Relationships
Hey There, Judgy McJudgerpants!
There are two types of judging. Judging an individual’s heart-motives which is directly tied to condemning them.This is the kind of judging that Jesus, Paul, and James sharply denounce. It’s the judgment of the heart. The other type of…
The Need For A Consistent Sexual Ethic
I have only two options to deal with the tension of asking someone feeling gay longings to do something as difficult as pursue celibacy: 1. Give him and everyone else a pass for cross-less Christianity, what Bonhoeffer called “grace…
Hey Christian, You’re Not As Likely To Divorce As You Thought You Were
This is a game-changer. Talk about “an old wives’ tale.” You’ve heard it said that 1) 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce; 2) most marriages that do happen to make it are, nonetheless, unhappy, and 3) Christians…
Apologize Your Way To Christlikeness
Apologies demonstrate that someone is truly living by Christ’s life, for it takes uncommon insight for a person to recognize when they’ve mistreated another human being (which is usually rationalized in their minds) and deep humility to let them know that…
Why God Doesn’t Take Homosexuality Away
God is far more concerned with first fixing our hearts than he is with fixing other things in our lives. Same sex attraction included. Yes, it’s true that God hates homosexuality. But more than that, He hates that our…
How A Gay Christian Finds A Home In The Church
In a society where culture wars are fierce, it can be nearly impossible for a person who desperately desires to follow Christ and who has same-sex attraction to find acceptance and community. The culture wars have drawn up the…
Church As Matchmaker: It Takes A Family To Make A Family
It is not good for a man to be alone and he who finds a wife finds goodness, but it takes the beauty of a family to see the goodness far below the surface and in the crevices of…
7 Things Every Christian Should Know About Same-Sex Attraction
May I make two requests? Continue to love me, but remember that you cannot be more merciful than God. It isn’t mercy to affirm same-sex acts as good. Practice compassion according to the root meaning of “compassion”: Suffer with…
Why Women Must Keep The Standards High When Looking For A Husband
Porn is so prevalent, according to Regnerus, that if all Christian women left their boyfriends or turned down suitors based on their browser histories, marriage and the future of the church would be doomed. From his article, it’s easy for…
You Married A Moving Target
Dr. Rob Rienow explains how commitment is at the core of marriage, no matter how much the people in the marriage may change over time. This is quite opposed to the view that many hold that their spouse will…
You Don’t Need To Be Useful To Be Valuable
I would much—MUCH!—rather wash the feet of Jesus than have him wash my feet. I would have done something valuable. I would know I’m of use. Instead he washed my feet. We want God to consider us as useful;…
Bring Peace To Your Home With These 12 Practices
Where I saw mess and mayhem, she saw joy and contentment. A peaceful home. Maybe there’s no easy formula, but here are 12 simple things that can help bring peace into your home: Speak kindly. It’s amazing how a little…
Why The Young And The Restless Should Get Married And Make Babies
You won’t miraculously turn into a better person because you got married and had kids, obviously. But, at their essence, families are built and held together through sacrificial love, and this is something that can — if you give…
Singleness Is Not A Disease To Be Cured
It seems to me that the evangelical church places marriage on something of a pedestal, describing it in elevated terms, and investing enormous amounts of time and resources into strengthening that institution. But there was an unintended side effect to…
We Forgive Others Because God Forgave Us
Bryan Carter explains how forgiveness within marriage works. The principles he speaks of really apply to all relationships, not just…
8 Marriage Mistakes You Can Avoid By Listening To Marriage Veterans
I am so grateful for my 25 years of marriage to my wife, Susan. My love for her has grown immensely over the years. I’ve been faithful to her. I’m very attracted to her. I’m just one decision away from…
Good Theology Leads To Good Sex
Voddie Baucham explains why Christians often miss out on the joy of sex because of some weird teachings and cultural perceptions about it. Getting our theology straight will help us enjoy sexuality as God designed…
How To Kill Your Irritability
Irritability. I give into it too often. It’s time to take this sin more seriously and lay it aside (Hebrews 12:1). Every time I’m irritable I burden myself with the detrimental weights of prideful selfishness and relational conflict. And…
Blessed Are The Peacemakers, Not The Peacekeepers
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Jesus (Matthew 5:9) Peacekeeping and peacemaking are two very different things. Peacekeepers try to maintain an environment where no offense occurs. They don’t resolve the underlying conflict,…
