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Tag Archives: sexuality

Beyond an Airbrushed Spirituality

To airbrush something is “to prettify or sanitize something” by means of an airbrush. I asked a photographer friend if he could airbrush my photo.  Here is what he came up with:                   Now I may “feel” like I am the younger version of myself on the left. I may have a vision for it.  But it is not reality. I am the man on the right. It is important we ask ourselves: “How might I be participating, or even encouraging, an airbrushed spirituality?” Unconsciously, it is so easy to do. I know. I’ve done it. As long as we had good weekend services, good attendance, and good programs, I felt okay. The problem was I ignored the reality that: 85% of Christians admit to being stuck in their walk with Christ. They are not experiencing transformation in our churches. The sexuality of people inside the. Read more.

New Podcast: Leading Out of Your Marriage or Singleness

What is leading out of your marriage or singleness? In this month’s Emotionally Healthy Leadership podcast Rich Villodas and Pete Scazzero continue the conversation around this core leadership theme in Pete’s new book: The Emotionally Healthy Leader. We hope you will take 15 minutes to view and consider sharing it with other leaders. Click the image below to watch the conversation on YouTube.    

If you are going to marry…

“If you are going to marry,” thundered the speaker to the 17,000 of us attending the Urbana Student Missions Conference, “…make sure you marry someone who doubles your ministry, and doesn’t cut it in half.” Nobody had said it quite that bluntly before but that was the message about marriage that I was taught as a young Christian leader. The focus of my energy became accumulating knowledge and skills. I read books, attended seminars, traveled to conferences, and invested three years of my life in seminary. Marriage was only talked about in the context of helping other couples. Most present-day theology on a leader’s marriage reflects this secular view: I am a leader who happens to be married. The Christian view, however, is very different. We lead out of a marriage that serves as a sign and wonder of God’s love for the world (Ephesians 5:32). Since Geri and I started our emotionally healthy. Read more.

A Prayer for a Passionate Marriage

Last night Geri and I shared God’s vision for Christian marriage (over against secular marriage) with our New Life FIRM small group of 18 people. Among other things, we talked about the necessity of bathing our marriages in prayer if our relationship is to become what God intends. Only God’s power and strength, accessed through prayer, can transform us so that our marriage vocations might become “signs and wonders” of the kingdom of God on earth. I promised our group that I would post the prayer Geri and I pray, separately and together, each day. I often include it in my morning Daily Office. Meditate on it. You may want to memorize it. I don’t necessarily pray these exact words each day, but the rich theology and vision contained here keeps me anchored in God’s high vision for a uniquely Christian marriage. (This is adapted from a pamphlet distributed by the Pastoral and Matrimonial. Read more.

A Prayer for a Passionate Marriage

Last night Geri and I shared God’s vision for Christian marriage (over against secular marriage) with our New Life FIRM small group of 18 people. Among other things, we talked about the necessity of bathing our marriages in prayer if our relationship is to become what God intends. Only God’s power and strength, accessed through prayer, can transform us so that our marriage vocations might become “signs and wonders” of the kingdom of God on earth. I promised our group that I would post the prayer Geri and I pray, separately and together, each day. I often include it in my morning Daily Office. Meditate on it. You may want to memorize it. I don’t necessarily pray these exact words each day, but the rich theology and vision contained here keeps me anchored in God’s high vision for a uniquely Christian marriage. (This is adapted from a pamphlet distributed by the Pastoral and Matrimonial Renewal. Read more.

A Couple’s Prayer for 2014

Geri and I have been praying this prayer each day for our marriage as it articulates our vision as we enter into 2014. If you are married, pray it for your marriage several times a day. And if you are single, pray it for the marriages in your church. It is a prayer filled with a rich theology that the sexual love between a man and woman is the closest thing we have to the intimacy of the Trinity and the passionate life-giving desire God has for each of us. (This is adapted from a pamphlet distributed by the Pastoral and Matrimonial Renewal Center.) Lord, grant us the strength to answer your callto become a living sign of your love.Make our love for each other like your love for us:passionate, permanent, intimate, unconditional,and life giving. May we be as present to each other as you are to us,so that all the world can see your presencemanifested. Read more.