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marriage

Sister Wives Family Suffers, Challenging Polygamy Law

I think most people have heard about the show, ‘Sister Wives’ on TLC.  The show highlights Kody Brown, a polygamist normal guy, who is legally married to one woman, but has three other “wives” (not legally).  With several states redefining who can be married, it seems that Brown thinks he can fight a law that Mormons unsuccessful tried to in the 19th century.

Brown’s arguement is that his four wives, Robyn, Christine, Meri and Janelle, have a consensual relationship in the privacy of their own household. He believe that it is a private concern and wants to use  a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning sodomy laws for the benefit of gay couples.  The law was overturned because of the argument that states cannot govern “intimate conduct” between consenting adults.

All this heat on Brown’s marriages forced the family to move from Utah to Nevada. Apparently, the famous polygamist might have a chance to win his case.  Civil rights attorney Brian Barnard said,
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marriage

The Facebook & Marriage Problem

Is it permissible for a spouse to post pictures on Facebook that display flirting with shirtless men? What’s the big deal? It’s harmless, right?

That was a listener’s question on a local radio station which features email questions on relationships, marriage, or even popular culture. I tried to call in to this radio show and throw in my two cents: Ah, are you kidding? (lines were busy, thought I thought I’d post my response)

As a pastor, I often meet with couples in premarital counseling and martial counseling. Engaged couples often balk at the idea that their partner would never cheat on them. Married couples often seek counseling when things are at the worst point in their marriage. Sometimes, it’s too late. Other times, marriages can be repaired.

If you want to know why almost half of all marriages end in divorce in this country, look no further than the example of this listener’s Facebook question.

One of the radio hosts remarked, “What’s the big deal!?! It’s harmless.” Continue Reading…

marriage

Debunking ‘The Debunking of Biblical Marriage’

Recently, a fellow American Baptist wrote a  challenging article concerning marriage in the Bible. After reading it, I decided to respond by debunking, “Debunking ‘Biblical marriage’: Why the Bible can’t dictate today’s sexual morals” by Jennifer Wright Knust. Knust recently posted a column for the Washington Post’s On Faith blog where she basically throws out many key understandings of marriage and sexuality in the Bible.

Much has already been said about the fading of marriage in this country and around the world. Many Christians have sought to understand where Christian marriage fits in today’s culture.  Is it an outdated institution?

Jennifer Wright Knust is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University and an ordained American Baptist. She is bright and logical, but her conclusions on biblical marriage are not faithful to understanding scripture. She says:

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blog, marriage

Al & Tipper Gore: An Inconvenient Marriage?

I’m sure by now every one has heard of Al & Tipper Gore’s separation.  The former vice president and his wife have publicly said,

“This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration,”

While divorce or separation of couples after 40 year of marriage is rare (in fact less than 1% of couples divorce after 40 years), it makes us wonder why such a couple would separate?  The typical responses come to mind: They are such a happy couple.  They have been together for so long.  They have been through so much!  Remember the “Convention Kiss of 2000?”

Writing about the Gores, Ellen McCarthy at the Washington Post said it well:

They’re like the couple down the block with the lush garden and the annual Labor Day cookout. The pair who are always power walking together and drinking wine on the front porch, who make you nudge your husband and say, “See? I want that.”

However, I was absolutely shocked at what I read next in McCarthy’s article:

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afeature, marriage

Does God Promise You a Spouse?

Does God promise you a spouse in the Bible?

...that was the question that Rob Eagar over at thelife.com proposed recently.  His post tried to answer this question in the affirmative.   Many evangelicals through the years have often painted a picture that God promises a spouse to all believers.  Except there is one problem, no where in scripture does God make this promise.

Eagar said:

Does God promise us a spouse? The Bible says “yes” by describing Christians as the spiritual bride of Christ. Our true spouse is Jesus. Yet, many of us say, “I’m glad to be spiritually married to Christ, but I can’t feel Him. Wouldn’t it be better if I could enjoy God’s love with someone else? I want Jesus with skin on.” So, we pray for God to bring us an earthly mate.

This type of theology has created a generation of frustrated Christian singles.  No where in scripture does God promise a wife or husband to a believer on the sole basis that they are a Christian.   Christians are not the spiritual bride of Christ.  The spiritual bride of Christ is the Church (ecclesia).  Some would say Christians make up the church, thus Christ is our bride.  Maybe (that is pretty loose theology), but not in the erotic sense.  However, scripture is clear where we get this “bridal theology” from, such as  Ephesians 5:25:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

Here, Paul speaks about the love that exists between a husband and wife and mirrors that love in non-erotic language (Paul uses agapate to describe this love) to describe the relationship between the Church and Jesus.  Agnieszka Tennant, writing for CT, posted this article about the over use of love language with Christ.   Her most telling quote reveals the trouble with the over use of the love language of God:

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