How Much Sex Should Christians Have and How Far Should They Go

http://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2008/september/christian-sex-rules.html?start=1

Christian Sex Rules

A guide to what's allowed in the bedroom

Louis and Melissa McBurney

When it comes to sex, most married Christians just do what works for them. If they have been blessed enough to have discovered something that brings satisfaction, pleasure, closeness, and climax, they most likely will continue that practice. However, some are plagued with guilt because they wonder if what they're doing is sinful.

TCW receives many, many questions from Christian couples who want to know what is and what is not okay to do sexually. Unfortunately, churches tend to ignore this issue, small groups usually don't talk about sex, and most Christian books deal with more "spiritual" ideas.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a list of sexual practices categorized by "sinful" or "okay"? Is there such a list? Would everyone agree with the list? Is there a solution to this dilemma?

We think the answers to those questions are: yes, no, no, and probably not—in that order. We'd really like to create such a list that could settle once and forever the niggling doubts about sexual practices. But that's not possible. Different communities of Christians have different understandings about sexual practices that are based on a few general biblical principles. No list would be accepted by all Christians. Still, we do want to provide some guidelines that we hope will help you enjoy the gift of your sexuality to the fullest. That's what we're convinced God wants for each of his children.

We doubt that God's surprised by the intensity of our sexual desire or of its fulfillment. Seeing us enjoy the passion and pleasure seems to fit with his creative nature. There are some definite boundaries, however, that were identified through his Word. These are established to protect and enhance the maximum enjoyment of the gift. We think it's like our giving our kids bicycles. We'd teach them the safety rules right away so they could delight in the ride without being run over by a car on a busy street.

Every Little Girl"s and Little Boy's Wish - Fairy Tale

Expecting A"You Complete Me" Kind Of Marriage

http://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2013/august/expecting-you-complete-me-kind-of-marriage.html?utm_source=marriage-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=12316245&utm_content=196886453&utm_campaign=2013

I'm expecting" is a grand open-ended statement of two little words loaded with hope. As a mom of four, I have lots of experience saying them, sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exhaustion. Each time I've been waiting for the baby, other expectations weren't so obvious. The dream of fulfillment, or unconditional love, or a stronger connection to my husband. They were unique expectations based on my distinct mess of personality and life experiences. What I was "expecting" with my fourth pregnancy was much different than my first, because I knew more about motherhood and I'd grown as a woman.

Should We Have Expectations Going Into Marriage

Going Beyond Our Expectations

 http://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2008/september/going-beyond-our-expectations.html?utm_source=marriage-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=12316245&utm_content=196886453&utm_campaign=2013&start=1

A classic love song that still gets a lot of radio time goes like this:

You're the meaning in my life
You're the inspiration
You bring feeling to my life
You're the inspiration
Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin'
No one needs you more than I need you.

"You're the Inspiration" by Chicago is typical of the genre we call love songs. Such songs promise that our lover will bring us "meaning," "inspiration," and "feeling," and when our natural resources fail us, our lover will rescue us, so that we can belt out, "No one needs you more than I need you!"

Sort of makes the lover sound like God.

And that's the rub. Christians recognize that such songs are silly at best, idolatrous at worst, and just plain unrealistic. No human relationship can do all that.

But I'll be honest: deep inside there's a part of me that wishes it were true. And I don't think I'm alone.

We're fascinated, even in the Christian world, with books and articles that promise to help "find the love of your life," or to discern whether Mr. X or Ms. Y could possibly be our "soul mate." We live in a culture that longs for what's been called superrelationships. Who wouldn't want one?

We especially pine after the superrelationship when, a few years into marriage, we find ourselves at the breakfast table, sitting across from someone who suddenly seems like a stranger, with disheveled hair, wearing a tattered robe, bent over a newspaper, slurping coffee. We discover we don't have a soul mate but a mere roommate, and we wonder what office we go to in order to find a new one.

The Truth About the Church's Fundraising Tactics - High End Marketing

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/heres-the-deal/40462-the-truth-about-the-church-s-fundraising-tactics

Let's suppose you are closing out your day with some salsa and chips when you flip on the television. You wince as you witness a repeat performance--not of another episode of Survivor but of a high-powered, high-pressure appeal for money during a talk show on your local Christian station.
"Ohhh, the anointing is so strong right now," the host says. "You need to give while the anointing is here!"
You believe in the anointing of God and in the power of prayer. You love and appreciate many of the people on this TV program and you know God uses them.
You certainly don't want to be critical. So you close your eyes, shake your head in disgust and turn off the set.
"This is embarrassing," you say to yourself. "Something isn't right. Lord, I don't understand--does it have to be this way?"
I know how you feel. I have seen this in church services and conferences and some of the same thoughts have surfaced in me.
Over the next several days you find yourself in conversations with Christian friends. Somehow the topic of Christian fundraising is mentioned.
The other people have strong opinions, from "It makes me sick" to "As soon as I see that stuff I turn off the TV."
I wish this craziness were the exception, but it seems it is becoming the rule. During one recent week I turned on the tube and witnessed the following:

Is God Doing A New Thing in Our Days?

