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Husbands and wives can strengthen their relationship with regular “date nights.” It doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive – simply being intentional about alone time together as a couple, talking, sharing your dreams, and no distractions! The Laffoons also recommend having fun, having a purpose for your date, and doing what your spouse most desires.

Receive the book Ultimate Date Night and an audio download of "Tips for Planning Memorable Date Nights" for your donation of any amount! Your Gift DOUBLES to Help Deliver Hope and Joy! Save 2X the marriages and families this Christmas with your life-changing gift today!

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“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich”  (2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV).

No man had more reason to be miserable than Jesus, yet no one was more joyful. He was ridiculed. Those who didn’t ridicule him wanted favors. Then they wanted to kill him. He was accused of a crime he had never committed. Witnesses were hired to lie. They crucified him. He left as he came—penniless.

He should have been miserable and bitter. But he wasn’t. He was joyful! He possessed a joy that possessed him. I call it a sacred delight. Sacred because it’s not of the earth. Delight because it’s just that: the joy of God. He offers it to you, my friend—a sacred delight!

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For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

A pro-abortion woman in Washington State has been arrested after intentionally ramming her SUV into a pro-life activist outside a Planned Parenthood clinic.

According to reports, 32-year-old Sierra Godfrey pulled into the clinic parking lot, argued with three pro-life men, then got back in her vehicle and swerved into one of the peaceful protesters, knocking him to the ground before fleeing the scene. Godfrey was later tracked down by police using video footage and charged with second-degree assault and hit-and-run.

Authorities say the victim was treated at the scene and able to walk away. Godfrey has admitted to striking the man but claims she only meant to scare them.

This is yet another example of the violence often directed at pro-life advocates who are simply standing peacefully for the unborn and offering help to women in crisis.

If you live in a place like Florida for example, this word probably doesn't mean much to you - winter, cold, or furnace. See, during the summer you don't give your furnace a thought, but in the winter up north it makes life bearable. That's why when we lived in New Jersey I was not a very happy camper when I woke up and felt a very cold nose coming out of the covers. (No, I didn't sleep with a dog...it was my nose!) And I felt a cold floor under my feet where there was no carpet. And then I would peek out the window and see a very low temperature out there.

Now, my first stop was the furnace downstairs. If it wasn't working I knew what to do. I called our family doctor. You say, "What? You don't call..." No, that's right, I didn't call the doctor. I called our neighbors and told them the furnace wasn't working. You say, "Wait a minute, what good does that do?" No, I called the newspaper delivery boy and said, "My furnace isn't working!" I called the post office and said, "Hey, can you fix my furnace?" You say, "Ron, none of those calls will help. Call the furnace man!" I did.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Tell the Person Who Can Fix It."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 5. We begin at verse 23. Jesus said, "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift..." He says forget the religious stuff. Don't do your spiritual thing. No, "leave your gift in front of the altar. First (in other words, before you do your thing with God), go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift."

There's a parallel passage in Matthew 18:15 - "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over." It talks about involving other people from the church if that doesn't work. But the pattern is the same in both cases - go straight to the person. Now, we're not talking about a furnace here, but we're talking about a relationship that's not working. And Jesus addresses one of these dark corners of human nature.

We've got this tendency to talk to everyone about the problem we have with this person except the person we have the problem with. And that sin divides families, it divides friends, it divides churches, it divides ministries, and maybe you are in the middle of one of those poisonous situations right now. Jesus says there's only one way to go when you have a problem with another person - straight to that person.

We'd rather gripe to other people, we'd rather gather support for our side, get sympathy, form some power block of people who agree with us, and give the Devil an open door he can drive a truck through. The irony is that none of those other people can fix what's wrong. The problem you've got is with this person.

Now, we know it would be dumb to tell the letter carrier about our cold furnace, or the garbage man. Wouldn't that make you ask, "Hey, do you just want to gripe or do you want a solution?" Then why do we go to all the wrong people when there's a break in a relationship or some hurt? Going to the person involved is the only way it can really be fixed. You can be a relationship radical if you'll covenant to go direct in a world that would rather gossip and backstab.

You can be an agent of real love and real peace if you always stay away from the back room, the back-biting, and you speak directly to that other person. That other person? They may respond or they may not respond, but you have done the only thing Jesus can bless, and you can sleep well tonight.

So, whether it's a furnace, a family member or a friend, tell the person who can fix it.

Christmas activities across generations, plus the story behind the YouVersion Bible app, and overcoming the fear of a better option.    

Featured musical artist:  Covenant Worship  

Roundtable: How My Family Celebrates Christmas

Does your family have Christmas traditions that are non-negotiable? Maybe a special dish or dessert someone makes, a movie you watch every year, or a church service you attend together. Passing traditions down through generations makes the holiday season extra special, so our guests get nostalgic in sharing their own traditions and why they choose to prioritize them in the midst of everything else they could be doing.        

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Culture: Billions of Bibles

If you have the Bible app on your phone, you can thank Bobby Gruenewald. He birthed the idea in an airport, and what landed in Apple’s app store on day one has now tallied over one billion downloads. Bobby joins us for an insider’s look at the story behind the YouVersion app, what it can do (did you know our host, Lisa Anderson, has a reading plan there?), and how it’s reaching the world.   

 Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are

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Inbox: Overcoming FOBO

If you have too many choices and are plagued by indecision, how do you avoid feeling like there’s always a “better” option out there? Counselor Geremy Keeton weighs in.    

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