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Your Body is Telling You …

December 16, 2010

Years ago, respected physician, Dr. S.I. McMillan, taught the college Sunday school class at the church I attended. He gave a series of lectures on how certain thoughts and feelings can cause pain in many parts of the body. Dr. McMillen included material by Dr. O. Spurgeon English of Temple University School of Medicine.

Up to this time, I had always assumed that pain meant something was wrong with the body and that a physician would know how to fix it. When there was a problem you simply got it fixed, much like you would take your broken watch to a jeweler. The proper choice of pills or an injection would hopefully do the job. It simply never occurred to me that thoughts and feelings could affect the body. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with Sin, Getting Right with God, Physical Health, Uncategorized · Tagged With: , , ,

The Truth about Consequences

December 2, 2010

We do our children a great favor if we help them understand there are consequences for their actions … good and bad.

Distraught parents often come to me because their children are suffering the consequences of not being adequately supervised. Of course, teenagers do not want to be supervised, but oftentimes dire consequences will be the result of parents adhering to their children’s complaints and demands for more personal freedom in areas where they are unable to cope with temptation. Setting consequences for a child’s choices and then making them happen is a crucial part of teaching children. They must learn the principles expressed in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Advice, Relationships · Tagged With: , ,

Setting Limits

November 18, 2010

In all athletic team competitions, the home and visiting teams and their corresponding fans all go by the same rules and boundaries. The rules are published in a book and knowledge of the rules is essential to understanding and playing the game. Making sure the players stay within the limits established by the rule book is the job of the officials. If a player breaks a rule, the referee penalizes the entire team. The player and his team must accept the consequences. The referee’s interpretation of the game is final.

The phrase football game tells us many things. The very name of the game determines the shape of the ball, the dimensions of the playing field, the rules of the game, and the type of clothes the players and officials wear.

The word family also tells us many things. Determined limits make a family unique. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Advice, Relationships · Tagged With: ,

Discipline with Love and Conviction

November 4, 2010

God’s Word instructs us to love one another (1 Peter 1:22). Nearly every parent wants to give his or her children tender, loving, and sacrificial care that flows out of a heart of love; but even the most dedicated mother or father cannot do this unless God is the source of that love. This is because God is love, and as we walk in His love, it will flow to our children through us.

God does not leave us without guidance. In fact, the biblical standard for love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It has fifteen components:  suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, always bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Parenting Advice, Relationships · Tagged With: ,

I’m Not Having Fun Yet!

October 21, 2010

Someone once said to me, “Don’t make parenting so difficult. Just relax and have fun! You don’t have to know everything in order to be a good parent.”

Being a parent starts out as a dream. Doting, expectant fathers and their pregnant wives dream about the sweet infant all cozy in pink or blue blankets with cute outfits and fun toys. With smiles in their eyes, they turn to each other and vow, “We’re going to be the best parents ever!”

Then the baby arrives. Suddenly the parents discover “the dream” yells. And smells. And spits. All at 3 a.m. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Healing Family Relationships, Parenting Advice · Tagged With: , ,

Good Communication

October 7, 2010

The secret of getting along in marriage lies in two people applying the principle embodied in this verse from the Bible: “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).

This is a workable formula! And amazingly, it is easier to carry out than to trying to figure out the other person. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Healing Family Relationships, Marital Peace, Successful Marriage · Tagged With: ,

Marriage God’s Way

September 23, 2010

“… present yourselves to God …” (Romans 6:13).

Sometimes it seems as though a long-lasting marriage is determined by chance or circumstances or just plain old luck. However, there are some steps that will enable you to establish your marriage on a solid foundation that will help you stay in it for the long haul. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Developing Self-Control, Inner Peace, Life Transformation, Marital Peace, Relationships, Successful Marriage · Tagged With: , ,

Who is the Leader?

September 9, 2010

“Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)

There it is. One of the most fiercely debated Bible verses concerning marriage. “Why should the wife do all the submitting?” That is the hot question. But here is the greater truth, the wife is not the one who needs to do all the submitting … this verse does not stand alone. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Marital Peace, Relationships, Successful Marriage · Tagged With: , , ,

A Solid Foundation

August 26, 2010

“I want to be a better spouse.” You say this, thinking back over a multitude of incidents that make up the history of your family. Some of them were funny when they happened; others are funny only as we look back on them. Still others were serious. Some were puzzling. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Healing Family Relationships, Marital Peace · Tagged With: , ,

Finding Contentment

August 12, 2010

A gentleman came to see me who was extremely mad at his wife. “I hate to come home from work,” he said, “because I know that when I turn into the driveway, if my wife got there ahead of me, she will have her car parked smack in the middle of the car port. I have asked her time and time again to please either park her car to the left or the right of the car port, but no, she always parks in the middle! We have two cars, and there is room for both in that car port. But if she comes home ahead of me, her car is parked in the middle of the carport. She makes me so mad.”

Every night he has a decision to make. Either he will simply leave his car parked in the driveway, or he will back her car out of the car port, move it over, and drive his in. According to him, you see, his whole demeanor, peace of mind, and joy depends upon a choice that his wife initially makes.

Is this true? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Contentment · Tagged With: , ,
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