in common that we can laugh and talk about throughout the day.
It also serves as a deterrent to “Separate Lives Syndrome,” one of the deadliest threats a marriage can face today. Jesus warned that “what God has joined together let no man separate.” (Matt. 19:6) Separate in the original Greek language means “to make space between.” Anything that creates space between a couple rather than bringing them closer together should be taken seriously.

• Absolutely no old flames allowed. This is a no-brainer yet we are constantly amazed at the lack of caution couples exhibit in this area. It is impossible to underestimate the power of emotional bonds created in past relationships. These can be very alluring especially if you are experiencing conflict in your marriage. It is wiser to simply close and lock that door altogether.
“But won’t I offend someone by ignoring their friend request?” This is a question we had to answer when we first opened our Facebook account and set these boundaries in place. To be completely frank, the answer we landed on was, “We can live with that!” We don’t mean to sound harsh but the fact is that the danger to our marriage far outweighs any benefit.
Ignoring or removing friends on Facebook is easy and the person is not even notified so the chances of offending someone are relatively small. The bottom line is this: Your marriage is now your relationship of priority. While you never want to offend unnecessarily, sometimes you may have to in order to protect your marriage – and theirs.

• Send the right signals. All of us at all times are sending signals, broadcasting through our words, our dress, our eyes and a hundred other ways that we are either open to a relationship or satisfied with the one we are in. On Facebook it is no different. Your profile is your public face to your friends so be careful what you are communicating on it. Here are a few suggestions that we have found helpful:
1. Use your status line to brag on your marriage. Pete Hixson, a pastor friend of ours in Atlanta has a separate Facebook account from his wife, Hollie, yet they clearly send the signal that they are happy together and not open to an affair. For example Pete recently wrote, “Pete is looking forward to a little time out tonight with my best friend – my wife!” Hollie wrote, “Hollie is all dressed up and going to a nice dinner with my good lookin’ man!” We noticed that many of their church members frequently comments on how happy they look together. They are mindful to model a Christ-centered marriage to their watching flock.
2. Upload lots of smiling photos of the two of you! A picture is worth a thousand words so make yours say what you want it to say. Your profile pictures should radiate the message that you are happy together. Even if you don’t share an account, you should include your spouse in your profile pictures.

• Pray for discernment. Strategies and safeguards are great and can be very helpful but they alone are not enough. The reality is that we are in a battle and our Enemy has targeted our marriages. Do not underestimate him! Cheryl and I have begun praying together before logging on to Facebook. We ask God to reveal any dangerous relationships or situations and to protect our marriage from any attacks of the Enemy.
We also ask Him to show us opportunities to encourage other couples. We leave notes on their “wall” whenever we see friends modeling a healthy, happy, and holy marriage. We have learned to see our friends’ status lines as potential prayer requests. In this way, Facebook is not only a fun activity but also a fulfilling ministry that we can do together.