Family
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Purity Week Post #4 : 5 Do’s of Marital Intimacy
Welcome to “Purity Week.” Our goal for this week is to share with you four posts that deal with sexuality and purity. Here are the previous posts: #1 “Ivory Soap Isn’t Good Enough #2 Purity Starts in the Mind #3: 5 Don’ts of Marital Intimacy ————————————– Yesterday, we continued to talk about some things not to do concerning purity, but we want to end this special week of posts by sharing some things to do. As we mentioned yesterday, these are reserved by our Lord for marriage, but within the confines of marriage, the sexual relationship is to be enjoyed. It is an expression of love, commitment, and passion, and when expressed in…
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Purity Week Post #3 : 5 Dont’s of Marital Intimacy
Wlcome to “Purity Week.” Our goal for this week is to share with you four posts that deal with sexuality and purity. Here are the previous posts: #1 “Ivory Soap Isn’t Good Enough #2 Purity Starts in the Mind ——————————– So far in Purity Week, we have spoken about purity–or, rather, impurity–outside of marriage. But this emphasis, if we are not careful, can lead us to think of the sexual relationship as something dirty or bad. God designed the sexual relationship as a beautiful expression of love, connection, and passion between a husband and wife. When expressed and enjoyed within the marriage context, “the bed [is] undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4). There…
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Purity Week Post #2 : Purity Starts in the Mind
Welcome to “Purity Week.” Our goal for this week is to share with you four posts that deal with sexuality and purity. The posts will come out today, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (our monthly email newsletter will be released on Tuesday). To make sure you don’t miss a post, simply click here to subscribe for free. ——————————- The class slumps into their seats as the youth minister starts to “go there” again. He starts talking about how sex is only for marriage and that it is sinful to engage in sexual activity before entering marriage. …and eyes glaze over, because they have heard this over and over. But the struggle for…
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Purity Week Post #1 : Ivory Soap Isn’t Good Enough
Welcome to “Purity Week.” Our goal for this week is to share with you four posts that deal with sexuality and purity. The posts will come out today, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (our monthly email newsletter will be released on Tuesday). To make sure you don’t miss a post, simply click here to subscribe for free. ——————————— Often when speaking about purity, I have used an illustration from ads for Ivory Soap. For many years, that brand of soap was marketed as being “99 44/100% pure.” In fact, one of their jingles used to include the lyrics: I want my clean as real as Ivory; It’s gotta be 99 point…
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Ryan Christopher Anderson
Today’s post is a bit different, but I hope you will read all the way to the end. I want to tell you about Ryan. When we moved here, Ryan was one of the first ones in our house. Nearly from day one, he helped us get to know more about local news and places to shop and eat. Since we were not from Nashville, this was a huge help. He seemed to know everything about everything: local sports teams, restaurants, stores, churches…everything. Sadly, from day one, Ryan also decided to drop a few bad words in his conversations, even when the kids were around. We tried to drop a…
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Thank You for Modest Ladies
Last Saturday was the greatest day of the year: Leah’s birthday. It was quite the unusual day, though, as I conducted a funeral midday. Also, since it was Saturday, we had to get home a little earlier than normal, so I could look over my sermon notes. (See what preacher’s wives go through?) Anyway, we were at a local mall, when Leah started talking about something that was upsetting her. I was oblivious, and it was a good time to be so. In front of us were two girls, probably around 20 years of age, who were wearing shorts that nearly redefined “short.” She told me that a man holding…
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The FCC, Nudity, Extreme Profanity, and Your TV
For years, some have tried to point out the declining morals we see and hear in our mainstream media. It is something I have preached very passionately about, partly because, well, I like to be entertained, so it is a struggle. But I also preach passionately about this issue because so many Christians seemingly do not care what comes across their iPod or TV screen. The latest word from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), though, should open our eyes. Parents, are you ready for your children to see full frontal female nudity at any time during the day on your TV in your living room? If the latest consideration from…
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Count Your Many Blessings: 100 Reasons I’m Thankful
The old hymn says, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one…and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” So, today I’m doing just that. I hope this list encourages you to be more grateful. I’m thankful for… 1. God’s love for me in spite of myself. 2. Jesus taking my place on Calvary. 3. God creating such a beautiful world. 4. Leah, and how she reminds me constantly of the virtuous woman. 5. Marriage and the picture of Jesus and His Bride. 6. How God somehow brought Mary Carol into our lives by adoption. 7. How Mary Carol’s story reminds me that I’m adopted into God’s…
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Updates and Pictures of the Kids
We have update posts every so often, and I know many of you don’t like them all that much. So, if you will work your way through these updates today, you will be rewarded with pictures of our awesome kids. (Yes, that is shameless bribery!) First, my friend Michael Whitworth is a new daddy, and he wants to spend time with his newborn son Daniel instead of writing blog posts (what a novel idea). So, he asked 30 of his friends to write posts on their favorite passage from Proverbs. It was my privilege to write one of the posts, and mine is the first to be published. I highly…
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Inside My Mentoring Group
In late 2011, I posted that one of my goals for 2012 was to start a mentoring group for young adult guys. I had a couple of guys who were somewhat interested, but it did not materialize. But I really wanted to do this, so I changed how I approached asking guys to join in. Instead of a wide-open, anybody can apply approach, I started keeping a list of guys I specifically wanted to be part of the program. They are young men in whom I see a great deal of potential. I have a true passion for seeing younger men grow and mature into strong leaders for God and…