The Joel Osteen Most People Don't Know 

http://www.charismanews.com/us/40377-the-joel-osteen-most-people-don-t-know 

I like Pastor Joel and I respect him. He appeals to much in me that is deep like many others. He speaks of a Loving and gracious and kind and generous heavenly Father. We should not be quick to judge someone whom God is using in a different way to bring people to Himself. Always Joel ends with the Altar Call. How many Churches do this? If Joel has a big Church and congregation, does it mean that it is wrong? No. A great multitude used to follow Jesus and on foot. Nowhere in the Bible is it reported that few people followed Jesus. No. There must have been something about Him that was attractive to them. And he always spoke to them in the language they knew. he used examples of daily life. He wasn't sophisticated. That's the appeal to the human spirit.
It is not right to equate Joel to Jesus, for Joel is totally human and makes mistakes like any other. Yet it is equally wrong to limit Joel to what was recorded in the Bible as Jesus' works and words. The Bible says that it is only a fraction that was recorded. Not only that, Jesus said that greater works shall those who follow Him do.
"12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he/she who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he/she will do, because I go to My Father. " John 14:12
 
If some of you do not understand Joel's calling and mission, don't fret. Ask God to show you your own calling and mission and excel at it. You may even go beyond Joel. I am not an advocate of Joel, but I have watched him for some years and read his books. They are life giving. God is doing a new thing in His Kingdom. Are you listening to the new sound? Can you see beyond the known?

"18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19

"28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days." Joel 2:28

Some of us went to Seminary, have many years of training, but classroom if applied to the marketplace without the wisdom of God is useless. Tradition needs the breath of the Spirit to bring new life.

It is sinful to limit God as to how He can use His people in different generations. The message is still the same, yet packaged in generational wineskins.
We should pray for them to be preserved in uprightness and not fall into temptation. We Christians should not be acting as the Devil trying to pull Joel and Victoria down, but encouraging them on and upholding them.

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, ESV)"

Chrisitians and Complex Physiological Issues.

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/40459-did-pat-robertson-really-endorse-the-transgender-movement 

I hear him too and was surprised at what he meant. He himself didn't sound so sure and he cut off Terry so fast. Who knows, ''...in the last days...." many things are happening and many will turn away and many will bring in false teaching in the Church. I would have respected him if he had said that he does not really know but he will pray and research. For surely, even him does not have all the answers. Why would he give any such answer just to prove that he is Alpha and Omega?
His answer was not helpful at all!
As Christians, we should love anyone but hate sin and unholiness. We are commanded to love one another, but to hate sin and unholiness.
If we are not sure, we should let others know and pray for them as well for God to reveal the truth to them.
For Pat, pride comes before a fall.

I have heard that people have been born transgender, and that doctors or medical personnel decided which genitalia to keep. I don't know what that means but prayer to God can reveal so much. I am still learning and I don't claim to know everything. I am also wondering, do these people have ovaries, uterus or not? Do they grow beards? How do they look like as they turn to puberty for this may be a determining factor of nature. Getting injected hormones or treatment to change one into prominence of a different gender is what I would not agree with. That will tampering with the DNA. It is time for Christians to address such complex issues with prayer, diligence, compassion and truth.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

God Is Holy and Cannot Tolerate Sin

Revival Is Coming, but God Is Turning Over Stones First

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/in-the-line-of-fire/40445-revival-is-coming-but-god-is-turning-over-stones-first 
Exactly. There is so much sinning under the table in the Church!! Too much compromise! I agree with you for Jesus is coming back to take a Church without a blemish, spot or wrinkle. God is so gracious that He is giving us a second chance to put things right. God loves sinners but hates sin. God is Holy so He cannot tolerate sin, unholiness! May we cry out to Him to cleanse us of anything unholy! anything that may prevent us from entering Heaven. He is a God of more than second chance. But Christians have compromised holiness! Even Non Christians are appalled at how Christians behave, speak, dress or live our lives. God help us.