If you know anything about me, know this…I absolutely love teaching and sharing the word of God. For more than 20 years it has been the joy of my life, to share and teach the Word - all over the place in many different formats. From those experiences I have this one great memory among the many. A young woman in our church has been so taken and changed by learning the meaning of the word holy that every time I hear that word I am reminded of her face when she explained the spiritual breakthrough of knowing the definition of  HOLY. 

Holy is what I call a Sunday morning word. It is one of those church words we use, but I am not always sure we grasp what it actually means. To be holy, by definition, means to be: altogether other

Something that is holy is so different than any and everything else that there is nothing that can compare or even be seen as similar. So then when we say Christ is the Holy One - what we are really saying is He is like none...

A friend recently shared his fresh marriage insight that he had received. Like all marriage and/or life insights, the better most useful insights seem to to come with and from the darkest biggest challenges. That at least is what I have found in my own life and the same is true of my friend’s recent awakening. 

He and his wife have been married for 47 years. Those of us married far less than 47 years may think that by the time you reach that point in marriage you pretty much have seen it all. What my friend’s experience tells us, is that God is always growing us up in both life and marriage. 

So here’s what happened, about January or so, my buddy underwent a fairly common surgical procedure, during his recovery he started to develop complications with his heart. For days his heart rate would either rise really high at some points and then at other points, drop really low. As he tells the story, there was a point where his heart rate stayed at or above 150...

Falling in Love With My Third  Wife

 I married my first wife in 2003. Our five years of dating were terrible. We fought all the time, over every thing. We were told to never marry. But, we felt God was on our side so we got married anyway. And those first five years of marriage, pretty much were regrettable but certainly not forgettable. 

 My second wife and I married in 2008. Things were great we had just had a child and it seemed like that newborn was the glue holding us together. Unlike my first marriage, in this marriage we were connected, we learned to laugh together and fight together to raise this child of ours, together. Things were not perfect but we seemed to manage the stress differently. The fire and emotion that we could’ve used to argue was swallowed up in diaper changes and intermittent sleep. Plus there were little ears and piercing wondering eyes always affixed on us, so we forgave more, pitched in frequently and got along better. 

...

A Christ Centered Vision Statement for Your Marriage 

Highly Intimate couples make it a continuous habit to connect the dots of their vision and their plans with God’s. In fact, just like a child’s connect-the-dot picture, a couple is merely connecting the dots of a picture that God has outlined. However, we are not robots and God does not force us to complete His picture of our marriage. Rather, He knows what picture best fits the framework of our marriage. Therefore, a Christ-centered marriage gains intimate connectivity when there is a mutual willingness for a husband and wife to search out and then move toward God’s picture for their marriage.

Let me refer again to the wisdom of Proverbs 16:1-9: The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord And your plans will be established. The Lord has made...

How to Handle Money in your Christian Marriage

Note: Click here to check out full video on our YouTube Channel. 

You just got engaged (or newlywed or been married 40 years). 

There are so many things to be done between now and the day that you and your now husband or wife to be will exchange vows and say, “I Do”. 

In all that needs to be done, there are a few conversations that need to be had. Here is a conversation you really need to have before getting married: How are we going to handle money?

I am always surprised when engaged couple’s tell me they have set a wedding date but haven’t talked about how their money will be handled. [It’s ok - it’s never too late]

Here’s the thing: I’m not a fan of dictating one set way to approach money and marriage. Because, there is no one way to handle money matters in marriage. Instead, I encourage couples to find what works best for them. I often say,...

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Colossians 3:8

 The first time I came to know of the police being called, a bottle had been thrown, there was a hole in the wall, and he needed a few stitches. That was the first time. There were many more times, surely some that I don’t even know about. Their marriage was probably the most difficult I’ve ever worked with. He struggled with alcoholism, and she struggled with anger. They fed off of each other. It was like their every interaction led to more escalated reactions. She felt that the more reasons he gave her to be angry, the more her anger flashed. He felt the more she raged, the more he drank, which fueled more anger, which led to more drinking. Neither was willing to get help for his or her personal struggles. So I agreed to continue to meet with them for what turned out to be more than two years. At a certain point, however, actually pretty early...

I want a divorce. I want a divorce. I want a divorce. We fight all the time. She doesn’t do this she is not enough of that. I want a divorce.

 I don’t have this. I don’t have that. I want a divorce. 

 Lord, I want. Lord I want. Lord I want a divorce. She’s too much this. She is too much that. Lord I want a divorce. 

 I pray to you to make it right. I want a divorce. I wait on you but it still isn’t right. I want a divorce. You gave her to me but she is not right. I.I.I want a divorce. 

 I am sure you want me to be happy. I

She isn’t happy either you know. She fusses. She refuses. She is stubborn. She too wants a divorce. 

We don’t get along. We don’t like each other. We don’t see a way. We argue. We are not happy. We want a divorce. 

 I. She. We. 

You brought us together. You were at that altar. You joined us together. You knew it all. You. 

I. ...