I find myself increasingly frustrated these days by the fact that people can just walk out of their marriages and leave their spouses holding the bag and nobody seems to care.  I’ve recently seen both men and women do this and it both bugs me and breaks my heart.  It’s not right that folks can just do whatever they want and the faithful spouse is the one that has to shoulder the brunt of the weight and try to pick up the pieces alone.

Folks, I know that it can get stressful in marriages at times.  I know there’s a lot of responsibility and there are always problems to work out and bills to pay but don’t let that pressure make you lose your perspective, and your mind, and your marriage.  Toughen up and stick with it.  Things will get better.  Don’t give up and don’t run off.  It’s not about you.  It’s not about your adolescent fantasies.  It’s not about looking out for yourself, your space or your freedom.  It’s about being an adult and doing the right thing.

If you’re considering leaving, please listen to me.  No matter how much greener the grass may look on the other side you will no be happier there in the long run.  The Bible teaches us that real life is not found in pleasing yourself or looking out just for yourself.  If you leave and pursue whatever it is you think you simply must have, you are only going to be worse off down the road.  Trust me.  I’ve seen it over and over again.  You are going to destroy everything you really care about and end up with only more pain, complications and pressures in your life.

You’ve got to stick it out through the tough times.  You’ve got to fight the inclination to run.  If you do, you will be rewarded.  You’ll make it through this tough season and you’ll experience grace and love and joy.  You’ll be so glad you did the right thing and so will your spouse, and your kids…and your God.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.  Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

There’s no doubt about it.  Times are tough.  That’s why I’m so excited that we’re offering a new video teaching series at Fusion called Life. Money. Hope. which features financial expert, Dave Ramsey.  I’m telling you that this series will absolutely change your life AND it will give you hope no matter what financial difficulties you might be dealing with.

Here’s what you need to know about the series…

• We’re going to be hosting this series at 7PM on Sunday nights.
• The series is three messages long and we’ll start the series on November 1.
• There will be no childcare for this event.
• This event is FREE but you must register.
• Please email Shannon to register if you’re interested and haven’t already registered.
• We will have financial coaching available for those that are interested in going deeper.

Don’t miss this exciting series!

Our first mailer since our move should be hitting mailboxes this week.  I’m really excited about it!  The mailer isn’t about a particular series or message.  It’s really more about introducing ourselves to the folks that live nearby our new location.

As you can see, the card basically says that we are a church for everybody, especially imperfect folks.  I think this fits who we are and says a lot about us in a very short amount of space.

We don’t know exactly what day these will start showing up but I’d like to ask all of you to be in prayer about the cards and the people that receive them.  Pray that the Lord would prepare their hearts and that many would respond to the invitation to come to Fusion.  Ask the Lord to help us to be ready for the visitors and that we would show the love of Christ in everything we do.  Also ask Him to pour out His love and grace on everyone that steps foot on our campus.

We’ll have extra cards available at the resource center this Sunday if you’d like to pick up a few to hand out to your friends.

This is the time of year where everybody seems to get a little preoccupied with the afterlife so we thought it would be a good idea to do a series talking about what really happens when you die.  The series is called So You’re Dead, Now What? and I’m confident that it’s going to be one of the most interesting series we’ve ever done.

This weekend, I’m talking specifically about the cheery topic of death.  I know it might seem odd to say but it’s actually going to be a great weekend to bring a friend with you because, in typical Fusion fashion, we’re actually going to have a lot of fun with the whole thing.

Don’t miss it!  Bring a friend!

When I finally got back to my office after church today, I found two great gifts.

First, I had an envelope filled with emails and letters from people at Fusion telling me how much they appreciate me.  I want you to know that those letters are like gold to me and I so appreciate the thoughtfulness of all you guys that took the time to write them.

I also found a present on my desk from the Lowe growth group.  They gave me one of the coolest pastor appreciate gifts I have ever received!  They gave me a Fossil Superman watch!   I love cool watches and I love Superman so you know that I totally love the rockin’ watch.  Lowe group, you guys know me too well.

Thank you all so much for your appreciation gifts, cards, letters and emails.  I hope you all know that I appreciate Fusion so very much.  I love all of you guys!

In this Sunday Stuff, I talk about a beverage mistake, a lonely lady, a good friend, my inner geek, and a juicy rumor. Get all the details after the jump.

I find myself increasingly using web apps for all sorts of tasks. Some are for new tasks and some replace desktop apps I’ve been using for years. I thought I’d share my current favorites with you guys.

This Sunday we are going to be wrapping up our Hostage series by tackling one of the biggest hostage keepers of them all…loneliness.  It’s an absolute epidemic in our society today and I can’t wait to see what God does as we learn what the Bible has to say about this critical topic.

Now, given all that God has done through this series, I’m confident that this weekend is going to be a life-changing one so I’m asking all of you that attend Fusion to invite a friend to come with you.  Better yet, invite someone that you aren’t that close to as well.  Help yourself and others break free from the prison of loneliness!

In this Sunday Stuff, I talk about Billy Freakin’ Graham, my favorite state, a prayer request and a burning question. Check it out.

Last Sunday, Amy and I were blessed to receive pastor appreciation cards from several folks from Fusion and I just wanted to thank you all!  We already used our Longhorn gift card and we plan on using the other gift cards soon.  I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your thoughtfulness.  We also just flat out appreciate getting to serve along side all of you at Fusion.  It’s the greatest church family in the world!  Once again, thank you all!