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July 29, 2011

Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, an Evangelical?

FOTF and TOMS

Every Friday we’ll take a break from topical posts and will post some random personal thoughts. --- A Cuppa Joe - Random Ramblings from a Fellow Struggler #8 “Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, an Evangelical?” We look at the McCarthy blacklist era of the 1950’s with contempt for its promoters, and shame for everyone who went along with them. In the name of enhancing national security, the House on Un-American Activities, headed by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, launched a reign of terror that brought moguls and movie stars to their knees. Continue Reading

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July 28, 2011

Shame On Me

frustrated

Every Thursday we’ll post something on emotional or relational health. Hope it helps. --- Shame on Me “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” – Job 42:6 In January of 1984, I had my crises of truth. I was a Christian who’d backslidden into destructive sexual behaviors, and the conflict between my sexual and spiritual desires reached its peak. That was the beginning of my recovery and, oddly enough, the darkest time of my life. All my porn had to go, of course. I had my cable service turned off, canceled my Continue Reading

Filed Under: Relational Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 27, 2011

Sin: The Presence, the Power and the Difference

"You have the power, as Paul says, to resist what you used to be in servitude to..."

Every Wednesday we’ll be posting something to do with doctrine and purity. Hope it helps. --- Sin: The Presence and the Power and the Difference I had a bucketful of emotional and sexual struggles when I first came to Christ, all of which I assumed would disappear once I was born again. And for a few weeks, it seemed they did. In the newness of my relationship with Him, and the outright wonder of salvation itself, I felt no sexual temptations; experienced no fantasies. I gave myself over to fellowship, drinking in the Word, prayer and Continue Reading

Filed Under: Doctrinal Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 26, 2011

The Intimate Enemy

sad wife

Every Tuesday we’ll be posting an article about restoring and strengthening marriages that have been damaged by sexual sin. Hope it’s helpful. --- The Intimate Enemy “Husbands, love your wives”, Paul admonishes in Colossians 3:19. Well, we’ve heard that before, but then he adds an interesting challenge: “---and be not bitter towards them.” Hmmm. As a former Pharisee, Paul had almost certainly been married at one time, then probably widowed. He knew something firsthand about men and women, and the dynamics that come between them, and Continue Reading

Filed Under: Marriage Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 25, 2011

Craving Versus Hunger – Big Difference!

"... appetite ... (is) based primarily on a craving for the intense versus a hunger for the necessary.

Every Monday we’ll post something to do with personal purity. Hope it helps. --- Craving versus Hunger – Big Difference! If you’ve ever dieted, you know the difference between your hunger and your appetite. Your hunger signals are accurate and honest. They tell you what your body really needs, creating a discomfort based on deficits that need to be filled. Hunger assesses, then announces, what and when you need to put into the system to keep it running. Following your hunger signals, then, is always a good idea. Not so with Continue Reading

Filed Under: Keeping It Clean Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 22, 2011

Random Ramblings from a Fellow Struggler #7

joe 2

Every Friday we’ll take a break from topical posts and will post some random personal thoughts. --- Random Ramblings from a Fellow Struggler #7 Woke up this morning to find my fifteen year old asleep on the couch, where he’d decided to spend the night instead of in his own bed. This has become a pattern, and I’ve been a little bewildered by it, since we’ve provided him with a perfectly good, if somewhat small, bedroom. With a bed. That works. “But I hate making the bed”, he murmured when I asked him why he’d fallen asleep on the couch yet Continue Reading

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July 21, 2011

I’m Fine. No Really, So Back Off.

I’m Fine. No, Really. So Back Off!

Every Thursday we’ll post something to do with emotional issues or relational issues. Hope it helps --- I’m Fine. No, Really. So Back Off. The year was 1971, the church was Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, and the speaker was Chuck Smith, who is regarded today as the father of the Jesus Movement and one of the world’s finest Bible teachers. I was there as a definitely unsaved 16 year old heathen who enjoyed porn and promiscuity, and had no intention of ever abandoning either. But that night, listening to Chuck’s clear presentation of the Continue Reading

Filed Under: Relational Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 20, 2011

Meaning: The Critical (and Overlooked) Element

The Hiding Place

Every Wednesday we’ll post something about doctrine and recovery. Hope it helps. --- Meaning: The Critical (and Overlooked) Element Nearly fifty years ago, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor who endured Auschwitz, wrote Man’s Search for Meaning (Beacon Press revised 1997). Dr. Frankl observed during his imprisonment that the inmates most likely to survive the horrors of the camps were the ones with a clear and deeply held sense of meaning – a goal, vision, or cause – that was worth fighting and surviving for. And while many of Continue Reading

Filed Under: Doctrinal Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 19, 2011

Notes From the Doghouse: “Honey, It Really Wasn’t About You”

pen

Every Tuesday we’ll be posting an article about restoring and strengthening marriages that have been damaged by sexual sin. Hope it’s helpful. --- Notes from the Doghouse: “Honey, It Really Wasn’t About You” Dear Wife,I’m in the doghouse, where you’ve sent me, and I can’t really complain because I know it’s my own actions that put me here. I did some stupid, irresponsible things that brought me a little pleasure, followed by a lot of  misery, like the sick feeling you get after you deliberately sin; the shame of knowing I’ve let Continue Reading

Filed Under: Marriage Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 18, 2011

The Critical Structure

Glasses on Bible 2

Every Monday we’ll post something about maintaining your sexual integrity. Hope it helps. --- The Critical Structure Where there’s sin, there’s chaos. That’s the nature of sin – it confuses everything and everybody it touches. When there’s reformation in the Church, there’s a return to the basics (the authority of the Bible, the need for prayer, the value of worship) and the establishing of order. Likewise, if you’re getting serious about your purity, then you’re also in a personal reformation. That means you, too, need the order Continue Reading

Filed Under: Keeping It Clean Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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