Reblogged from Aaron’s Angle:

If your single, don’t feel like you are missing out on Valentines.  God has a plan for your life, and it very well could include a future marriage.  However, your life is great with or without a mate.  God has a plan for you as an individual, and today is the day to embrace that. So many people who have married simply to have a spouse, and have not waited for a good mate, have regretted their short-sited decision.   It’s much worse to be in a bad marriage then it is to have temporary times of …

Praying for my single friends today, that they realize that marriage and romance is not the answer to happiness in life. Praying for all my married friends to have a deeper love than the commercialism of one day.

The current message series I Married Up is inspiring both our singles and married.   This Sunday, I want to lift up the value of marriage with a message called Married to My Best Friend.   Come this Sunday, and let the Scripture point you to God’s plan for a marriage.

Author and speaker RT Kendall will be speaking at CIL in both the 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. service on Sunday, February 19^th.   After 25 years of pastor of the world-famous Westminster Chapel in London for 25 years, Dr. Kendall now travels the world ministering from his home in Hendersonville.   He will be speaking on one of his most popular subjects and books called Total Forgiveness.

Join me at 6:30 p.m. for a night to invest in your future or current marriage.

Within this Christian vision for marriage, here’s what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of the person God is creating, and to say, “I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are to his throne.  And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, ‘I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!’” – Timothy Keller[1]

We’ll continue this series on marriage this Sunday (February 12).

Observations from the Men’s Retreat:

- We had a good spread of ages represented in our group.  It was great to see men of different age groups connecting in a casual way.

- The worship team’s hard work really paid off.  These guys put a lot of heart in their songs, and we all benefited from it.

- Jay Edgerton, Tim Parry and Charles Watson all did great jobs sharing Saturday morning.

- We were impressed with the food and facilities of Deer Run Retreat Center in Thompson Station, TN.

- I’ll never be able to describe the symphony of snoring that took place in my cabin.  Yes, I was part of that symphony.

- Our guys were a relaxed and confident group, which produced great conversations.

- Everyone loved the time Friday night when we just sat together in the Lord’s presence.  We had worship music playing, and every man just enjoyed sitting with the Lord.  It was truly special.

- The weekend culminated with the presentation of a Discipleship Program for our men.  This is an intense program, but it has incredible potential to develop disciples.  More information on this will be coming soon.   The good new is, the men at the retreat were very excited about this new opportunity.

- I believe this will be the first of many opportunities for our men to have retreats and other discipleship opportunities.

2. Watching the game with my two boys is one of the highlights of my life.   Having eight and nine year old boys is such a gift.

3.  The sexually explicit commercials are really disappointing.   The networks who provide the Super Bowl should be aware of the wide-range of viewers and censor the content better.

4.   For the second year in a row, my family enjoyed Chuy’s for lunch between church and the game.  This tradition needs to keep repeating!

5.  When I was able to hear the TV, I thought Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth are outstanding announcers.  They are among the best.

6.  Watching the Super Bowl is much more enjoyable after you have been filled up with worship and the Word like we were on Sunday morning.   We had outstanding services Sunday morning, and that was the highlight of my Super Bowl Sunday.

7.  Madonna doesn’t have anything on Beth Allison!

This Sunday (February 5), we start a new series called I Married Up.  I want us to take an honest and realistic look at the complicated subject of marriage.  On Sunday, I am teaching on the subject “Overcoming an Incompatible Marriage.”   This message will give insight to singles and married, so I pray everyone is open to receive truth.

“11 million. That was the number of Jews sentenced to death a brief 90-minute lunch meeting at a beautiful lakeside villa (see picture) near Berlin 70 years ago.  The infamous meeting of Nazi officials which decided upon the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” was called The Wannsee Conference.

Held on January 20, 1942 and attended by 15 high-ranking Nazi bureaucrats, the Wannsee Conference set in motion the implementation of a plan to for the systematic, industrial murder of all the Jews within Germany’s reach in Europe and north-west Africa.

The fate of 11 million Jews, followed by a glass of Cognac.

It is important that we remember that the Nazi officials who deliberated at Villa Wannsee over their ghastly plans for exterminating European Jewry were all well-educated, with at least half of them holding doctorate degrees. Some were also the sons of Protestant ministers, yet not one of them raised any moral objections to this heinous plot” [1]

As you reflect on this heinous decision that led to genocide, remember that the voice of the majority doesn’t always reflect the voice of God.   When you are seated at a table of influence, speak up for those who do not have a voice.

This Wednesday, we will have a great night of ministry to men and women.

After we worship together, the ladies will receive teaching from Jackie Chapman while the men will hear from Chip Johnson.

Come invest in your spiritual life by joining me on Wednesday, January 18th at 6:30 p.m.

Use this night to meet some new friends who attend CIL with you!  I’m excited about this opportunity to grow together!