More of the Same is Not Boring! Ephesians 3:20-21 Revisited!

Realizing how long it has been since I last posted and feeling incredibly blessed in the interim,  I decided it was time to give Abba the glory He deserves.
So here goes!

In Tampa Bay Florida area - 

• Now 23 churches and ministries are launching marriage ministries and / or using the Intimate Encounters principles in their counseling models.  Who would have thought that in a year's time we would see God so powerfully at work in so many marriages of leaders who are in real ways "living loved and giving love freely...starting at home".

• The 70 plus couples who've attended the 3 campaigns (each lasting about 3 months) over the time from June, 2013 through today August 29, 2014, have been present to experience and observe God's work in couples from varied denominations/movements as well as racial/ethnic backgrounds.  Who would have thought that they would see barriers broken down between people of different denominations, races, and generations then replaced by deep love and respect for one another?  Who would have guessed that these leader couples would see their lives exposed to the light of God's truth, then become vulnerably humble before each other to the degree that spouses have become partners in ministry versus feeling abandoned?  

• Now we are preparing for our final NextGen Tampa Bay IE Training - Campaign 4.  Who knows what He will do in the couples He will bring along?  How exciting to see what He has done already and to imagine how He will heal, change, and equip these new couples to impact the Tampa Bay area!  They and we believe God's heart is to Take Back Tampa for Jesus Christ and His kingdom!

In Akron Ohio -

• Just 2 years ago Jeff Bogue and I met in Austin, TX, to discuss an idea birthed in the heart of Dr. David Ferguson.  The idea:  What if TBI teamed up with Grace Akron to build a relational ministry as part of the "operating system" of that great church?  After Grace Akron hired Robby Neidlinger as their pastor over marriage and pastoral care, we got busy discovering the vision and desire of those involved for reaching the current and next generations.  Who would have guessed that our Father in heaven would bring together under Robby's leadership 13 couples to be trained then begin to lead marriage small groups?  Who would have known that over this very summer 24 couples joined those leaders in 5 small groups and took seriously God's call to love as He does.  These couples are building new legacies of love in their families now and for the future generations.   The children in these homes and beyond will see the glory of God in the love found in their own homes.  These couples are "helping leaders live loved and give love freely...starting at home".

In Elizabethtown Kentucky -

• At the beginning of the year 2014 plans were set into motion for training a group of leader couples in a vital denomination in Kentucky.  These 20 plus couples have met for 3 or 4 Saturdays, have studied and experienced relational principles, have applied them personally and inside their own families, and are now learning how to develop ministries inside their churches for their communities to help "leaders live loved and give love freely ... staring at home".  Who would have thought that this group of leaders would become so transparent and relationally connected then witness personal revival in homes and churches?  Can you believe they let a person teach knowing that I am not from their denomination?  :)  Well, they did!

In Rock Hill and now Charleston South Carolina -

• A couple whose heart beats for helping engaged couples have successful, abundant marriages has now become an integral part of TBI.  Their faith in the Lord, love for Him and for each other take them across the state to Charleston to develop a model of marriage ministry for a church planting ministry.  The plan is to help those church planters learn how to "live loved and give love freely...starting at home" and how to train "faithful men and women who will train others also".    Who would have guessed that this couple and their friends in the church-planting ministry would see the need and implement a plan to make sure leader couples are healthy in their marriage and family before they go out to do the hard work of planting a church?  What a concept!  OK, there is a little sarcasm in that last bit.  :)

In Dayton Maine - 

• Having come to know Nick and Beccy Foss 3 years ago at a retreat in Tennessee, Carol and I now have the honor of going to their home in Maine, September 11-14, 2014, to lead a relationship workshop using the Top Ten Relational Needs material.  Nick and Beccy have implemented these key principles in their own home and family as they now help equip their church to "live loved and give love freely...starting at home".  Who would have thought that two Kentucky folks (Carol and I) would have the privilege of taking this message of God's loving Good News to New England?  Do you think we will need to use interpreters?  :)

Alongside these wonderful ministry milestones, Abba has helped us ...

• see another grandchild come to saving faith in Jesus
• find and contract Linda D'Avanzo as our new Administrative Assistant
• see Carol teaching alongside me in multiple environments
• sell our home in Cumming to a dear family (friends of ours in fact)
• move to a new location where we are renting
• build deepening relationships within our family and among friends both new and old
• enjoy unbroken salary for the last 18 months
• enlist 2 new Encourager Couples to join our 18 already in the field
• engage our TBI Board for another year of volunteer service alongside Carol and me
• plan a new website to offer resources to more seeking couples and launch in the next weeks and months by God's grace.  

So the mission of TBI "to help leaders live loved and give love freely...starting at home" is being realized and expanded to even more areas of the country and into new levels of leadership.  Who would have guessed it when God launched us 4 years ago in September, 2010? 

Truly, He has done "exceeding abundantly above all that we have asked or imagined".  And may He receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and even....amen"!

Well, the Apostle Paul said it more eloquently under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  (Ephesians 3:20-21 - ESV)

So, God's plan all along has been to reach the next generation through the influence, love, and witness of the current and previous ones....
Maybe it is time we reached our "neighbors" at home and around us by "living loved and giving love freely ... starting at home".  The Gospel of Jesus is worth living and sharing at home on our way to sharing Him with the world...to the uttermost parts.