Pennsylvania is Not a Foreign Country

      Meeting Chris Priestaff a few years ago during lunch with a mutual friend, Tyler Reagin, was a privilege.  We spoke of marriage ministry, how we did it at North Point, and how I would start a marriage ministry.  These guys are hilarious to be around and, at the same time, very serious about serving Jesus.  After about a year, Chris and I spoke again about doing a marriage conference for some churches at Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center in Mt. Bethel, PA. 
     Up to this time most of our marriage/relationship conference work had been done in conjunction with either North Point's Missions team (GlobalX) or with Shad Williams Evangelistic Association (www.wegotothem.com) in 9 other countries.   So when we agreed to lead the conference in Pennsylvania, we were not sure if the response would be as dramatic, life-changing, and lasting in the States as it has been every time in these other countries.
     Last year in March and last weekend at Tuscarora, our Father did dramatic work helping many couples find hope and healing.  When our new friend Paul DiQuattro picked us up at Allentown airport on Thursday afternoon, he shared with us the story of a couple who attended last year's conference who had come to faith, joined their church, and were serving faithfully now.  He contrasted this dramatic change with where they were a year ago when they came to the conference.  We later learned of another couple who'd taken divorce off their agenda and were learning to love each other as God intended.   
     From last year's attending couples we were thrilled to have 3 couples leading small group breakouts this year which meant we needed to bring only 2 couples with us for facilitating groups.  Two of the three couples were pastor/leader couples and the other a very faithful couple serving in their church as volunteers.  The point to all this is that God moved AGAIN in power as He started the healing process for many couples, led 2 couples to take divorce off their list of potential next steps....He loves to set us free to love others, especially those in our own homes and in the "household of faith".
     So, God worked in PA even though Pennsylvania is Not a Foreign Country.  God will do in the USA what we so desperately need Him to do:  He will restore our hearts to love Him and others as we love ourselves.  That is the greatest commandment according to Jesus.  Actually Jesus says these are the two greatest commandments of all time and everything in life hangs on these two commandments.
    He is right, isn't He?  What is the solution to rising divorce, increasing disregard for marriage, burgeoning numbers family problems, societal tsunamis that are crippling the culture, and about any other issues you can name from drug abuse to violence?  Loving God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves summarizes the core problem to which Jesus Christ's love  - set free to express itself in relationships - is the solution.
     On the last day of the conference we spent time allowing people to express publicly what God had done in their marriages and their own heart.  What a thrill to hear the specific stories of life-change, the men sharing appreciation for their spouse, their determination to lead, and the hope many felt for the first time in years.  Two couples who took divorce off the table for their future discovered that they lived just a few minutes from each other and received an offer from a couple attending the conference to work with them through the Intimate Encounters material over the next several months.  The couple offering to help lives near the two needing help.  The very idea that 3 couples at this conference, where attendees had come from at least 4 states, could actually live so close together that they could form a small group for continued progress in their marriage is nothing short of a miracle from God.
     Thanks to so many of you for praying for this conference to be used of God to see miracles happen in couples and families.  Legacies of divorce and pain are being replaced by new ones filled with more of God's love and freedom than ever before.  All this is a reflection of the great, great love of God.