CELIBACY In her book, Born Again Virgins, Wendy Keller argues that the unmarried who have had a time of sexual activity will benefit from celibacy. She was joined by Doug Carroll, a writer for the Arizona Republic and E. Jean Carroll, an advice columnist for Elle magazine on CBS's The Early Show to discuss…

LOVE “There was once a Christian counselor who met with a man who was having difficulty in his marriage. With sensitivity to the man’s concerns, the counselor told him that the answer was to love his wife just as commanded in Ephesians 5:25. The troubled husband replied that he just could not do that…

Clint Eastwood says, “They say marriages are made in heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.” -- Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell Some marriages have more thunder and lightning than others. We should work to follow Biblical advice on how to have a peaceful family. The Week, April 10, 2015, p. 15; Colossians…

RELATIONSHIPS Twenty-four year old Sky was a creative, artistic, intelligent thinker who majored in photography at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He had an introverted personality, and was wearing a polyester retro-artist suit, sporting extended sideburns when he was introduced at Graceland…

A study of 3000 marriages, conducted by two Emory University researchers, indicates that if you want your marriage to last, date for 3 years before you tie the knot, spend the money on the honeymoon not the wedding, and stay active in your local church. The researchers found that couples who • date for…

In Seeking the Face of God, Gary Thomas writes, “This honesty means that we do not try to mislead others as to how holy or advanced we are. Just as we are eager to correct someone’s incorrect and negative impression of us, so we should be equally willing to make sure they don’t think better of us than…

A new Harris Interactive poll indicates a dangerous new trend is emerging in America. The poll of over 2,000 Americans found that 31 percent of American couples who have combined finances admitted they regularly committed “financial infidelity,” by lying to their spouses about money. The results showed…

In the 1970‘s and 80’s Jack Nicholson dated a string of glamorous actresses, and was always surrounded by his adoring fans. The relationships invariably came to an end because Nicholson couldn’t keep from fooling around with other women. Today, Nicholson is 77 and lonely. He wishes he could have ‘one…

General Colin Powell rose from modest beginnings to become the top military commander of the U.S. Armed Forces. He served as Secretary of State under George W. Bush. When he was ready to retire he gave up the 20 bodyguards, the private plane, and the adulation to become an ordinary citizen. Powell says,…

A new app for your smartphone is called Invisible Boyfriend. It allows anyone to pretend they have a loving relationship with a boyfriend who sends text messages and leaves voicemails. According to the designer, Matthew Homann, “single women who use the app just want to use the text messages and voicemails…

Author and Counselor Nicole Unice says that the one thing that every relationship needs to be healthy is a desire to grow. Unice says friendships, working relationships, marriages, and even our relationship with Jesus all eventually become unhealthy if a person becomes complacent and merely shows up,…

The entire British nation is looking for a woman named Samantha after her soldier boyfriend, evidently deployed in Afghanistan, left a phone message at the wrong number. According to reports, Diane Potts from the northern English city of Gateshead, and found the message on her answering machine. The…

Two recent news stories remind me that love can be fickle. When a newlywed wife called 911to report her husband missing during their Florida honeymoon, police told her that he had been arrested for attempting to hire a prostitute. A Washington state family returned home to find a burglar in their home.…

Louis Cozolino, professor of psychology at Pepperdine University in California says it is possible that researchers could develop a drug to make people have the impulse and the desire to move closer to one another. The research, conducted on prairie vols, is incomplete. Cozolino warns that more researchers…

Kindness I asked a husband the other day how long he's been married. He told me that they'd been happily married for thirteen years. The wife poked him in the side with her elbow as she corrected him. "We've been married for fifteen years." "Yea," he replied, "and thirteen have been pretty happy." Some…

A Florida judge recently came up with an unusual sentence for a man accused of domestic violence. Officials arrested Joseph Bray after he and his wife had a fight because he neglected to wish his wife a happy birthday. Records indicated police took Bray into custody he and his wife had argued, and he…

MARRIAGE Dominick and Anne Cosentino were married in 1928. She was 16. He was 18. In 2008 the Cosentinos, now 98 and 96 celebrated 80 years of marriage. At the celebration “Anne wore a white wedding veil, and when Dominick kissed her, he laid his hand on her heart.” In a day when marriage seems more…

In Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love, Sue Johnson writes, “In 1939, women ranked love fifth as a factor in choosing a mate. By the 1990s, it topped the list for both women and men.” —Jim L. Wilson Hold Me Tight, 27 Ecclesiastes 9:9 (HCSB) Enjoy life with the wife you love all…

Dean Sparks still say he is not sure why he decided to buy the rusty old 1959 Chevy Bel-Air at a Nebraska auto auction. He said for some reason the clunker with 92,000 miles stood out to him. After towing the car 800 miles to his home, Sparks began to take it apart. He found many old things inside, but…

A 19-year-old Ohio woman was sorry for cheating on her boyfriend, and decided to ask for support from her community to get a second chance. Jess Dutry’s boyfriend took back their engagement ring and ended the relationship on their one year anniversary after Dutry confessed to cheating on him earlier…

Vows I never used to cry at weddings, but lately, I choke up every time--especially while the bride and groom are exchanging vows. The words "richer or poorer, sickness or health, and 'til death do we part," used to be ordinary words to me. The word "cancer" changed that. There has always been a lot…

Dave Earley says, “Relationships can be understood as bank accounts. Realize it or not, you have a relational account with every person within your sphere of influence. Every positive interaction makes a deposit in that account. Every negative dealing with a person makes a withdrawal in your relational…

Lena Henderson and Roland Davis got married in Tennessee when they were teenagers. After four children and twenty years, they divorced in 1964. Davis remarried and moved away, but the coupled stayed friendly and kept in touch. When Davis’s second wife passed away, his daughter suggested he moved back…

Keeping Score At first, the only thing Susan and I agreed on was that we were in love and that we should be married. We disagreed about everything else. Our tastes were direct opposites. To me, ordering delivery pizza, staying home and watching a ball game was a perfect evening. Not Susan. She wanted…

Wu Hsia had an important decision to make. He and his girlfriend Rong Tsao had arranged to meet a former girlfriend, Jun Tang at a riverside park. Their intent was to tell the ex to stop trying to break them up. But Jun, trying to prove that Wu still loved her, jumped into the river and screamed for…