Linky!

Ok folks, lotsa links. I encourage you to seek out and obtain subscriptions to the blogs I'll mention, but if not, I'll still probably still pull from them occasionally in the future.

First off, I think I'll summarize the first three, three Boundless articles, talking, as usual, about relationships.

• "Our One-Track Mind," by John Thomas replies to a readers questions about their stance on marriage, why it seems to be presented as formulaic and dry. He says he'd rather "marry a non-christian who I could have a happy family with, than marry a Christian, doing it your way, and be unhappy because we married purely on the grounds we both believed in God and followed Jesus."
  Obviously the answer is that there is a lot more to it than marrying "purely" on the grounds of shared faith, but that it's a non-negotiable part of the mix. There are many more great points that they make that I subscribe to, so read up on it.



• "Settling," by Scott Croft is another great article that expands on a previous article, entitled "When to Settle," by Candice Watters. This article is basically a reinforcement of the fact that marriage doesn't solve all issues, and that it won't magically fulfill your every need. Here's a quote:

  Every person who decides to marry makes the decision to marry a sinner. That means you will marry someone who is at some level selfish, who has insecurities and an ego, who has annoying tendencies that you will only discover after marriage because they will only be revealed in that intimate context. And don't forget, your spouse will have married the same type of person. As sinners, we all "settle" for marriage to a person who will not always meet our sinful, individualized, selfish whims, who will not be the spouse we "dreamed of" every day, and who likely entered the bargain with some level of expectation that you were going to be the one for them.
  
  It's also true that anyone who enters marriage expecting it to serve as a substitute for Christ in the ultimate fulfillment of his or her own desires for companionship, love, intimacy, security or anything else will indeed be disillusioned — quickly. It's a fallen world, and we are sinners. We cannot gain in any earthly relationship what the world tells us to seek from "romance" and marriage. We all settle.

  
  Also, she makes the point that no Christian should "settle" in a marriage, using it to replace the fulfillment they should be getting from God. Another great read. I learned something.



• The last one really ties into the article on settling, because it attempts to knock down our selfish desires a bit and make us realize we shouldn't be looking for someone that "qualifies" in every single little detail we might come up with for someone to "make the list" of our affection. Rather we should be looking as peasants, focusing on one big thing, the important thing, rather than many small things. Of course, there are small things that may make the relationship nicer and smoother, but there must be a very few big things that are at the core of our requirements list. "Looking for Love Like a Peasant," by A.J. Kiesling is another should-read.

The rest I think I'll try and condense to a sentence or two, cause I might as well make a separate blog post for each if they're all gonna be as long as those "summaries" I just wrote. :-p

• Stuff Christians Like


• The Unaccountability Partner
Guilty of this, unfortunately. I hope to find someone I can be truly uncomfortable, yet completely honest with when I get down to Texas, for I shall be spending much time there.

• Telling someone the sermon was for them
Guilty of this as well. In fact, towards the beginning of this summer I told someone that an entire series of sermons was for them. I wonder if they've even listened to them. They were definitely good for me as well, but I may not have emphasized that as much. I think I'll go back and listen to them again.

• Too many kaleidoscopes, not enough telescopes.
This one I'm tempted to tell someone that this is for them as well, but I can definitely apply it to my life. A lot. Not really sure how to yet, but God's still working, and He ain't finished yet!

That's it for now, I'm caught up to about yesterday on the thought provoking blogs. I'll post a picture-ful blog tomorrow most likely.