The NY Times weighs in on a massive sociological trend: the extending of adolescence. They seem to take the perspective that it is morally neutral. While some of the contributing factors are themselves amoral (a greater need for college, or even graduation, education) the overall trend, in my view, is driven by the tendency of young men refusing to grow up because they don't have to. And the results are awful: Today 40 percent of births are to unmarried mothers, an increase from 28 percent in 1990. About one-fourth of 25-year-old white men lived at home in 2007 — this was before the latest … [Read more...] about The (Unnecessarily) Long Road to Adulthood
With One Voice
A Great Marriage Book: 60% Off. One More Day.
WTS Bookstore is running a 60% off sale on Paul Tripp's book What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage until Friday afternoon. Less than one more day! Sorry for the late notice. This looks like a great book. Chapter 7, Pulling Weeds, is online for free. Two endorsements: "What I've come to expect from Paul Tripp is consistently deep, transparent, biblical, wise, practical, gospel-driven counsel. Rather than muddying the water with self-focused strategies designed to meet our ever-multiplying needs, Paul, as the seasoned soul-physician he is, correctly diagnoses our problems … [Read more...] about A Great Marriage Book: 60% Off. One More Day.
The Marriage Index: Establishing and Tracking Leading Marriage Indicators
The Institute for American Values and the National Center on African American Marriages and Parenting have partnered to establish The Marriage Index, a metric designed to measure the health of American marriages (not unlike how the Leading Economic Index put out by The Conference Board watches economic trends. Dr. Albert Mohler explains:The Marriage Index is based on solid data and includes five major components: the percentage of adults ages 20-54 who are married, the percentage of married persons who are "very happy" with their marriage, the percentage of first marriages that are intact, … [Read more...] about The Marriage Index: Establishing and Tracking Leading Marriage Indicators
A Balanced View on Singleness & The Gift of Celibacy
Years ago I was involved in the debate over what some call "the gift of singleness." Some tend to think of the gift of singleness as the state of singleness: to be single, is to have the gift. I wholeheartedly disagree. I think it is better to differentiate between a gift for celibacy and the state of singleness. Not all who are in the state of singleness are gifted to remain there--though, of course, celibacy is the biblical requirement of all singles. Which is one of the reasons most of them should marry (I Cor. 7:9). As I wrote in a 2006 essay: [The gift of celibacy] is a rare gift that … [Read more...] about A Balanced View on Singleness & The Gift of Celibacy
The Case For Early Marriage – Mark Regnerus
Mark Regnerus, Ph.D., is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas, Austin, where he lives with his wife, Deeann, and their three children. He has written a fantastic article for Christianity Today called The Case For Early Marriage. It encapsulates one of the central messages of With One Voice: the biblical association of intimacy with marriage, along with the formative and stabilizing benefits of marriage, suggest that its preferable to enter the lifelong bond early in the adult years, not later. After addressing the devaluing of marriage in our culture (which is a … [Read more...] about The Case For Early Marriage – Mark Regnerus
The Altar: Not the Finish Line
Boundless has published a new essay I wrote called The Altar: Not the Finish Line. The opening: I am convinced that for most men, a godly wife will bring blessings that nothing else can. But those blessings are not secured without hard work. I'm talking about the inevitable adjustments which all successful marriages require. Marriage is not about two single people moving into one house but otherwise continuing to live their lives as before. Marriage is about the complete unification of two very different individuals — two sinners who, no matter how strong their attraction to one another, no … [Read more...] about The Altar: Not the Finish Line