Author: Kevin

I am a follower of Jesus, husband, pastor, author, and caffeine addict. Please follow me on Facebook or Twitter. You may also want to consider subscribing to the RSS feed.

Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It (Book Review)

I have another book recommendation for married or engaged couples: Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It.  I learned about this book from a blog post and decided to check it out.

The author emphasizes the importance of staying far away from sexual temptation as commanded in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 2:22, etc.).  One of the best ways for married people to do this is through hedges: habits and behaviors designed to protect one’s marriage and keep temptation at a safe distance.

The first six chapters are more foundational in nature.  Jenkins discusses the damage caused by adultery and the reasons we should do everything in our power to prevent it.  The next seven chapters (6-13) are each devoted to a particular hedge the author has put in place to protect his own marriage.  Chapter fourteen contains two success stories, and the final section of the book is a fairly extensive study guide.

I found this book very helpful.  I greatly appreciate the way Jenkins presents his own hedges without coming across as legalistic or heavy-handed.  You can click here to order it (Amazon.com).

Note for Pastors:  This would be an excellent resource for counseling with couples (engaged or married).

 

Dangers of Premarital Sex

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything about premarital sex.  Maybe part of the reason is I’ve been more interested in reading and writing about married life.  The emphasis of my ministry has also changed since moving here to Angeles City (I don’t spend quite as much time with students as I used to).

But there’s another significant reason for the lack of new posts:  I just haven’t thought of anything new to say about this topic.

Today I decided to remind everyone of some of the consequences of sexual immorality by referring to articles I’ve written before:

There are physical consequences, like unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (herpes, HPV, etc).

But I usually spend most of my time writing about the emotional/spiritual consequences of premarital sex:

Regret:  having to live with things you can never go back and change.

Emotional Baggage:  damage from previous mistakes being brought into your future marriage.

False Intimacy: a false sense that your relationship is actually better than it really is.

The Downward Spiral:  Setting yourself up for future mistakes.

God’s solution to avoiding these consequences is simple: you have to avoid sexual temptation the same way you would a hand grenade.  Think about the consequences before you act and you’ll save yourself from a great deal of suffering.

Note to my readers in the Philippines: please read Basta LoveLife if you’d like to learn more about this topic.