May 17, 2018

Full Disclosure! This isn’t a note from Pastor Mike. It’s actually A Note from Eddie. That’s right, I’ve hijacked Pastor Mike’s note this week, but it’s all good because I have his blessing to do so.

This Sunday, I have the honor of concluding our Family Fixer Upper series, and I’m very excited about what God’s going to do! Pastor Mike has laid a deep foundation of God’s purpose for family. God’s purpose goes way beyond just procreation. God-centered families are meant to be a reflection of God’s kingdom here on earth. The way they honor each other, celebrate each other, deal with adversity, and…yes…handle conflict.

So many choices! There are literally thousands of books out there on how to handle conflict. One that I’ve read in preparation for this weekend is “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work” by John M. Gottman, Ph.D. It’s a New York Times best seller with over a million copies sold, and it’s loaded with solid research and practical tools for marriage. However, there’s more to the equation of a successful marriage / family / relationship.

Natural + Spiritual = Wholeness. Could it be that an imbalanced equation is the reason that there’s little difference between the churched and the non-churched in areas of marriage / family / relationships? A dear friend of Cathedral, Clark Taylor, once said, “Some people are so spiritually minded that they’re no earthly good.” There really is a balance. Too much natural tilts towards, “there is a way that seems right to a man…” Too much spiritual tilts towards “white washed tombs…” and being RELIGIOUS.

If I’ve learned anything from Pastor Mike and his wife Dean, it’s how to balance the natural and the spiritual, and I can’t wait to share with you the practical side of conflict resolution! Miss Dean had a prophetic word for our congregation two weeks ago. That word was that God was going to use marriages/families in Cathedral to evangelize our city! I invite you to join with me in receiving, believing and becoming that prophetic promise!

I’ll see you Sunday!

Mike Lewis
Cathedral