what's inside will come out...

i don't know if you watch any of the reality shows on tv such as celebrity apprentice or survivor, especially the part when the players talk to the camera. they really can be petty can't they? but what if we brought a camera into your home and saw the way you talk to the people in your home, the people who you and i say we love. what would we see?

well for the most part it is dependent on what is happening inside of you and me and who is in control.

colossians 3.15 (ms) says, let the peace of CHRIST keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other...

when we have the peace of CHRIST in our heart then we'll be at peace with other people. if we don't have this in our life – GOD's peace in our hearts – then we try to manipulate others, try to control them and try to move them around to get what we want out of life.

there was a time in our marriage that margaret and i had a major conflict. it was horrible. we have jokingly said, that we have never contemplated divorce in our life, murder yes. we had three horrible years.

listen, in every marriage there is some kind of power struggle but we finally got to the point that we said to GOD, we can't do it, we have to have you. i was in staff ministry at that time, in a large church in indiana. i was working 90 plus hours a week. i was going to make it no matter what it cost and it about cost my family but it showed me that i needed to change that i was the cause of the conflict so i resigned my job and we moved to indianapolis and GOD started working in me and i started selling domino's pizza and started falling in love with GOD and falling in love with my family. GOD started working in me, changing me.

you see only GOD could change our marriage and it started in me, it started in margaret. you work on you and watch what happens. the starting point of getting along with others, to avoid arguments, is to get peace in your heart through the rule of CHRIST.

give in to GOD. this means you learn to say "THY will be done" instead of saying "me first". that's the difference. when you say, "LORD, whatever you want that's what i want" then the peace process starts.

just some thoughts up here on the front porch...