Open Secrets: Discovering God Together

By James P. Long

I knew the book was special long before I knew why. It had been a Christmas gift from my parents 

“God could have conducted unending individual spiritual conferences. But He does not want us connected only to Him; He wants us connected also to one another.”back when I’d have chosen cars and trucks and guns and games. Yet there was, I sensed, something different about this boxed Book with its black leatherette cover. The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated Out of the Original Tongues and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised. The Authorized King James Version, 1611, Red Letter Edition.

I was 9.

Over the years, I occasionally opened the box, but rarely read The Book—until much later. For some reason I can scarcely explain, I tossed the Bible in the car as I packed for a camping trip. That impulse led to my first startling experience of this Book “speaking to me.”

Each ONE Matters To God

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish
but have everlasting life."  - John 3:16 

Dear Loved One,

God's love for the world is inclusive of every human being. And it is also very specifically directed at each one of us. This heavenly truth was brought to my earthly understanding several years ago, a few weeks before Easter.

I was walking across a parking lot when I looked down and noticed a penny on the asphalt. Frankly, I thought, "It's more work to stoop over and pick up that thing than it's worth." But there came a whisper in my soul from the heart of God: It's still ONE. And I knew the Lord was talking about His heart for people. So I bent down and picked up the penny.

Transparency or Wisdom in Marriage?

I go back and forth between thinking that my spouse and I need to communicate and be completely transparent with each other so that our trust level and relationship can grow vs. thinking that I need to be wise and hide some things from him because if he really knew all about me then he would feel too safe, would get bored and will go find his adventure somewhere else. I’m still not sure which one is the right answer, but I do know that when you hide things, it gives Satan a foothold. It allows him to come in and whisper lies in your ear like, “he doesn’t really love you and he never did” or “you are completely worthless and your husband knows it, so you need to pretend”. I’ve always went with transparency in the past and it hasn’t served me too well, but with this different way I find myself wanting to sin more and slowly wanting to distance myself from him, I don’t think it is good either. Maybe I’ll just go with transparency and hope that he chooses me despite his boredom….or is that stupid? Still don’t know.

The Stubbornness of Hope

Written by Becky Toews

Ten reasons to hope.

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed….” (Romans 4:18a)

I’m thankful that hope is so stubborn. If it wasn’t, I think I’d be a goner. Many times my circumstances have tempted me to throw in the towel, but each time I find hope popping to the surface and eventually taking over.

Oh, I’ve tried to resist. I’ve let discouraging thoughts smother the “noble, lovely and praiseworthy.” I’ve listened to the whispers of failure more times than I care to remember. I’ve allowed the voice of disappointment become louder than a scream. But with the predictability of a Hallmark movie, I find that after all my rants and raves, hope stands there quietly waiting. She penetrates my protests with the undeniable assurance that it’s gonna be okay.

Thirty Ways to Love Your Lover

A list of ideas on how to honor your wife.
by Dennis Rainey

Meet Don. Don is a basketball "nut." He's the kind of sports buff who can talk nonstop about his favorite basketball teams with anybody who'll listen. One evening, Don's wife took a seat next to him on the couch. She placed her arms around his neck and asked him point-blank: "Do you love me more than basketball?"

Puzzled, Don considered her question for a long minute before answering. He finally said, "College or NBA?" While most of us men would never make a blunder of that magnitude, we often miss the opportunity to affirm our wives. Marriage is not a spectator sport. Nor is it a place for verbal jabs or cynical put-downs. Those male digs might work in the locker room with the boys, but they're out of bounds with our wives.

What do Don's wife, your wife, and my wife need? Affirmation. Lots of it. Soft, tender, thoughtful, unexpected, meaningful, heartfelt affirmation delivered with no sexual demands attached. That's difficult for a man, I know. A man usually sets goals and generally acts only when he is after something. When it comes to romance, he's tempted to give affirmation only because he hopes to "get sex" in return.

Romancing Your Man

It comes down to one simple principle—love your neighbor as you would want to be loved.


by Barbara Rainey

I've noticed that most romantic novels and movies contain a common theme. It goes like this: A handsome, intelligent, adventurous, single man on a mission unexpectedly meets a beautiful, equally intelligent single woman under improbable circumstances—often in an exotic foreign location or in a lavish historical setting. Though their personalities may clash at first, and though they may even be on opposing “teams,” eventually they fall madly in love. And while this love is often impulsive and always new—never mature—in most cases the story ends with the unspoken assumption that they will live happily ever after.


How many romance novels or all-star chick flicks feature a faithful husband and wife with two, four, six, or eight children, living a normal life (whatever that is!) going to work and school and church, and enjoying passionate romance on a regular basis? Not many that I know of.


How many couples really live like people in the movies and novels? Who can maintain that level of intensity? Or adventure, intrigue, and surprise? Does that sound like your marriage relationship? I’m guessing it doesn’t.