Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together
I just finished reading this book.
I have to say that when I saw another book on marriage was coming out, my first impression was to think: : “What is Mark and Grace Driscoll going to say that I haven’t heard before?” Honestly, in most cases, the concepts of friendship and how God views marriage is not new. In fact there are a lot of books out there that will tell you a lot of the same stuff.
What made it stand out for me was that the concepts presented weren’t from a “case study” point of view. This came from the story of their lives together. What they did wrong and what they work on doing right to make thier marriage stronger is what kept me reading. To top it all off, they were dealing with a lot of these issues while starting and pastoring a large church which takes the things they had to deal with and the ramifications if they couldn’t work things out to a whole nother level.
Another thing that stood out for me is how the Gospel is applied and scripture is exalted, not psychological techniques, to each area covered, which is something that you don’t see normally. Most books are “you-focused” its all about you: your behavior, your actions, your feelings, your desires, ect. This is where this book deviates from the conventional. It talks about how to be a servant to your spouse, how to forgive, how to choke the root of bitterness in your life, and recognize destructive patterns of behavior in your marriage that you inherited from your parents.
I also love the simplified way in which Mark and Grace explore the various ways we express our love sexually to our spouse and is it a way that is scripturally healthy and benefical as a married couple.
There are a lot more things I enjoyed but I think you need to go and get a copy for yourself and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
Kevin
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
If You are a Communicator of the Gospel…
I just got through reading this post by David Foster.
It is a challenge to all who share Jesus Christ. Whether you are a preacher or someone who is trying to reach others for Christ. We must communicate with not just our words but our actions! If we do not communicate God’s Word with passion and conviction, then we need to take a looooong look into our hearts. God’s Word is powerful and life-changing and we need to start believing and acting like it!
Kevin
Rightly Handling the Word of Truth II
1) Do you use the Bible every time you are communicating biblical principles? If you don’t, then why not?
The amount you use of God’s Word in your communication will determine how much the people who hear you value it. This is powerful! Read that again! People will not value the Word if you do not use it as the foundation on which you build everything you communicate. When you do not use the Word as your foundation, you can be easily deceived and you have no basis for anything you say. The scripture we have been breaking down says to”present yourself to God as one approved”. How can you present biblical principles without the Bible? Psalms 119:105 states:Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path. Joshua 1:8 states: This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
I rest my case on this point.
2) When you prophesy, or when you hear a prophesy, does the prophesy line up with scripture?
For an example, you are told by God that you should prophesy over this person that they should start an orphanage. Then you think you hear from God that everyone in the room should cluck and peck the ground like chickens and God will perform a miracle. Ok, we have two words. One is from God, one is not. Would God call someone to start an orphanage? Sure He would! James 1:27 says: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. As long as the person who is called bears witness(or is in agreement) with what you are saying and the person called to start an orphanage isn’t a child molester, we can be pretty sure that this is a Word from God. However, besides the health issues and embarrassment factor of pecking the ground and clucking, which are enough to bring the word into question, there is no biblical precedent for anyone in the bible being told to act like animals in order for God to heal someone. Second of all, according to scripture, if someone is sick: James 5:14)Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15)And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. There is no biblical precedent for clucking and pecking, but for the anointing of oil and prayer, so we can both from a physical and biblical standpoint judge that that word was not from the Lord.
I have a couple more questions for you next post.
Kevin
Rightly Handling the Word of Truth
2 Timothy 2:15) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
I have been greatly impressed by God as of late about this topic. This scripture has been resonating in my soul over and over. I have not felt more passionate and strongly about a topic in a while. That is the topic of rightly handling the Word of Truth. I must say that there are some things that have come up in recent days that has only stressed the urgent need for this to be taught in the church.
We are living at a point in history where there is a strong effort by those who truly do not know Christ to blend different religions into one train of thought, that there are many ways to know “god”, whichever one that may be. If we truly believe in Christ, we know that He is the only way to have a relationship with the one and only true God. If we solidly believe that, we are not going to fall into the New Age Oprah gospel that is going around.
While this is very disturbing, I am addressing something that is even more pressing. There are different levels of truth. For example, the divinity of Jesus is without question. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection are without question. They are absolute truths.
The problem is when we are talking about other things in the Word that may not be so “In Your Face”. There is yet another level of truth. There are ordinances, giftings, and teachings that we learn about after we have come to know and put our trust in Christ. Things we need to know and practice to deepen our relationship with God. They also help us to become witnesses of Christ so that we may share the gospel with those who do not know Him. This is the area that those who share these truths have to be extremely careful to rightly handle the Word of Truth.
