One thing the scriptures listed next all state is that ministry is more important than tradition. We’ve forgotten this over the years as we take our traditions to foreign countries, and call it evangelism. Its good to bring the gospel to them, but it is not good to mix in our traditions and claim them as God’s. Sometimes, the rules that churches create keep people away rather than attract them. Let’s look at God’s Word through the prism of God’s love.
Read moreThere are those who use scripture to claim unshakable positions on re-marriage. They believe the “one strike and you’re out” theory applies to marriage. They give more weight to the Law than to Mercy. Jonah stated (Jonah 4:2b) that God was a gracious and merciful God, way back then! Let’s raise some other interesting questions, but first, read on!
Read moreSimilar in effect to adultery, it affects both the sinner and others. Despite what some may say, it strongly affects any children that the marriage may have produced. (Look at the high teenage suicide rate, is it related to the high legal divorce rate and even higher real divorce rate?) Its after-effects, partly because of society’s attitudes, last a long time and may hinder future relationships.
Read moreI hope by now that you, the reader, are starting to develop a more compassionate view of people who survive a divorce. They need compassion just as all of us need it. Remember Romans 3:23? “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. The Bible doesn’t say “only the legally divorced”. It says “all”. In the Book of Malachi, God speaks to people that have strayed from the path He had chosen for them. Their hearts had grown cold toward Him (and each other). In Chapter 2, verses 14-16, He says to them:
Read moreI believe that marriage is not a contract. Contracts are written to protect both sides from the other. I do not want to protect myself from my wife, I want (with trepidation) to be vulnerable to her. That vulnerability opens the door for so many blessings. I also am working on being more vulnerable to God, and I have had some progress there. If marriage is not a contract, what is it?
Read moreI wrote this back in 1987 after being challenged by well-meaning, fellow Christians because I was engaged to a ‘divorced’ woman. They were convinced that I was out of God’s will, and their attacks got vicious. I needed to hear what God was trying to tell me. It was this: “Take three days off from work, and read My word, learn My heart.” I did. I needed all three days and several legal pads to put this together.
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