How Does Holiness Relate to Love?
How important is holiness? Isn’t it good enough just to be a loving person? And what does it even mean to be holy? The word itself means “set apart.” So, some have answered the question of how to be holy by removing themselves as far as possible from the world. For example, they become monks […]
The Family You Know You Need
Serenity often overruns the clock (and everything else) during my morning coffee. My deck provides the perfect spectator seat to the herd of deer that frequently visit the back field. I became captivated by a tender fawn, fumbling to climb the bank from the creek to catch up to its mother. In that moment, it […]
Was It Loving to Affirm My Sin?
Years ago when I abandoned God and embraced sin, several Christians demonstrated their “loving like Jesus” by affirming my right to make my own choices, rallying around me as a “caring, non-judgmental” support system, and never once confronting my sin (or even implying that my adultery, drunkenness, and the like were sin). If someone accidentally […]
A Cooperative Church
Have you ever seen a gospel lesson mirrored in everyday life? I had one of those moments hit on New Year’s. I grew up in a family that loved to play games when we gathered. At the end of the day, the game itself didn’t really matter. We could drum up competitive spirit for just […]
How to Learn How to Love Well – Q&A with Marriage Expert Dr. Joe Beam
In this Q&A on marriage, Joe Beam, bestselling author and founder of Marriage Helper, gives practical advice on how to learn how to love well. Q: Let’s say I want to love my spouse better, but we’re both super busy. Any ideas? In our current culture, schedules are incredibly busy. When things are insanely busy, […]
What Are Your 20s For?
Every fall when I give my “welcome to college” talk to our incoming class of first-year students, I tell them that they will likely experience more changes over the next ten years than any other ten year period of their lives. Many of them will graduate from college, get their first “adult” job, fall in […]
Short Prayers to Fuel Big Love: See Others as Ourselves (Part 4)
God created our bodies with an in-built response to frightening situations. When we become aware of danger, we go into a survival mode. In this mode, our thinking becomes very basic: for example, we might stay and fight or turn around and run away. This is the classic “fight or flight” response we have all […]
Short Prayers to Fuel Big Love: See Grace as Amazing (Part 3)
I can’t think of a more encouraging character trait to be around than gratitude. It’s why we train our kids from an early age to say “Thank you” when somebody does something nice for them. It’s deflating to be around people who respond to kindness without saying thanks. So you start by saying to your […]
