If you are single, maybe you think about getting married one day. As friends progress through their wedding days, the pressure can mount for you to find someone. While eagerness for marriage is a good trait, you must be careful not to rush into something that’s not ideal. It’s time to go the 2nd mile in your dating preparation.
If you still want to be with your spouse at the end of your life, you must be heading in the same direction now. So many marriages struggle due to misalignment. The two partners simply pointed themselves in different directions. In reality, the danger is in the subtlety of it all. Rarely do people marry another who has an entirely …
You know your marriage needs work, and you accept that your spouse isn’t 100% completely to blame for the condition of your marriage. You are ready and committed to doing the work, but what if your spouse isn’t putting forth the same type of effort? It’s time to go the 2nd mile in working on your marriage all by yourself.
The biggest decision of your life is choosing whether or not to follow Jesus. The second biggest decision of your life is choosing who to walk beside as you follow Jesus. If you are single, someone may have told you to come up with a list of non-negotiables that must be present for you to consider a person as a …
To honor your marriage, you must keep the marriage bed pure from anyone else invading it. That includes real experiences and virtual experiences. Sex isn’t the problem. Sexual desires are not the issue. The dilemma is when we attempt to meet a God-given desire in an ungodly way. You are supposed to have your sexual needs met with your spouse …
I love sitting down with couples to lead pre-marital counseling. As we discuss all the opportunities and complexities that marriage brings, I will often ask, “So, tell me how you two handle conflict?” In some instances, they will look at each other in such a way that makes me think they were arguing on the drive over to meet me. …
The Bible has much to say regarding marriage. Here are 10 pivotal Bible verses on this blessed union. Gen. 2:24 – Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Mark 10:9 – Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. Song of Solomon 8:7 …
It is hard to fathom that we have been married for 15 years. In some ways, it has gone by so quickly. In other ways, when I realize all that has happened, it is amazing that it has all been crammed in within 15 years. I am still incredibly amazed that Amanda agreed to marry me. That’s not just obligatory …
We were months away from being married. I was counting down the days. While I loved getting used to calling Amanda my fiancé, I was extremely eager to introduce her to others as my wife. I was looking forward to every aspect of marriage, but there was this thing that got in the way of it – it’s called …
Romance, nurture, and communication takes time. Setting an appointment to spend together is going the first mile, but that isn’t enough to have a thriving marriage. Do you want your relationship to feel vibrant again? It’s time to go the second mile by making time for your marriage. Subscribe to The 2nd Mile Podcast >> 5 Reminders The tragedy of how …
Before moving into a house, most people go through a home inspection. Years ago, our inspector caught numerous issues that had to be addressed, but he missed a small one. Honestly, the discrepancy was only a few centimeters. I never even noticed it until we had been in the house for quite some time. The discrepancy was a pipe that …
People wanted to know what Jesus believed about the status of marriage in heaven. Jesus emphasized that what we receive in heaven will be greater than what we take with us to heaven. Mark 12:18-27 18 And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying,19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if …
Jesus was questioned regarding the nature of marriage and the opportunity for divorce. When an eternal God puts something together, it should last forever. Let Nothing Separate By determining what issues are worthy of divorce, many people attempt to discover a way out of their marriage. Due to the stubborn nature of people, God provided a civil manner through divorce …
Even if you are in a bad marriage, I have often said that there is never a completely one-sided divorce. Even if one party contributed 99% of the conflict, the other spouse hasn’t been perfect. While I have counseled that logic for years, I have changed my mind recently regarding that claim. After years of teaching, writing, and counseling, …
Writing and releasing a book on marriage is a dangerous thing. I suppose writing a book on anything is dangerous, but the topic of marriage is an especially bold topic to address. As a minister, I have often heard people communicate disapproval for a “younger” pastor sharing wisdom on marriage. What does he know about it anyway?
I definitely don’t understand it all, but I do understand it some. Here’s why I didn’t wait until I turned 99 to write a book on marriage.
Since I have released my book on marriage this week, I have been encouraged by feedback. Granted most of the encouragement has come before they have read the book, but I appreciate it nonetheless! What God Has Joined Together was a resource I struggled with starting and finishing.
I’m happy to announce that my new book, What God Has Joined Together, is now available! This targeted resource on marriage seeks to help equip you and your spouse to build the type of marriage the glorifies God. You can get your copy on Amazon.
I am still working on the edits on a new book on marriage. It is titled, What God Has Joined Together. The book focuses on 31 short chapters of specific issues that attempt to separate a marriage.
My prayer is that these specific chapters will help strengthen and protect marriages. One of the most difficult things about this project was coming up with the list of needed chapters. What do you include? What do you leave out?
