Christian Living

Interesting Books 2019
This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them to purchase, we receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I’m a pretty avid reader. It’s part of my daily routine, and longer periods on vacation. Several years ago I started keeping a list of books I’d finished during the year; to…
Can We Get Your Vote for Love, Honor, and Virtue?
  This is the book we wrote by request - so many of our friends and readers asked for a resource they could trust to help their sons understand sexuality and purity in a Christian worldview. And now, it's up for a book award! Love, Honor, and Virtue has been nominated for the Christian Indie Book…
Staying Pure in Engagement
Someone recently asked, Now that we're engaged, it's increasingly hard to stay pure. I mean, we'll be married soon, right? I know it's wrong, but it doesn't seem as big a deal now that it's just a matter of weeks or months. Can you help us think about this the right way? We've been there. The…
Five Things You Need to Know About Your Boys & Internet Porn
"I don't know who else to talk to. My little boy has been watching horrible stuff. I don't know what to do." There are five things we wish all parents knew about internet porn. If they did, there would probably be a lot fewer of these heartbreaking messages for us to answer! (Note, this post…
I Haven’t Kept All My Resolutions Either
  So February comes trudging in sooner than we expected. You history buffs may already know that the ancient Roman calendar started in March, not January – so February was the end of the year to them. The name comes from februum for “purification” because this is when they traditionally got rid of the old…
Transitioning to Spiritual Adulthood
This one is for the teens and twenties. It's hard to write, too. When you're young and healthy, you don't really think about dying. It just seems remote. But two days ago, our sons lost a friend they'd known for years from church and Christian activities. Wilson Brant was just 26 when a car accident…
Remembering a Nearly-Forgotten Founder
September 27 is the birthday of one of the nearly-forgotten Founding Fathers, Samuel Adams. His cousin John Adams became George Washington's vice president and then his successor; Samuel is known for a modern beer brand. In fact, this founder of the Sons of Liberty and eventual governor of Massachusetts was actually a political activist and an intellectual…
Do You Need a Glass of Wine
Do You Need a Glass of Wine?
I get it. I really do. I have more than my share of awful days. Like when we speak 15 times in three days (for an hour each time!) and stand at the booth in between sessions, counseling and praying with folks, all of which we love, but are exhausting. Then we pack out our…
How My Old Band Director Influences My Family Life Today
Sometimes you get a life-changing lesson from an unexpected source. My 8th-grade band director taught me something really important about relationships. Last week, my old band director passed away. Pat Wylie (it’s still hard to think of him by his first name) was a major part of my young life, for two years in middle…
Talking to Kids About Disasters
  The news is full of alarming stories - hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and more - and it's nearly impossible to shield our kids from hearing about it. How do you help your children understand natural disasters and bad news with concern but not panic? Do you talk with your teenagers differently than your young kids?…