Describes what marriage should be according to the Bible, arguing that marriage is a tool to bring individuals closer to God, and provides meaningful instruction on how to have a successful marriage.
Timothy and Kathy Keller will show you a portrait of marriage as it's meant to be according to the Bible...by first throwing out most of what we've been taught about love. Modern culture would have you believe that everyone has a soul mate; that romance is the most important part of a successful marriage; that marriage does not mean 'til death do us part, but merely for as long as my needs are being met; and that when serious differences arise, divorce is the best solution. But all of these modern-day assumptions miss what marriage is really about. In this six-session video-based Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately), Timothy Keller, along with Kathy, his wife of forty years, draws a profound portrait of marriage from the pages of Scripture that neither idealizes nor rejects the institution but points us back to the relationship between God and man. The result is a vision for marriage that is refreshingly frank and unsentimental, yet hopeful and beautiful. This study is for anyone from singles to couples considering marriage to those who have been married for any length of time. Sessions include: Service: Marriage Isn't about You Covenant: Created to Make Promises Roles: Loving through Mutual Submission Singleness: Strengthening the Spiritual Family Sex: The Act of Covenant Renewal Hope: Seeing the Great Horizon Designed for use with The Meaning of Marriage Video Study (sold separately).
Reflecting on forty years of matrimony, John Piper exalts the biblical meaning of marriage over its emotion, exhorting couples to keep their covenant for all the best reasons. Even in the days when people commonly stayed married "'til death do us part," there has never been a generation whose view of marriage was high enough, says Pastor John Piper. That is all the more true in our casual times. Though personal selfishness and cultural bondage obstruct the wonder of God's purpose, it is found in God's Word, where his design can awaken a glorious vision capable of freeing every person from small, Christ-ignoring, romance-intoxicated views. As Piper explains in reflecting on forty years of matrimony: "Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does. Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love. It's mainly about telling the truth with our lives. And staying married is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant and putting the glory of Christ's covenant-keeping love on display." This Momentary Marriage unpacks the biblical vision, its unexpected contours, and its weighty implications for married, single, divorced, and remarried alike.
The New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable. Newsweek called renowned minister Timothy Keller "a C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century" in a feature on his first book, The Reason for God. In that book, he offered a rational explanation of why we should believe in God. Now, in The Prodigal God, Keller takes his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity and uses the parable of the prodigal son to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation. Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way.
"One part The Beauty Myth . . . and one part Backlash"*--a provocative exploration of who and what a wife really is. There is a wife crisis in North America, a brewing storm of conflicting forces swirling around what it means to be a wife at the beginning of the 21st Century. The word is so fraught with ambiguity that it has become a litmus test, eliciting from women emotions ranging from longing to antipathy, anxiety to derision. This crisis is at the heart of Anne Kingston's The Meaning of Wife. Delving into the complex, troubling, and sometimes humorous contradictions, illusions, and realities of contemporary wifehood, Kingston takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the wedding industrial complex, which elevates the bride to a potent consumer icon; through the recent romanticization of domesticity; and across the conflicted terrain of wifely sexuality. She looks at "wife backlash," and the new wave of neo-traditionalism that urges women to marry before their "best-before" dates expire; explores the apotheosis of abused wives and the strange celebration of wives who kill; and muses on the fact that Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart, two of the world's wealthiest and most influential women, are both non-wives whose success has hinged on thier understanding of wives. The result is an entertaining mix of social, sexual, historical, and economic commentary that is bound to stir debate even as it reframes our view of both women and marriage.
Tim and Kathy Keller's bestseller THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE looked at the human need for love and its expression in marriage. This new devotional, drawing on that book but consisting of all-new material, is a day-by-day devotional to help couples find God's wisdom as they navigate the complexities of married life. Each day includes a quotation from Scripture, a comment from the Kellers, and a prayer to help you ground your married life in God. Covering friendship and commitment, the completion of men and women in each other, and ministry and discipleship within the context of marriage, alongside many other themes, this is a profound resource to help you connect God's wisdom with your marriage.
Can the Supernatural Become Natural? Bill Johnson, respected pastor, bestselling author, and senior leader of Bethel Church, lives in a culture of the miraculous. In this expanded edition of his groundbreaking book, The Way of Life, he shares not as a theological spectator, but as an active participant in a historic move of God that has been sweeping the nations. From over 40 years of personal experience with the Holy Spirit, Bill mentors you on how to: Create a supernatural greenhouse effect that impacts the world around us through practicing Kingdom values. Sustain a flow of Gods supernatural power in your life, your family, and your church community. Develop a culture that values wholenessbody, soul, and spiritwhere the Kingdom has tangible impact on every area of our lives. Build supernatural relationships through honor and seeing the significance of every person. Walk in the completed work of the Cross because you are grounded in an It is Finished theology. Partner with the Presence of the Holy Spirit to transform the everyday places where God leads you. Run towards impossible situations and release the supernatural solutions of Jesus. Learn how you can move in the signs, wonders, and supernatural power that the Bible says are available! Includes a brand new chapter on how to steward the glory of God, while pressing on for and anticipating an increase of His supernatural movement in our lives
In this original digital short, author and co-founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church Kathy Keller recounts her experience growing up in “gender-neutral” home. “My first encounter with the ideas of [male] headship and [female] submission,” she writes, “was both intellectually and morally traumatic.” Yet Keller came to adopt the view that men and women have different roles in marriage and ministry, and that fulfilling such roles pleases God and leads to greater personal fulfillment. In this unapologetic but nuanced piece, Keller presents a caring and careful case for biblical gender differences and the complementarian view of women in ministry. At the same time, she encourages women to teach and lead in the church in ways that may startle some complementarians. Readers on both sides of this hot-button topic will be challenged by her ministry-tested and thoroughly Scriptural perspective.
A New York Times bestseller people can believe in—by "a pioneer of the new urban Christians" (Christianity Today) and the "C.S. Lewis for the 21st century" (Newsweek). Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, addresses the frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion. Using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and potent reasoning, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is, in fact, a sound and rational one. To true believers he offers a solid platform on which to stand their ground against the backlash to religion created by the Age of Skepticism. And to skeptics, atheists, and agnostics, he provides a challenging argument for pursuing the reason for God.