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My Go To Books On Marriage

As a minister, I have the opportunity to perform a wedding every now and then. As a youth minister, I don’t get to do this as often as our lead minister does, but I still get a request every now and then.

I was just asked a few days ago, in fact. I have the opportunity to perform the wedding for one of the college girls involved with our Junior High ministry. That is an incredible and exciting privilege for me.

Wedding Rings On A Marriage Certificate

While the actual wedding isn’t scheduled until June of next year, this topic is now on my mind. A lot. I have planning to do, pre-marital counseling to prepare for, and a lot of details I have to get into place. Granted, I have plenty of time. But it’s frequently on my mind.

As I dug through my shelves, looking for marriage resources, I came across several that I seem to turn to every time I do a wedding. Or talk with people about marriage. Or lead a small group study on marriage.

I thought I’d list them here.

Here are my top seven go to books on the topic of marriage.

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Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 32

Like last week, this week’s passage speaks directly to American society.

Jesus addresses worry. And it’s something we meed to hear. We tend to worry about almost everything, it seems. But Jesus has a better idea.

Read it for yourself: Matthew 6:25-27.

Matthew 6:25-27

I don’t know about you, but I find overcoming worry to be a difficult struggle.

I worry about my kids. I worry about our finances. I worry about my wife when she’s traveling. I worry about upcoming events and programming in my ministry.

I know I shouldn’t; but I do.

How do you not worry?

And so this passage speaks directly to my life. What about you?

Do you worry? What about? How do you not worry? Let me know in the comments.

 

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Four Reasons Why I Won’t Miss CIY Wilderness

Every year, I attend a youth minister’s retreat in Colorado Springs. I won’t miss it for anything. It’s called Wilderness, and is hosted by CIY (Christ In Youth).

Christ In Youth

CIY is a youth ministry organization that impacts youth like few others can. Their purpose is to “change youth, change the world.”

I’ve attended several CIY conferences over the years, for Junior High and High School students.

But they also offer a retreat designed specifically for youth ministry professionals and volunteers. It’s called Wilderness. And it’s incredible!

CIY Wilderness

I will not miss attending Wilderness every year for a number of reasons. Here are four of them.

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Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 31

Do you ever get the feeling that Jesus is speaking directly to our culture?

Even though this passage was penned two thousand years ago, it seems to apply directly to America in the twenty-first century.

It’s almost eerie.

Check out the passage: Matthew 6:24.

Matthew 6:24

Does this hit you right where you live?

If not, it should.

Think about it. As Americans, we are wealthy. We have our homes, two cars, TVs in every room, mobile phones and increasingly advanced electronics.

We have our savings accounts, our IRAs and pensions, our insurances.

Just who do we serve?

Hmmm….

How do you avoid serving Money in an extremely materialistic society? Let me know in the comments.

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Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 30

The Sermon on the Mount is full of very vivid imagery. I love how Jesus paints a picture with words that you can so clearly see in your mind’s eye.

This weeks passage is a great example. Take a look at Matthew 6:22-23.

Matthew 6:22-23

The dichotomy that Jesus describes is very black and white here.

Black and white.

Light and darkness.

Good and evil.

It’s a little ironic to me that these verses are surrounded by paragraphs about storing up treasures and serving God or money. That really helps you see this passage in a whole new light, doesn’t it?

This passage is in the middle of a section on material possessions and money. How does knowing that change how you understand this passage? Let me know in the comments.

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Top Posts For August 2011

Summer is officially over for me. School has started, and our youth ministry is in full swing. We kicked off our fall programming with record numbers since I’ve been with this church.

I’m pretty excited about it.

And things here at JeffRandleman.com are going pretty well also. I haven’t had the opportunity to write as much this summer as I would have liked, but that didn’t stop the activity on my blog.

Wordle.net Word Picture for August 2011

In case you missed them, here are my top six posts for August:

  1. Hubble Deep Space Field
  2. Video Review: Book Book Cases For iPhone 4 and iPad 2
  3. Book Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  4. The Maniac And The Messiah
  5. 16 Things You Can Do To Beat The Blahs
  6. Book Review: The Little Red Book Of Wisdom by Mark DeMoss

It never fails that my photo of the Hubble Deep Space Field makes the top of this list every month. It receives ten times more views than anything else on my site. Every month.

My first ever video review made it into the top posts this month also. That’s pretty exciting.

Two of the top posts are book reviews, one of which was written two years ago. That shows me that people are reading my reviews, even if the discussion is scarce on those posts.

My About Page also received a significant amount of visits as well, as it does every month. That continues to convince me that a quality About Page is a must.  Mine still needs some work, but I have tons of great ideas to implement.

My personal favorite post this month was 16 Things You Can Do To Beat The Blahs. Which one was yours?

If you are a blogger, leave a comment with your top post for the month. If you don’t blog, leave a comment with a favorite post or blog that you read this month.

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Book Review: Sir Rowan And The Camerian Conquest by Chuck Black

Sir Rowan And The Camerian ConquestI love reading a great story.

And Chuck Black has created a great story.

Sir Rowan And The Camerian Conquest is the fifth book in Black’s Knights Of Arrethtrae series. I really enjoyed the book, and I know my son will love it when he is a few years older. I felt like the book was geared towards older youth, especially boys.

This is the fifth book, and I haven’t read the first four books, but I felt like the story stood on it’s own. I’m sure that reading the previous books will fill in some gaps; but those gaps aren’t really too noticeable.

Sir Rowan’s story is one that many people experience. His character flaw in the story is his pride. Throughout the story, Black does a great job of showing how the King can use anyone, but only after they realize that His strength is what will carry them through.

As I read Sir Rowan’s story, I couldn’t help but see parallels in my own life, when pride reared it’s ugly head and caused me to miss out on what God wanted to do.

I really enjoyed reading Sir Rowan And The Camerian Conquest. I can’t wait until my son is old enough to want to read this series. Until then, I’ll just have to read the rest on my own.

Do you struggle with pride, like Sir Rowan?  What do you do to defeat it in your life? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading Sir Rowan And The Camerian Conquest, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Multnomah Books as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“