Christianity

March 2020

Struggling with Sexual Temptation as a Married Man? Part 5

By |March 24th, 2020|

Previously, I presented Proverbs 5 as God’s design for husbands to make sense of sexual temptation in marriage, and to further discover effective antidotes to prevent empowering the sexual temptation experience.  God’s design is to empower a man’s experience of his wife, thereby disempowering the experience of sexual temptation.  A husband needs to choose to rejoice in, be satisfied by, and be captivated by his wife, exclusively.  Wives are designed to thrive in a context of knowing their husbands are making these choices.  A fourth design parameter to consider comes from 1 Peter 3:7 where we find a verse stating

Struggling with Sexual Temptation as a Married Man? Part 4

By |March 24th, 2020|

Previously, I presented Proverbs 5 as God’s design for husbands to make sense of sexual temptation in marriage, and to further discover an effective antidote to the experience.  The first design antidote is to choose to rejoice in your wife.  The second design antidote is to choose to experience physical, sensual, and sexual satisfaction exclusively with your her.  The third is to choose to be captivated in your wife. The scripture in Proverbs 5:19 states in most versions ‘may you be captivated by her love.’  Notice that the scripture does not include choosing to be captivated by physical characteristics.  It

Struggling with Sexual Temptation as a Married Man? Part 3

By |March 24th, 2020|

Previously, I presented Proverbs 5 as God’s design for husbands to make sense of sexual temptation in marriage, and to further discover an effective antidote to the experience.  The first design antidote is to choose to rejoice in your wife.  The second design antidote is to choose to experience physical, sensual, and sexual satisfaction exclusively with her. The scripture in Proverbs 5:19 actually states in most versions ‘may her breasts satisfy you always.’  It seems clear that the verse is not about anatomy, but about the satisfying nature of bodily contact with a wife.  Notice that the scripture does not

Struggling with Sexual Temptation as a Married Man? Part 2

By |March 24th, 2020|

Previously, I presented Proverbs 5 as God’s design for husbands to make sense of sexual temptation in marriage, and to further discover an effective antidote to the experience.  The first design antidote is to choose to rejoice in your wife.  Proverbs 5: states ‘may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.’ Rejoicing is not a common term for most of us in today’s culture.  What does this really mean in the Hebrew context in which it was written?  We need to know the meaning in order to live out the design.  Rejoice means to feel or to show great

Struggling with Sexual Temptation as a Married Man? Part 1

By |March 24th, 2020|

God’s word tells us to not covet our neighbor’s wife.  But the world we live in presents sexual temptation every day.  When the book of Hebrews says that Jesus himself was tempted in every way, but was without sin, does that mean that he experienced sexual temptation?  If so, what’s the difference between coveting (sin) and the sexual temptation of Jesus?  How can I make sense out of the commandment, my daily reality, and the temptation of Jesus himself? First, when scripture says that Jesus was tempted in every way, we must assume that his temptation included sexual temptation.  Second,

Transformed by Renewing the Mind

By |March 24th, 2020|

So many life principles from the Bible apply to mental health. In Romans 12:2, Paul gives us just such a great life principle; becoming transformed by renewing the mind. In context, Paul had just addressed some ineffective patterns of worldly living. Then he states to not conform any longer to the old patterns, but instead to become transformed by renewing our minds. From a mental health perspective, I want to put some practical action on how to accomplish this. If I have an old, ineffective pattern of thinking due to my experience of life, but the truth of God’s design

Created for Connection but Susceptible to Alternatives

By |March 24th, 2020|

Dr. White - I recently reviewed some addiction debate among professionals regarding a YouTube video titled Addiction, by Kurzgesagt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AHODc6phg And a TED Talk titled Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong, by Johann Hari: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGxMs Their point being made is that a potential underlying cause of addiction that has been undervalued in research and treatment is disconnection; addicts often suffer varying degrees of disconnection in their important relationships.  Hari concludes that “the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection.”  I don’t want to enter the debate by taking a stand in far left or far right views.  But

Equipped for Success!

By |March 24th, 2020|

I heard a great message at church last Sunday, proclaiming the finished work of God in our lives.  One of the points made was that we are equipped for success, more specifically, that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness.  This is a past tense, finished work of God in each of us.  By design, we are fully equipped for life.  As a mental health professional, I talk to many people who say they don’t feel equipped on an emotional level.  What is it that hinders us from feeling equipped for success?  What hinders some of

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