The Rangers are imploding. The luster of the 9-game win streak is gone, thanks to two wins in the last nine games. The pitching staff is in shambles. The move of Ryan Drese seems to have deflated the team...and the fans.
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Let me make a book recommendation. Reggie McNeal's book The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church is far-and-away the best read for me on the emerging culture and the church's response to the emerging culture. It is steeped in developing a missional mindset and is filled with practical ideas to engage "pre-Christians" in conversation.
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Eleven years ago today, Mandy Williams walked down the aisle to pledge to live the rest of her life by my side. Today, we celebrate eleven years of marriage -- eleven years that have brought us immense joy, especially with the births of two beautiful gifts from God. These eleven years have brought enormous challenges which have only deepened my love for my bride.
Our wedding vows eleven years ago centered around the theme of Ecclesiastes 4.9-12: "Two are better than one...a cord of three strands will never be broken." I didn't realize all that vow would entail on that sunny Saturday eleven years ago, but every experience of our shared lives has only reinforced the truth of God's Word.
In fact, we named our first little girl "Trae" for she is a living, breathing testimony that the relationship of her parents is not a relationship of two, it is an unbreakable bond of three: Mandy, myself, and Jesus Christ. "Tori" (Victoria) is the goal of our life -- that our marriage and our home will result in the victory that only Jesus Christ can offer.
Today, I'm overwhelmed in my heart with gratitude and love for my wife. In every way, she completes me. As a man and as a minister, I'm so much better with her than I would ever be without her.
I can only hope and pray she feels the same way!
