Stories and other stuff

What I would like to share with you today is something you're going to have to read elsewhere.  It's Ephesians, Chapter 5 .  As you read,  the things you should leave behind when you become new in Christ are discussed. The other topic it discusses is how spouses should treat one another.  In our secular society and worldly views on things, I sometimes think these are overlooked.  I know I pretty much ignored them in the past and it's not a mistake I'll EVER make again, with God's help! I'd encourage you to take a look at it.  It's a short read, maybe about five minutes is all, but well worth the time.  If you don't have a Bible, I added the link above.  One more thing, if you don't have a Bible and would like to have one, would you please let me know?  I'd be happy to gift one to you. Every day is a blessing.  Don't forget to be thankful for each and every one, no matter what it brings. God bless y'all Coop

Forgiveness.  Not the first time I've written about forgiveness, but it's kind of been at the forefront of some things in my life these days.  I hear it talked about a lot on the radio and the Bible is full of stories of forgiveness.  You'll see some quotes from the Bible in this posting.  For editorial purposes, the quotes from Scripture are from the New International Version of the Bible (NIV).  It's a better translation for us modern-day folks. I'm going to start out today with Matthew 6:14-15:  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. That's pretty direct, and the words of Jesus himself as he's finishing a talk about how to pray.  The passages come at the end of the Lord's Prayer. In Matthew 18:21-22it says: Then Peter came to Jesus and asked "Lord how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins a...

In our society, it seems that this comment is heard more and more.  Marriage is just a piece of paper.  Have we become so casual about marriage that it boils down to this?  Somewhere in the Great Debacle of 2010, which is what the mess will now be referred to, I remember reading a comment that went something like, a divorce is just a piece of paper that undoes the first piece of paper. I think that I never paid attention to what marriage really was until I realized what it was.  I can't tell you how stupid that sounds, but in that little bit of idiocy, there's a genuine nugget of knowledge that cost me a hell of a lot to learn.  It wasn't something that I could learn or understand from friends, from this or that, from TV.  I had to blow mine completely apart to learn what it was.  I learned it from the Bible, from going to church, from doing some research online about it. Marriage is not a piece of paper.  It's not just a promise to your spous...

In the Bible, there are a number of passages about lying.  It's in the Ten Commandments, it's talked about in the book of proverbs and elsewhere through the bible. Why do we lie?  It's been my experience that the more we do, the worse things get.  You tell someone a lie, they make a decision based on that lie, and the snowball goes downhill.  You have to tell one lie, then another and another to cover up the first lie and most always it ends badly.  Often you can tell a lie so many times it becomes your truth, and that's worse than the lie.  When you start believing your own lies as truth, your perceptions of reality become jaded, in my humble opinion. I've had my bouts with this.  But not anymore.  It seems that every time I've tried in my life to lie about things I've always been caught in them and it only makes things worse for me.  I've found honesty is the best policy. When does lying become stealing?  It can happen.  Wha...

If you're having troubles in your marriage, here are some helpful resources: The Bible.  It talks about everything from what marriage is to how to raise children.  The book of Proverbs is an excellent source of knowledge that still applies to this day.  The Psalms are of great comfort.  My favorite these days is Psalm 39, and Psalm 119. Your pastor and your church:  If you don't have one, or a church, may I suggest trying one or two until you find one that fits.  If you're not ready for church, find a Christian counselor.  Why a Christian counselor?  Because that person is trained to deal with your problems and can offer the foundation of a belief in God and Jesus Christ that will help not only heal your marriage, but your very life. A therapist:  Therapy is sometimes necessary.  I needed it.  I can share with you by e-mail the name of mine. Books:  Two come to mind.  "Getting the Love You Want", by Harville Hendri...

As I thought about what to write, what words could I offer someone who has messed up their life as much as I have mine, a lot of the old wounds were opened up again.  I had to think about things that happened in my marriage that are very painful to me.  I thought, too, about the aftermath and the pain that's been caused because of even such a benign thing as me talking about my life.  That lesson was very painful, too. What words of comfort can I offer someone when I'm looking for the same thing?  That's tough.  My life these days is a roller-coaster of emotions.  Some days are better than others.  Today was a hard day, but I think I know what I'd like to say. Being unfaithful to your spouse is a horrible thing to do.  I tend to oversimplify, but in the end, the root cause of me doing what I did boils down to two things.  The first was refusing to accept an apology from my wife for something said in anger and the second was that I was bei...

As I have before, I'd like to share with you an e-mail I received from divorcecare.org.  It talks about the covenant you make with God when you wed.  This describes what marriage should be.  I never truly understood that before and I thought it was important enough to share. The content is that of divorcecare.org, not mine. A Covenant Commitment Day 143 The Bible describes marriage as a serious covenant commitment between two people. A covenant is a solid and binding agreement. When two people say, "I do," you can almost hear God affirming, "I do also," because marriage is totally His idea. In fact, Jesus explained marriage as two people being joined together by God (Matthew 19:6). "The Bible says that if I make a commitment, it is a commitment for life," says Dr. Spiros Zodhiates. "Marriage is not a feeling. Marriage is a commitment. It's a contract; it's a covenant. I cannot get out of my covenant simply because I changed my min...

Busy blogging day, I know, but I thought this was important to share: It's a story about pornography and what it can do to a marriage.  Something you might think is harmless really isn't and if you don't stop to think about all the trust issues it can create in a marriage, yours could wind up like mine.  This was on KSL. com and I want to share the link because it's important.  I'd really like to use the blog as a tool to help people understand what the mistakes I made in my relationship can do to yours if you do the same things.  I'd worded this differently and when I re-read it, I thought there was a better way to express my intent.  If you don't know me, you could have taken what I'd written in a way that wasn't intended. If I'd had a relationship with God, I never would have had this issue come up in my marriage. Here's the link:  http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=750&sid=12464358 Another good example of this is watching the mo...