God's Successful Marriage

  The Seasons of Marriage Key Verse: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”   — Ecclesiastes 3:1 When my bride and I exchanged our vows, we promised to love one another for the rest of our lives. What we could not have fully understood that day was how many different versions of life those vows would have to carry us through. We knew we would grow older together, but we did not yet know exactly how parenthood would change us. We did not know what responsibilities would eventually rest on our shoulders, what trials would test us, or which prayers would seem to go unanswered. We did not know how success, disappointment, illness, loss, exhaustion, and the passing years would shape the people we were becoming. We promised to love each other for a lifetime without yet knowing everything that lifetime would contain. That is one of the beautiful—and sometimes difficult—truths about marriage: marriage has seasons . Some seasons feel full o...

  God at the Center Was Never Just a Theme God’s Successful Marriage — Series Wrap-Up: God at the Center Key Verse: “ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. ” -  Colossians 1:17 “God at the center” is one of those phrases Christian couples can agree with quickly. It sounds right. It belongs in a marriage conversation. It fits well in a wedding message, a Bible study, a counseling session, or a devotional thought. Most Christian husbands and wives would not argue against it. But agreement is not the same as surrender. Over this series, we have not simply been repeating a Christian catchphrase. We have been asking what it actually means for a marriage to be brought under the loving authority of God. Not God as decoration. Not God as the emergency contact when everything falls apart. Not God as the One we mention on Sunday, but quietly ignore when making decisions on Monday. God at the center means our marriage is under Him. It means our attitudes, words, pri...

  America at 250: Young, Imperfect, and Still Blessed God’s Successful Marriage — A Common Man Independence Day Reflection “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” — Psalm 33:12 There is something different about this Independence Day. Every year, the Fourth of July gives us the familiar things. Flags in front yards. Families gathered around food. Children waiting for fireworks. Veterans standing a little straighter when the anthem plays. People wearing red, white, and blue who may not have thought much about history all year, but still know this day means something. But this year carries a little more weight. America is turning 250. That sounds old when we say it. Two hundred and fifty years is a long time for families, towns, churches, farms, cemeteries, battlefields, and memories. It is long enough for generations to be born, raised, married, buried, and remembered. It is long enough for a nation to have songs, sc...

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” —Psalm 34:18 There are phrases that become so commonly used that they can begin to lose their meaning. “Church hurt” may be one of them. Someone unknowingly sits in another person’s usual seat and is rudely told to move. Someone is criticized for the way they dressed. Someone is made to feel less spiritual because they listen to modern Christian music. Someone is ignored, excluded, spoken about, or treated unkindly by people who should have demonstrated the love of Christ. Those encounters can be painful. They can be embarrassing. They can make a person feel unwelcome in a place where they hoped to find grace. They should not be dismissed. Christians are commanded to be kind, tenderhearted, patient, and gracious toward one another. When church members behave arrogantly, carelessly, or thoughtlessly, they misrepresent the Savior whose name they carry. A person’s feelings should not be mocked ...

  “The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.” — Proverbs 20:7 Father’s Day has a way of sneaking up on us. Mother’s Day often comes with flowers, brunch reservations, cards that make people cry, and a general understanding that we better not forget it. Father’s Day can feel a little different. Dad may get a card, a barbecue tool, a new pair of socks, or, if the family is feeling especially generous, permission to sit in his chair without being asked to fix something. And in true dad fashion, he may act like that is enough. But Father’s Day should be more than a quick thank you, a funny card, or another joke about the thermostat. It should be a moment to stop and honor the role of a father. Not because every father has done everything perfectly, and not because every home has had the same experience, but because fatherhood itself carries weight. It matters, it shapes lives and iIt leaves fingerprints long after the children are grown. A father’s ...