I have more book ideas than I have time to write them. While I enjoy writing books, it is a difficult process that takes a lot of time and an unknown amount of effectiveness. I’ve got a notebook with many ideas that have been started yet unfinished. Years ago, I couldn’t shake a particular book concept that kept moving up the prioritized list.
It would be a biblical and practical resource to help equip marriages. The thought was to call it “What God Has Joined Together” and each chapter would be a particular item that could possibly separate the marriage. I liked the idea so much I tried to get someone else to write it, but eventually, I could see my burden for it was pushing me to work on it personally.
One of the greatest sources of conflict in marriage is finances.
Money isn’t the root of evil. The love of money is the root of evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Money alters the way people think and act. People think, say, and do unexpected things when it comes to the increasing accumulation of wealth.
Marriage takes time. Unfortunately, time is one of those things that we feel as if we simply don’t have anymore. As we give our minutes, hours, days, months, years, and lives away to different pursuits, we can never take back the time invested. The tragedy of how we spend our time is that often our marriages suffer. The one who …
For a marriage to succeed, a couple must possess mutual motivation. Determine what is the mutual motivation for your marriage to succeed. What is the desired result? What is the common goal for the marriage? What is the win for the home? If you look to the pages of Scripture, a worthy goal is not to get along peacefully, raise …
With the rise of social media and the barrage of technological connectivity, marriages can become endangered if proper precautions are not in place. Operating from numerous devices and connecting through various mediums, we are able to connect with people in a host of ways. The ability to have pseudo-community with other people is at an unprecedented level and will continue …
Many marriages struggle due to dealing with extended families. One common issue for many couples is how for adults to interact with their adult parents. Regarding your parents, there are two equal marital dangers: dishonoring abandonment or reluctant detachment. Even while it seems difficult to obtain, there is a healthy balance. When you start your family with your spouse, …
Maybe you have heard of Lottie Moon. She is famous in Southern Baptist circles for a missionary offering that bears her name. She spent close to 40 years serving as a missionary in China. In her last years in China, the Chinese were struggling with poverty, famine, and the effects of war. When Moon returned from her second furlough in …
Marriage would be easy if your spouse wasn’t involved. And he or she probably thinks the same thing. In reality, marriage is straightforward, but when you introduce the human dynamic, things always get challenging in a hurry.
Tim and Kathy Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage is the most complete book on marriage I have ever read. Somehow, they are able to dissect the theological while display the practical. It is thorough and robust. Favorite Quotes In a few years, however, marriage manuals look dated. In the Bible you have teaching that has been tested by millions of …
In marriage, you are meant to be a suitable helper for your spouse. Suitable Helper Genesis 2:4-25 Alive and Yet Alone Mankind is the only creation that was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). Out of all his creations, God reckoned that only one of them was not good – Man. “It is not good that the man …
31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband. …
If you are just about married, I want to encourage you to think about what it means to become your spouse’s suitable helper. This video is one session in an 8-session series to help equip those considering or nearing marriage. In all honesty, these are helpful concepts for those who have been married for years as well.
If you are just about married, I want to encourage you to consider common marriage myths. Many people are unsure what the Bible says about marriage, and we want to help clear the questions up. This video is one session in an 8-session series to help equip those considering or nearing marriage. In all honesty, these are helpful concepts for those who have …
In biblical times, people who owned vineyards had to be careful about pests like foxes that would come into their gardens and ruin their produce. If a person didn’t put the proper defense around the vineyard, they could lose much financially. These pests were so smart though: they would come when the owner wasn’t around, and so a wise owner …
I don’t think I really appreciated what I was doing when I signed my marriage license years ago. Young and in love, everything was just fine in the world. As the years have gone by, we have learned so much about each other and what real marriage is supposed to be about. As parents now, we have a greater responsibility than …
To say that God and Adam were close is an understatement. Adam experienced a level of intimacy in the Garden that no other human has ever fully experienced. There was no sin. There was no separation. There was no Fall, curse, or corrupt nature. God strolled through the Garden that Adam tilled. We are talking face to face, eye to eye, …
Many letdowns in marriage happen when our expectations set our spouses up for failure. What exactly are we supposed to help one another do? This Genesis 2 message is from North Side’s Marriage Conference 2016. Sermon Points Unrealistic expectations in marriage can lead to unforgiving spouses. It is easier to criticize your spouse’s failures that it is to address your …
Here is a sermon I preached at North Side’s 2016 Marriage Conference. In this intro session, we look at Malachi 2 and seek to divorce-proof a marriage by looking at the steps that drive us away from our spouse.
Don’t wait until you have become married or have children to start thinking about how God wants you to live as a family. Before you get married (or even start dating someone), ask yourself: is this person a help or a hindrance to my desire of following Jesus?
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