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The Marriage You Want with Sheila Wray Gregoire (Podcast)
Read more: The Marriage You Want with Sheila Wray Gregoire (Podcast)In this episode we’re joined by Sheila Wray Gregoire, who is a speaker, author of several books, and manager of the podcast and website, BareMarriage.com. She’s also the author (along with her husband, Keith) of the book that we’re discussing on this episode: The Marriage You Want: Moving Beyond Stereotypes for a Relationship Built on…
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The Power of Community and Friendship
Read more: The Power of Community and FriendshipAs I sat in a hospital’s cafeteria waiting for a ride home, an older person came to talk to me. After the initial chat was out of the way, he proceeded to tell me that I would go to jail for stealing. In jail, all the other women will pull my hair and fight against…
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Bearing Fruit
Read more: Bearing FruitIn John 15:1-17, Jesus talks about “bearing fruit” and “friendship.” This is a reflection on the meaning of “bearing fruit” in Scripture, the ways in which John innovates a relationship between fruit, friendship, and death in this passage, and an argument about the counter-intuitive places I think we should look for friendship in Scripture. Bearing…
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Augustine, Original Sin, and a Lesson on Friendship
Read more: Augustine, Original Sin, and a Lesson on FriendshipI love thinking about friendship. Even more, I love having friends. In my most recent reading of Augustine’s Confessions, I couldn’t help but notice the respectable bishop seemed to share some of my feelings of longing and affection when it comes to possessing and enjoying the good of friendship. Though Augustine never wrote a treatise…
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Freedom and Asceticism: Christian underpinnings of Nietzschean friendship
Read more: Freedom and Asceticism: Christian underpinnings of Nietzschean friendshipHappiness on earth, friends, only stems from war! Powder smoke, in fact, mends friendship even more! One in three all friends are: Brothers in distress, equals facing rivals, free men – facing death! In this text, Nietzsche begins with an assertion that war is the only source of happiness. Then, after claiming that the action…
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DuPriest: “Christian Unity begins in Friendship”
Read more: DuPriest: “Christian Unity begins in Friendship”In 1985, drawing heavily both from Jeremy Taylor’s “Discourse on Friendship” and his own personal experience, the Episcopalian English professor, Travis DuPriest, argued that “Christian unity begins in friendship.” Why is this worth knowing? For one thing, it’s happening. For another, it is true to who we are, both as humans and as humans united…
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“Covenantal Friendship”
Read more: “Covenantal Friendship”So many of us are lonely. Modern Western culture — Christian and not — has all but lost its rich heritage of friendship. Below is my first try at writing out an idea I call “Covenantal Friendship.” I wrote this piece to get out of an assignment for a seminary counseling course. I’d treasure your…
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Dancing to “Shake it Off” and Other Confessions
Read more: Dancing to “Shake it Off” and Other ConfessionsLast Friday, I had the awesome opportunity to speak in Biola’s undergraduate chapel about my thesis on shame and how it affects our relationships with God and others. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share about what I’ve learned about shame and grace, and also my own struggle with shame and depression, and the…
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A Communal Feast Celebrating the Martyrdom of St. Valentine
Read more: A Communal Feast Celebrating the Martyrdom of St. ValentineYesterday, in honor of the martyrdom of St. Valentine, I hosted a dinner party with a few of my girl friends. It was a good time of delicious food and engaging conversation. While Valentine’s Day can be S.A.D. (Singles Awareness Day), I wanted to celebrate the holiday in the truest fashion with having a feast…
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Redeeming the Friend Zone
Read more: Redeeming the Friend ZoneDon’t ever condemn someone to the “friend zone.” If you do, that person will become a stripper. That’s the moral of the stage musical Rock of Ages, which some of my co-bloggers and I caught during a weekend trip to Las Vegas last month. The first act launches a love story between Drew, a busboy…