Surviving an Affair: Staying Whole When You are Broken
As I’ve walked with other women through healing from affairs, I’ve been able to identify several lies that the enemy uses to try to take us down. These are common to anyone who has been sexually violated, but they cannot compete with God’s truth. If you have been wounded by someone else’s sexual sin, let me encourage you that you can trust God’s word over your feelings, fears, or what anyone else has told you. If you recognize any of these lies, know that you are not alone!
Is Isolation Your "New Normal"?
We’ve recently passed the one year anniversary of the death of our social lives. If you are like me, that was quite the shock to the system. But slowly over time, I think we began to adapt to the distance. Where once there was a painful awareness of the loneliness, many have grown used to the social distancing and adopted new ways of coping. Are you wondering if you even want to return back to the hustle-bustle-exhaustion-from-social-expectations? Have you stopped seeking out connection? You may not feel lonely anymore (and may even be feeling guilty about that), but are you really better off alone?
3 Reasons Why You Keep Doing What You Do (and the keys to stop those sabotaging habits)
There are some habits in our lives that carry some major, long-lasting consequences. You likely know what they are in your life. These habits could ruin your relationships, destroy your marriage and sabotage your destiny.
So how do we identify the sabotaging habits and also step out of them to a new habit of freedom in Christ? Here are 3 key things you need to understand in order to get free from those sabotaging habits.
Dysfunctional Families: proof that your family of origin does not have to be your destiny
No matter where things are at for you, nothing is impossible. A life of surrender to the Spirit of God can course-correct generations of dysfunction. One right, hard choice after another, mixed with the supernatural power of God, can re-establish family.
Real Men and Emotions
What happens if a sensitive soul also lives in a world that belittles the expression of emotion? What if a boy doesn't find a safe place to come back to? What if his tears are constantly belittled? What if his defenses get stuck?
What if he stops feeling? Look around. Look within. You are most likely experiencing the fall-out.
To Parent Is To Suffer (and other happy thoughts)
Biologically and metaphorically, we pass life into another human when we parent. Into the next generation. And to pass that life includes a kind of death in each of us as moms and dads. So, the question is, will we “die” keeping our vision renewed or with continual groaning?
Talking about Sex in Church
You cannot be a follower of Christ without it impacting your sexual choices.
The early church leaders knew it. The question is, do the 21st century church leaders know it? And if they do, where is the mainstream conference session? It makes me wonder why there aren’t more sermon series on these matters?
How to Prepare Young Boys to Deal with Porn
For so long the religious answer to porn was simply, "Don't" and "Stop." Even those who have no affiliation with faith are discovering via research and experience the damaging affects of pornography on relationships, one’s sexual health, and psychological well-being. But guess what? Knowing the side affects hasn’t stopped the industry.
It's not enough. Porn is built on damaging presumptions; by identifying these lies we can lay a foundation of understanding for our children and put the issue into the context of their life.
Woke or Awakened?
In these desperate times, we can’t afford to just try to say the right things - we are in need of an awakening of the heart. We are in need of complete transformation -- this is available through Jesus.
A Confession to Make
To confess is to admit that you are or have been wrong. It is difficult enough to admit to yourself that you’ve been wrong. It is downright painful to have to admit it to others.
If it is so scary, why should we confess our faults, our past, and even our moral failures to one another?
The Cost of Organic Friendship
I've heard people say that they want "organic community". People all over the world are tired of feeling lonely and they ache to have friendships, a place free from pretence or a pressure to perform. And who could disagree with that?
We were made for it. But it doesn't come easy.
Like. Follow. Friend.
We are one of the loneliest generations of all time. How can we develop friendships that will endure?
Whereas most generations before us lived in community and had to purpose to find moments of seclusion, we live in seclusion and have to purpose to find moments of community.