Relationships

Legalism vs. Freedom in Christ

Justin Young
5 Jun 2012
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I had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago, one that really got me thinking. A friend of mine was excited about his new tattoos and decided to post some photos of them on Facebook. Within a few minutes, a mutual friend commented on the photos saying, “The Bible says that your body is a temple and that you shouldn’t put tattoos on it.” Never mind that these tattoos were words from the Bible, or that my tattooed friend, along with the pictures, posted how happy he was to be using his body as a tool of evangelism to […]

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Extending Love

Bob Barnes
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There was a time when extended family met the needs of a person in crisis. Those were the farm communities that built America to become what it is today. When a couple or a mom had a need it was her brothers and sisters, her aunts and uncles and her parents who helped her through difficult times. The people who loved her sacrificially, loved her through the hard times. When a father was no longer present at home, the extended family pitched in to help out. It was the natural thing to do. They lived right there in the same […]

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Inevitable Evitable Unity

Carmen Goodier
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Consider the classy Caucasian woman. Dressed in her expensive suit and glittering in diamonds and pearls, she is careful not to dirty her hands while standing in line at the sandwich shop. A Hispanic man walks in and stands behind her. This man is dirty and sweaty from working at a construction site all day. He just moved to the United States and knows little English. These two human beings might never communicate or cross paths for their entire lives, having very different social groups, topics of conversation and families. But here they are, within inches of each other, ordering […]

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Me Obey Him – Are You Kidding?

Dr. John Hawkins
25 May 2012
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Remember the traditional wedding vows when the preacher asks the bride, “Will you love, honor, and obey?” “Me obey him – are you kidding?” is not an unusual response in today’s culture. If the pastor quotes from Ephesians 5:22-23, which states, “Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body” (NASB), you can almost feel the hair start to stand up on the back of many a woman’s neck. The reality is you […]

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Divorce – God’s View

Dr. John Hawkins
25 Apr 2012
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The subject of divorce can be a controversial issue in the church. Bring it up in a Bible study and you can get into some heated debates. There are various views on this subject from “divorce is always wrong” to “it is no big deal” and everything in between. A person’s marital or divorced status can determine what positions they can hold and where they can serve in the church. It causes many Christians to feel like second-class citizens or stigmatized in the church. At the same time if the church does not uphold the sanctity and permanence of marriage […]

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How to Have Great Relationships

Cory Nickols
2 Dec 2011
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Relationships take work! The more significant the relationship is in a person’s life, the more effort and energy it takes to keep it moving forward in a healthy direction. For example, a person who is married would naturally invest a lot more time and energy with a spouse than he would in talking with his next door neighbor. And because he spends more time with his significant other, there are greater chances for misunderstanding to take place, offenses to form or for disagreements to arise. If these challenges and obstacles are not handled correctly, they can actually put a wedge […]

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Twitter #Single

Lori Harding
4 Nov 2011
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Yes, search #single on twitter and find a myriad of interesting, funny and sad tweets.  One hundred forty characters are used to punctuate a person’s perspective on being single.   A quick peek revealed a range of feelings including: #single  I do what I wanna do, #single and hate it, I’m not #single I’m in a long term relationship with adventure & fun, #single ! :)), kinda tired of being #single. What is it about the word single that brings either great consternation or a great sense of calm?  Whether you are young and not ready for marriage, widowed, divorced or […]

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Who Do Your Kids Look Up To?

Bob Barnes
3 Nov 2011
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Who do your kids look up to?  Who are their heroes?  Is it even important to think about who our children look up to?  Only to the extent that we as parents realize that our children will want to emulate their heroes. You tend to want to be like the person or people you look up to.  If you look up to them and they are your heroes, they are probably also your role models.  Parents can’t afford to miss this because our children attempt to model their lives after their role models.  How many people at Apple started dressing […]

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Love And Marriage

Marisa Zeppieri Caruana
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Love is not something you feel. It’s something you do. ~ David Wilkerson In a day and age when marriage seems to be losing both its popularity and appeal, as Christians, we need to guard our relationships. Whether it’s at work or even within our circle of friends, someone at some point will make a derogatory comment about their spouse. While it may seem like innocent banter at the time, in actuality it is influencing our feelings about our relationship. Being aware of our inherent tendencies can help us avoid snares and keep us focused on truth. Perhaps you are […]

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My response is my responsibility

The Good News
1 Dec 2009
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My response is my responsibility Last month my wife and I finished “Love and Respect,” a married couples study, for the second time. Not that we didn’t get it the first time but it was so good that we wanted a refresher course. I think everyone has a need for refresher courses. Our daily routine can get so busy we can forget the basics of how to live every area of our life according to how God wants us to. I know I have taken several studies a second time over the last 12 years, and I will probably do […]

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