Song of Songs is a collection of sensual love poems. In itself, it says nothing about God or about how God’s people ought to live. Why is it in the Bible? First, the poetry in Song of Songs demonstrates appreciation of lovers’ physical bodies and desire for intimacy — sexual, not just spiritual or emotional. [...]
Archive for the ‘Relationships’ Category
Sensuality in the Bible
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Ecclesiastes, Relationships, tagged Bible, intimacy, life, Love, sensuality, sex, spirituality on March 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
A Good Wife
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Marriage, Proverbs, Relationships, tagged faith, life, Love, Marriage, religion, spirituality on March 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
A good wife is a treasure, and today’s reading provides some interesting words about a wife who constantly quarrels: A foolish child is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof. Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome [...]
Welcoming Correction
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Proverbs, Relationships, Spiritual Disciplines, tagged advice, faith, guidance, humility, life, mentors, religion, spiritual growth, spirituality, wisdom on March 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
We don’t like authority; we value individualism. We want to think and act for ourselves, but that path doesn’t lead to spiritual growth. If we want to mature as people, as Christians, as friends, workers, and family members, we need to welcome corrective advice from trustworthy mentors. Check out these wise words from today’s reading: [...]
Life in Community
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Church, Conflict, Proverbs, Relationships, Unity, tagged community, faith, hold your tongue, life, Love, peace, religion, speech, spirituality, words on March 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Biblical spirituality happens in life together, and that life of humility and love requires us to look beyond our own desires and preferences for the good of the community. Healthy communities need healthy communication. Words of gossip, slander, and rebellion result in unnecessary conflict; but words of righteousness and wisdom nourish peace, as we see [...]
Day 196: Proverbs 7-9
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Marriage, Proverbs, Relationships, tagged faith, faithfulness, life, mentors, religion, spirituality, wisdom on March 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Marital faithfulness is an important value that we certainly need to support in our culture and in our families. Yesterday’s reading paints that reality with these words: Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let [...]
Day 195: Proverbs 4-6
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Proverbs, Relationships, tagged faith, life, mentors, religion, spirituality, wisdom on March 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The book of Proverbs repeatedly tells the “son” (the reader) to listen and to pay attention. In chapter 4 we see that one way to get wisdom is to listen, to pay attention, to wise people. In this case, the wise people are the father and the grandfather: Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; [...]
Day 161: Job 32-34
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Church, Job, Leadership, Relationships, Spiritual Disciplines, tagged community, discernment, intergenerational ministry, life, spirituality, youth on February 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I’m a fan of intergenerational ministry. The church is a family in which people of various generations join together to worship and work, pray and play. Praise, service, and learning happen best when older and younger Christians collaborate in a spirit of unity. Wiser, more experienced Christians and younger, energetic, sometimes idealistic ones can strengthen [...]
Day 151: Esther 6-10
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Esther, Relationships, tagged life, spirituality, superstition, what goes around comes around on January 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“What goes around comes around.” So I’ve heard. Haman learns it the hard way in today’s reading. His attempt to destroy Mordecai results in his own dishonorable demise. I like to jokingly say that my only superstition if that it’s bad luck to be superstitious. I’m not afraid to walk under a ladder or to [...]
Day 138: Second Chronicles 28-31
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Relationships, Second Chronicles, tagged Courageous the movie, cycles, Family, fatherhood, fatherlessness, life, Parenting, spirituality on January 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Tamara and I like to watch movies. We don’t see them in theaters often, but once in a while we go the cheap one near our house. This weekend we went there and watched Courageous, the most recent movie from the makers of Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Flywheel. The main message of Sherwood Pictures’ [...]