Most Arguments To Save Sex For Marriage Fail, But This One Won’t
“Great sex is a parable of the Gospel—to be utterly accepted in spite of your sin, to beloved by the One you admire to the sky.” That might just right upend your world, the whole disoriented, hurting world: “Great sex is…
You Have Two Options When Someone Wrongs You
Someone may have robbed you of some happiness, reputation, opportunity, or certain aspects of your freedom. No price tag can be put on such things, yet we still have a sense of violated justice that does not go away…
The Best Hospitality Happens When You’re Not Dressed Up
Today’s Throwback Thursday recalls one of our favorite posts about hospitality. Over the years, that to-do list has prepared us for hosting company, but it has also prevented us from welcoming friends in our home. Unwritten Southern rules of offering hospitality…
Attacking And Defending Courtship
Thomas Umstattd Jr. recently made a splash with his article “Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed.” To be perfectly honest, I thought a number of his points were very good, like frosted flakes in the bowl glinting in the morning light of…
Tim Keller, Matt Chandler & Michael Horton Talk About How To Disagree Well
Tim Keller, Matt Chandler, and Michael Horton have a roundtable conversation about how christians ought to approach situations of conflict and differing opinions. Not all disagreements need to be destructive. In fact, many can be very constructive if approached…
There Will Be Peace In Israel When The Prince Of Peace Reigns
Salim Munayer, a Palestinian Christian, shares his story of how his family is pursuing peace with Israel. It comes through unlikely friendships and recognizing the humanity of his neighbors. Spoiler alert: A common faith in Christ is the key…
How To Avoid Being A Clanging Cymbal
The question is actually not if you are a fake, but rather, how often? Unless you love perfectly, you are at least sometimes a fraud, a playfake, a wanna-be; you get the picture. I mean, it doesn’t get any…
Forgiveness Is Both Costly And Necessary
If you’ve ever really forgiven somebody, forgiven some real wrong, all forgiveness is suffering. If you say “I forgave and I didn’t suffer,” it wasn’t that serious a wrong. But if you have ever really been wronged, and if…
The Most Important Thing To Do In Preparation For Marriage
Having an idea of what you are looking for in a significant other is great! It means you actually took time to be honest with what you are really looking for in a relationship. But if I’m really honest…
The Best Hospitality Happens When You’re Not Dressed Up
Over the years, that to-do list has prepared us for hosting company, but it has also prevented us from welcoming friends in our home. Unwritten Southern rules of offering hospitality with excellence have affected how often we invite people in our…
10 Things That Separate The Men From The Boys
#1 A man will own up to his mistakes. A boy will make excuses for them. #2 A man will respect your purity. A boy will let his desires control him.…
10 Scriptures For Strengthening Relationships
It seems we reserve our unkindest words, do our most thoughtless deeds, are the most mean to those who mean the most to us. And because those close to use care more about what we say and think, those…
How Would Your Life Be Different If You Stopped Competing?
Viewing life as competition has motivated me to work harder at school, work, and personal growth. It has prompted discipline and perseverance. After all, it can be really tough to win if someone else is working harder than you.…
The Nice Christian Coward
Nowhere in scripture will you find the command: “Go ye into all the world and be nice.” Christian niceness is neither Christian nor nice, just like Grape Nuts is neither grape nor nuts. Jesus was direct. He showed no…
Birth, Death, And The Moments In Between
It’s been less than two weeks since my baby girl Luca Gold came into the world, laying warm against my chest for the greatest and most horrific 40 minutes I’ve ever experienced. As the midwife took her stethoscope away from Goldie’s…
Wounds From A Friend
Men need friends. However, male friendship is harder to come by than ever. The hyper-sexualization of our culture has made it nearly impossible to cultivate intimacy and show affection among men. So, let’s forget about our culture for a minute and…
Restoration Through Repentance
With most of our PARENTS we are somewhat burdened and we enjoy complaining about our parents’ faults, barely showing love at all. We have lost hope for growing together and we’ve pretty much given up on seeing these relationships…
Get Married Before You Turn 23
I got married when I was 19 years old. I was dumb, poor, and not incredibly mature (I know, hard to believe). With all of those things true, I would do it again. Below are a few reasons why…
The Death Of Male Friendship
This past weekend my wife and I were discussing the sad state of modern male relationships, and then today I saw this commercial posted on Facebook. Two days ago I lamented our culture’s loss of masculine friendships and wondered…
Recent Comments