I know in this fast-food society it is easy to pick up a book on a topic, read it, and preach a sermon on the topic. It is easy to give a prophetic word when it is full of wonderfully positive things and the people are eating it up. If a well known preacher, teacher evangelist says something on TV it has to be right. Right? There is no way that they could be wrong! Right? If you have to ask that question, then you are walking on some very shaky, dangerous ground. I am going to ask some questions and share some principles to help those who communicate the Word, and give those of you that are hearing some simple tools and benchmarks to judge whether or not what you are hearing is truth.
Stay Tuned!
Kevin
So Precious
I know I haven’t been posting as much. It is not cause God is not speaking anything to me but it’s actually quite the opposite right now. He is saying so much right now that I can barely keep up with what He is saying! It’s amazing!
Our source group is meeting for the first time this year and I am so excited about it! God is saying so much to my heart that I feel that it is only fair that the people that God has placed in my life to minister to should have first dibs. Once I have shared, I will post these things here to those of you who follow by internet. (not that I’ve heard anything from anyone outside of Journey anyway! Lol!) Believe me, it is sooo hard not to leak out what I will be sharing, but I think that we should have a measure of expectation, a measure of mystery.
This is not to torture, this is to make you understand that His words that He speaks to us are precious. Just the fact that Spirit of God would choose to reveal His will and mysteries to me to share is precious! This is not McDonalds where you can get your drive thru Word on a daily basis. His Words are LIFE to those who would hear! The principles that are being shared can change your life! That is powerful! That is an awesome responsibility I do not take lightly!
As much as I want to share with you, I want you to hear His voice! To allow the God in heaven become your personal Savior. The key word is “personal”. We value highly those most close in our lives. When you have a personal relationship with Him, it changes the dynamic from talking to the “Big Man Upstairs” to the one who walks “Closer Than A Brother”. After that, your life and relationship with Him will go to a whole nutha level!
So don’t think I am depriving you, I am trying to teach you the preciousness of His Word is too important to rush.
Kevin
Looking Back At 2008
2008 was a great year! I would say without a doubt that it has been one of the greatest years of growth for me personally. I have been involved in a leadership class for the past year with Pastor Michael that has rocked my world! I have learned so much and have been able to apply those principles I have learned. There are times in your life where growth is slow and sometimes it doesn’t look like you are going anywhere. This year has been just the opposite! I knew there things I needed to do to grow, but sometimes there is just a little something missing and you can’t quite put your finger on. Well, the class really hit those spots in my life that needed God’s touch in order for me to go to the next level that God had for me!
I have learned a lot from the source group we started this year. It’s been amazing to see how God has moved in the lives of those attending! We have formed relationships that would not have been forged if not for source groups! We have laughed, cried, ate, and had lots of fun together. I wouldn’t trade the experiences I have had and the valuable lessons I have learned for anything! 2009 is going to be interesting as we enter some uncharted waters and do some things different, but as long as we stay focused on Him, and listen when He speaks, we will have a spectacular year!
I need God to move in my life in 2009 more than He did in 2008! I need His strength, wisdom, and discrenment more than ever. God is taking me to new levels but with those new levels come bigger challenges and tests. I am ready to face them. Are you?
Kevin
What Methods of Contact do You Find Most Effective?
I am an organizer. If I see something really out of place or I see something that could make things more efficient or make things easier, I am one of those who thinks of those things. A lot. Kids keep me from being compulsive about it cause God knows they are all slobs! Lol!
Being the type of person I am, I like to find the fastest, most effective way to do things, this includes communication. I was wondering, what is the best way to get ahold of you to contact you or get information to you? (Phone? Email? Twitter? ect?)
I look forward to your responses.
Kevin
How To Get More Hits For Your Blog
I’ve been searching high and low looking at ways to expose my blog to more readers and I have come to this one conclusion: Put “How To Get More Hits For Your Blog” in the title and watch them come in! Lol! Do I think this is a stupid way? Yes. Who knows? Maybe it might expose your blog to some people who wouldn’t normally look. I thought I would post at least one link that had some helpful hints:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2100932_hits-clicks-traffic-articles-ehow.html
Peace
Kevin
Blogging Thoughts
I started to write this post but I was reading over it and I wanted to plow my pen into my temple as I was reading it! LOL! It sucked! I have written posts that have never made it to be published and may never. I think you have to look at what you are writing and ask yourself “Is this something that I should use the ever fleeting moments of my life reading?”. I can’t say that I have asked that question every time but I do it more than not. There are a lot of people who write posts about how to write these things but I think it eats away at the creativity that God has given us. What works for one won’t always work for someone else. Have fun with it. Enjoy.
Kevin
