Can a celibate nun who was born over five hundred years ago unlock the secret to a more intimate marriage? Yes, she can. In her autobiography, Teresa of Avila explains why, for a short season, she avoided being alone as much as possible. She began experiencing spiritual ecstasies in prayer and some of her confessors […]
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Now that we’re empty nesters, Lisa travels with me on most of my trips, at least the pleasant ones. Winnipeg in February? Pass. New York City in the Fall? Book two tickets, please. In our new season of joint travel, Lisa had an uncanny ability to always turn the wrong direction coming out of the […]
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One of the most important qualities in a spouse for a successful life and marriage is something I never even considered when I was single. I’m not talking about faith in God—I certainly considered that. Physical attraction mattered a lot to me, and I’m not saying that physical appearance doesn’t matter at all. But there’s […]
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Many of you know my mentor in seminary was Dr. J.I. Packer, author of the classic “Knowing God” and a man of great devotion and intellect. In one of his lesser known books, A Passion for Faithfulness, Packer exposes the danger of liberal theology when he writes that “the taproot of modernist liberalism is the […]
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My goal in this week’s blog is simple: I want to help us guys (me first) to celebrate our wives and moms on Mother’s Day without being narcissistic. If we’re not careful, we can value our moms primarily for what they gave us and our wives for what they give us, but this pegs their […]
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There’s something wonderful you can do for your marriage that will feed and protect it. I’m not talking about reading a marriage book, attending a marriage seminar, or even praying together. Those are all good things, but they’ve been mentioned many times before. This is something different. The gift you can give to your marriage […]
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Heather married a Christian man who seemed zealous to serve God. He gave generous amounts of money to God’s work and even dreamed of eventually doing a reverse tithe—giving away ninety percent of his income and keeping ten percent for himself. Today he’s still involved in missions work, still gives away a lot of money, […]
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My friend Kevin Harney got me to do something I’ve never done before. I was quite embarrassed about it, but it just happened. Kevin sent me an advanced copy of his book No is a Beautiful Word: Hope and Help for the Overcommitted and Occasionally Exhausted and asked me for an endorsement. This ended up […]
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What if one of the most dangerous attitudes for believers is self-righteousness? What if it’s possible to be “right” and toxic at the same time? What if, in the name of doing God’s work, we find ourselves furthering the cause of Satan? I’ve been reading through Thomas Brooks’ Christian classic Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices. […]
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Miranda had been spending money on a secret credit card for months. She hid receipts, she removed price tags, she sometimes even lied about where something came from. “My mom gave that to me!” Eventually she couldn’t hide the bills any longer, and her husband realized they were going to have to sell their house […]
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