Throughout history the way in which people have progressed from not knowing one another to marriage has shifted. What began as a business transaction shifted to courtship and, finally, to contemporary dating practices. Recently, however, conventional dating practices seem to have given way to a culture of hookups and one night stands—a culture in which there are no rules. The lack of rules breeds insecurity and superficiality in "relationships." How then do students navigate the waters of forming a healthy relationship? Do we fall into the cultural norm of meaningless hookups or do we "kiss dating goodbye?" Neither of these...

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Ephesians 5:21-3321Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any...

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I recently spent a weekend in the Hudson Valley with about fifty college students from New York City. The theme of our retreat was sex, and they spent the weekend learning from pastors about God’s design for sex as well as discussing it amongst themselves. I’m proud of them for being as vulnerable as they were and for their willingness to confront this issue head on, when it would be easier to simply live as though it isn’t an issue. We spent a lot of time discussing the overarching narrative for why we believe sex should be restricted to marriage....

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Proverbs 5 15 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. 16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? 17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. 18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.  After three weeks of exploring our need for relationships and the need for forgiveness implicit in strong relationships, this week,...

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 Forgiveness Matthew 18:21-35   As we continue to explore real relationships, it becomes necessary for us to pause and admit that true, deep relationships are never free of conflict. If we truly know and allow ourselves to be known, periods of disagreement, periods of hurt, and periods of wrongdoing are unavoidable. Often, especially in consumer/vendor relationships, when incidents of discord arise, the relationship ends. How then can we enter into real relationships as well as persevere and grow when we are hurt or wronged? Study of Matthew 18 provides us with a look at Biblical forgiveness.   First, verse 23...

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