Bookmarks

Here are some of the most interesting and encouraging articles I've read on the web over the past few days. Perhaps you will find them a blessing, too.

A Wife's Personal Story: So, Let's Actually Talk About What "Extramarital Affairs" Really Look Like

"It has been 6 years since I found out and the pain still catches me by surprise sometimes. One of the most frustrating things I have experienced during my time of healing has been hearing infidelity discussed almost as an abstract concept. One almost never hears the raw words from those wounded by betrayal. I wrote this 4 years ago but I want to share it with you in light of the Ashley Madison stories. I want people to wake up to the reality of the horror of cheating, lying, and betrayal, the horror that all those faithful wives of those Christian men who had Ashley Madison accounts are experiencing right now."

Sisters, Beware the Cloning Wars

"At some point I realized appearing different from what I perceived as the female “norm” in the church is one reason I should be ministering to women. As it turns out, feeling like a fish out of water isn’t a rarity. While our experience and personhood is unique, much of how we feel is the same. In God’s kindness, he made each of us with specific preferences, all of them for his glory (Eph. 2:10; Ps. 100:3). I’m concerned, though, that our churches don’t reflect this diversity. I myself can be tempted to squash the body of Christ when I avoid women different than me. I can be tempted to wrongfully judge others according to my personal standard rather than celebrating our common Creator." 

My Wife's Plea to Christian Men

"You who keep choosing to sin, you who keep visiting those websites, you who have secret lives you keep hidden from your friends and your wives: Why won’t you stop? You know that God loves to give victory over every sin. You know that God calls you to pursue sanctification. You know that the Holy Spirit equips you to succeed. God has given you everything you need in the gospel. So why do you keep failing? The only conclusion I can come to is that you are so consumed with self-gratification that you are not willing to fight, and I mean really willing to fight, this sin. If it’s not that you can’t, it must be that you won’t."

Remember that Smell

"These videos remind me of a scene from Amazing Grace, the film.  William Wilberforce, the abolitionist, could not evoke the pity of his fellow Englishmen enough to overturn slavery.  At last he resorted to some bait and switch.  To “thank” his well-heeled friends, he offered an afternoon cruise around the harbor, tea served, violins playing.  When they pulled alongside a recently returned slave ship, the stench of death from its cargo hold was overpowering.  Wilberforce stopped the boat.  Out came the handkerchiefs to cover delicate noses.  No! cried he.  “Remember this smell!”  These were the liberal elite of his day, above such disgusting matters.  It took a visceral blow to break through their defenses."