Marriage Ministry

Marriages today are deteriorating at an alarming rate: As of 2003, 43.7% of custodial mothers and 56.2% of custodial fathers were either separated or divorced (US Census Bureau). One might ask, "Why do so many marriages fail?" According to pastor and teacher Tony Evans, marriages deteriorate not because we no longer get along, but because we have lost sight of the purpose and prosperity of the marriage covenant.

Many wives long to have their husbands choose them all over again. To be their knight in shining armor. Their leader. Their listener. Their lover. In 52 Things Wives Need from Their Husbands, Jay Payleitner, veteran radio producer and author of 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad, offers a bounty of welcome advice. A great gift or men's group resource, 52 Things Wives Need from Their Husbands provides a full year's worth of advice. And no chapter will make husbands feel guilty or criticize them for acting like men!

When police raided the Short Creek compound of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1953, it soon became a political and publicity nightmare and eventually cost the governor of Arizona his job. From that point on, skittish public officials allowed the polygamist sect to practice its tenants unmolested for the next 50 years and turned a blind eye to child abandonment, kidnapping, statutory rape, incest, and massive tax and welfare fraud. But then Warren Jeffs, a new FLDS prophet, escalated the sect’s crimes to near madness.

Sometimes it seems we just can't get what we want. Circumstances thwart our best-laid plans. We struggle to live a heartfelt life. Worst of all, says Eldredge, the modern church mistakenly teaches its people to kill desire (calling it sin) and replace it with duty or obligation (calling it sanctification).

Wesley Hill writes for gay Christians and those who love them. Part-memoir, part theological reflection, Hill shares the struggles that gay Christians face as they seek to live faithful to God's "no" to homosexuality.

Are you a "desperate housewife," committed to marriage yet longing for a deeper, more intimate connection with your husband? Believe it or not, you can have the marriage you long for - if you’re willing to take desperate measures.

Throughout Keep Showing Up, Karen includes ideas to implement in your marriage right now, such as powerful statements to speak to your spouse, date-night-on-a-shoestring suggestions, and discussion starters. Discover how your "incompatibility" can become the strength of your marital team in this real-life guide to both living with and loving your spouse - differences and all.

Can you have a strong personality and still be a godly wife? Yes! Do you ever get the idea that being a godly wife means you need to be a mousy doormat? Be as unnoticeable as a doorknob? Or have a personality transplant? Fierce Women: The Power of a Soft Warrior smashes that idea. No matter whether you're an extrovert or more introverted, Kimberly Wagner believes women are created to be a compelling force.

Drawing on decades of counseling experience, Jim Newheiser explores forty crucial questions relating to the complexities of marriage, divorce, and remarriage—unpacking the answers given in God's Word. This useful reference work for pastors, counselors, and personal study can also be listened to straight through for a scriptural overview of the topic or assigned in small sections to counselees.

Healthy people make for healthy relationships. We often complicate that by entering relationships with our past baggage and preconceived ideas of what it means to find "the one". But the good news is that it is possible to find love in a way that honors both God and the opposite sex. In True Love Dates, professional counselor Debra Fileta encourages singles not to "kiss dating goodbye" but instead offers a new approach to dating by encouraging listeners to approach relationships in a way that is psychologically sound, emotionally healthy, and rooted in faith.

Through his international bestseller, Love & Respect, Emerson Eggerichs has transformed marriages around the world with his biblically based approach to understanding the love that she most desires and the respect that he desperately needs. Now, in this long-awaited new release, Emerson has created an experience for couples that is effective, flexible and life-changing. To build this couples devotional, Eggerichs has taken the top concerns that surfaced in a survey of thousands of couples....

A broken engagement is complex. You were at the ultimate high point of love - planning your dream wedding and future - and, suddenly, the dreams disappeared. I understand you. Let's talk about it, and let's talk about how you will pick yourself right back up, piece-by-piece, and push forward, little-by-little. You will, and I will help you. And so will God, whether you know him right now, or not.

Morality. Relativity. Right and Wrong. The issues we face are complicated and everyone has an opinion. But who has the answer when it comes to sexual issues? Sex dominates our popular culture to a degree we've never seen before and unrestricted sex is being touted as a shortcut to personal fulfillment and satisfaction - but it's a counterfeited and cheapened imitation of the real thing. Respected pastor Tony Evans refuses to let the voice of God be drowned out amidst the clamor of the crowd.

What does the Bible teach about sexual relationships between people of the same sex? Does true love require that we accept all forms of sexual expression? No, real love does not rejoice in sin, but rejoices in the truth. In the Bible, God reveals that he created gender, sex, and marriage, and we may not alter them at our will. Through his laws and works in history, God has made it clear that homosexual practices violate his holy purposes for mankind.

Studies show that roughly one out of two marriages end in divorce. One of the reasons for this is couples today are not prepared for all - the good and bad - that may happen in marriage. Are you prepared? Author and blogger Jackie Bledsoe outlines the seven stages, or seven rings of marriages, that will equip couples for all stages in marriage. He challenges couples to keep moving through each stage for a lasting and fulfilling marriage.

What does it take to get along for a lifetime? Men and women share a deadly problem that kills good relating. The problem is this: We are committed, first of all, to ourselves. Each of us, without blushing, holds fast to an overriding concern for our own well-being. Sharing people's stories and personal anecdotes, Crabb explores how we can turn away from ourselves and toward each other, how we can become what he calls "other-centered."

Marriage is all about sharing: sharing space, sharing joys and sorrows, sharing hopes and dreams. Yet we often hold back a part of ourselves because we fear that being wholly transparent - about our past, our desires, our failures, our faults - will bring judgment, rejection, or even just unwanted friction to our relationship. We are afraid to be fully known. As a result, we never experience being fully loved. In this paradigm-shifting book, Ryan and Selena Frederick show you how to develop a see-through marriage, one that is marked by full transparency and confident vulnerability.

Tired of our toxic dating culture, many young adults want to clean up their love lives. They desire to give their lives to Christ and turn away from sin but without a concrete plan, they quickly fall back into old habits. Featuring daily stories and action items, this 40-day detox provides a practical "cleanse" for those who want to purify themselves from the poisoned dating culture and gain the freedom to love and be loved.

Lasting marriages are built one defining moment at a time. Ultimately, these are invitations from God to consider our direction and pursue transformation. With 37 years of marriage and thirty-three years of pastoring under his belt, Dave Harvey has identified those life-defining moments of a post-newlywed marriage. He wants to help couples recognize them in their own relationships so that they can take a proactive, godly approach to resolving conflicts, holding one another up as change inevitably happens, and ensuring that their marriage survives and thrives.

Your parents’ marital choices have greatly affected your own attitudes and actions in marriage, for better or worse. Your choices will affect your children, and grandchildren, and so on. It’s time to get proactive about your marriage legacy. Dr. Crawford and Karen Loritts have been married 45 years and have spent the last 30 years speaking on marriage. This book contains their most successful, proven material.