Well-Rested (11/16/09 - 9 Comments)
A few days ago I was talking to some friends about fatigue. It is a popular topic when you're in the stage of life that includes young children (though, from what I've overheard, it also seems to be a popular topic as you begin to hit old age). I got to thinking about the topic and found something I had written about fatigue a couple of years ago, apparently after a particularly tough night. *****...
False Messages III: Desiring Him (11/11/09 - 18 Comments)
This is now the third (and final!) entry in this short series written by my wife, Aileen. In the last article she talked about rejection and how it effects both wives and husbands. The day before that she dealt with sexual desire, pointing out some of the differences between men and women. Today the series concludes. One thing I want to say. In this series she has been dealing predominantly with "average" marriages. It is...
False Messages II: The Heart of Rejection (11/10/09 - 23 Comments)
This short series, guest authored by my wife Aileen, began yesterday with False Messages I: What He Really Wants. Today Aileen picks up where she left off. ***** by Aileen Challies When you thought about getting married and when you anticipated having sex with your husband, did you ever think about how often you'd be saying "no" to him? I know of a few women who decided before they married that they would never refuse...
False Messages I: What He Really Wants (11/09/09 - 42 Comments)
For the next couple of days there will be a guest blogger on this site--none other than my wife, Aileen. She will be sharing a few articles directed specifically at women. Here is how this came about. Two weeks ago (yes, it was really that long ago) I posted a series called Sexual Detox. One of the unexpected results of the series was a large number of emails from women who read this blog. I...
Sexual Detox: The E-Book (11/07/09 - 13 Comments)
Last week's series on Sexual Detox was quite an experience for me. I figured it would garner a little bit of interest simply because it dealt with an universal issue (sex) and because it included several important peripheral issues (pornography, addiction, and so on). But even then the response surprised me, both in terms of the number of visitors who showed up to read the articles and the outpouring of comments and emails in response...
To Love Him Is To Know Him (11/04/09 - 15 Comments)
How many times have you heard a person claim that he has "accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior?" Have you ever asked him what it means that Jesus is his Lord? Have you ever asked him how Jesus is his Savior? What makes him his Savior? And what does it mean that he is his personal Lord and Savior? How many times have you heard a person open a prayer with the words...
Sexual Detox: Recommended Resources (10/31/09 - 10 Comments)
Having wrapped up the Sexual Detox series, I thought it would be useful to provide a list of recommended resources for those who wish to do reading on a particular topic. Pretty much every author who has written more than, say, ten books has written one on the Lord's Prayer and one on either sex or marriage (or perhaps both). It seems to be some kind of rite of passage. I assume I'll get a...
Sexual Detox V: Freedom (10/30/09 - 20 Comments)
Note (11/08/09) - This complete series is now available for free download. Click here to learn more. This is the final entry in a series of articles about sex and, in particular, about sexual detoxification. First I wrote about Pornifying the Marriage Bed, then about Breaking Free and A Theology of Sex. The fourth article dealt with Detoxification. The series was written specifically to target young men--those who are newly married or nearly married or...
Sexual Detox IV: Detoxification (10/29/09 - 17 Comments)
Note (11/08/09) - This complete series is now available for free download. Click here to learn more. This is now the fourth entry in a series of articles about sex and, in particular, about sexual detoxification--about replacing lies with truth. First I wrote about Pornifying the Marriage Bed, then about Breaking Free and finally about A Theology of Sex. Today the series continues with Detoxification. The purpose of this series of articles is to lead...
Sexual Detox III: A Theology of Sex (10/28/09 - 31 Comments)
Note (11/08/09) - This complete series is now available for free download. Click here to learn more. This is the third article in a series targeted specifically at young men but applying, I am learning, to all of us. So far I have written about Pornifying the Marriage Bed and about Breaking Free. What did God create first: hunger or food? Did God make man hungry and then invent food to fill the need? Or...
Sexual Detox II: Breaking Free (10/27/09 - 23 Comments)
Note (11/08/09) - This complete series is now available for free download. Click here to learn more. This is the second entry in a series dealing with sex and, in particular, challenging young men with the notion that their consumption of pornography has so shaped their perception of sex that they need to detox if they are going to be suitable husbands to their wives. In the first part of the series I wrote about...
Sexual Detox I: Pornifying the Marriage Bed (10/26/09 - 65 Comments)
Note (11/08/09) - This complete series is now available for free download. Click here to learn more. This week I am going to devote most of the articles on this site to the topic of sex. I want to speak especially to young men, those who are teenagers or dating or engaged or newly married. However, I do hope that anyone can read and enjoy the series, even if the teen years are far behind...
Applying the Heat (10/05/09 - 17 Comments)
In my experience there is usually one of the spouses in a marriage that handles the majority of the doctoring and nursing duties. There is one who has the medical knowledge and who knows what to do when a child or spouse is injured or maybe just plain under the weather. There is one who can clean up vomit without adding to the mess themselves. For my marriage, this person is most definitely Aileen. She...
The Companion of Fools (08/31/09 - 7 Comments)
The Bible tells us repeatedly that we will eventually and inevitably begin to resemble the people we spend time with. If we walk with the wise we will become wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm (Proverbs 13:20). Much of the book of Proverbs deals with this very theme, warning the young and foolish to avoid similarly foolish companions. Such proverbs cannot always be taken too woodenly or literally, yet they do point...
The Religious Hell Hole (08/05/09 - 103 Comments)
Several months ago I received an email from a person who had happened by this blog. As you will see in the excerpt of that email, she had been searching for information about original sin and its application to babies who die in infancy (or who die because of abortion). Google led her here. This is what she wrote: I volunteer at a pregnancy resource center here in Southern California. I teach a post abortion...
Preaching the Gospel to Yourself (07/26/09 - 8 Comments)
In his book Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges writes about the important discipline of preaching the gospel to yourself every day. Realizing that many people have heard of this discipline but do not know how to practice it, he provides an overview of how he does so. I found it helpful and trust you will too. What could be more important than beginning each day with a fresh understanding of the great work of the gospel...
There's Treasure Everywhere (07/15/09 - 14 Comments)
I've always loved Calvin & Hobbes. My friend Brian first introduced me to the comic strip back when I was a young teen and I immediately fell in love with it. (Here is a must-have for any true fan: The Complete Calvin & Hobbes). The strip works on at least two levels. There is the philosophical level where Calvin and his tiger discuss topics of science, philosophy and religion that are clearly far beyond...
Your Suffering Does Not Just Belong to You (07/06/09 - 11 Comments)
The more I grow in my knowledge of the Lord (through my knowledge of his Word) the more I see the utter centrality of the church, the local church, in his plan for his people. The more I learn of him, the more I see what a jewel the church is--what a blessing, what an honor it is to be part of something so amazing, so other-worldly. This is something that has been brought home...
Pleasing People (06/15/09 - 7 Comments)
If you've never read Lou Priolo's Pleasing People, well, it's a good thing to add to your list of things to do. The book takes aim at the human desire to orient our lives around pleasing people instead of first and foremost pleasing God. In one of the chapters, Priolo looks at clothing ourselves in humility and here he offers some wisdom on the subject of forgiveness. As the father of three young children, and...
Don't Take Your iPod to Church! (06/12/09 - 61 Comments)
Yesterday I described the book as The Perfect Technology. There was perhaps a little bit of hyperbole involved, but I think the point was well-taken. I was actually surprised to see how many people agreed with me. Maybe as Christians we are unusual in this regard; maybe Christians are, almost by definition, readers and, thus, people who will toss away their books only with great caution. This is good, I think, as Christians tend to...
