“At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. … You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!” -Ezekiel 16:25,32, NIV Nothing really prepares you for that moment of discovery. Nothing. You might have suspected the … Continue reading “Like a super suckerpunch to the gut!”
Divorce Minister: Palm Sunday Reflections
See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. -Zachariah 9:9b, NIV With the kick-off of Holy Week, I was pondering how this season parallels life for faithful spouses and marriages ended via adultery. The wedding day is like Palm Sunday: … Continue reading “Divorce Minister: Palm Sunday Reflections”
Mars Hill Church, Mark Driscoll, Shame-Based Teaching, and My First Marriage
***Pastor Mark Driscoll is popping back up in the church world and in the media (see here). I thought this would be a good time to run this post again–with minor edits–to talk about the very personal damage I experienced as a result of his distorted theological teachings.*** “But if any provide not for … Continue reading “Mars Hill Church, Mark Driscoll, Shame-Based Teaching, and My First Marriage”
A Life Without Intense Family Stress
This past week I had a particularly stressful day. I called my father the day after to talk about various things and mentioned to him that the other day was stressful. He asked if it was work stress or family stress. Family stress? That never even entered my mind. Not that it was an unfair … Continue reading “A Life Without Intense Family Stress”
SO Self-Righteous!
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. -Luke 6:42, … Continue reading “SO Self-Righteous!”
Personal Growth Or Just Blame Acceptance!
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. – Mark 7:20-23, KJV, (emphasis mine) When … Continue reading “Personal Growth Or Just Blame Acceptance!”
Name it!
But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” -Luke 22:48, NLT As I work to prepare for Easter, I was struck by this exchange. Notice how Jesus calls out the action for what it was. Jesus labels it betrayal and points out the especially awful means of that betrayal–namely, … Continue reading “Name it!”
A pass given for emotional affairs too often
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. -Matthew 5:28, NIV Too often, emotional affairs are treated by Christians and professionals as symptoms as opposed to sins. Clearly, Jesus saw emotional affairs as sins. They were only symptomatic insofar as they are … Continue reading “A pass given for emotional affairs too often”
Who is served by the “reminder” to forgive the cheater?
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. -Romans 12:15, NKJV What astounds me about some Christians is how they believe they are helping faithful spouses by telling them that they must forgive their cheater. Most of us–faithful spouses–already understand forgiving our cheater is on docket of things to do in the … Continue reading “Who is served by the “reminder” to forgive the cheater?”
Much Ado About VP Mike Pence Following “Billy Graham Rule”
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. -I Corinthians 6:18, NKJV The news and social media is abuzz with revelation that VP Mike Pence does not eat alone with women or attend events where alcohol is served without … Continue reading “Much Ado About VP Mike Pence Following “Billy Graham Rule””