Ron and Karen Flowers

A relaxed morning brunch together and a quiet drive through a countryside awakening to spring released a spurt of courage and openness within me. "Nancy," I began, "you just can't imagine what your inviting me out like this has meant to me."…

I was preaching the eighth of a ten-sermon series on the law of God. I had made what I thought were some perceptive points in defining the precept "Thou shall not steal." Among all the other things we know it to be, stealing is a failure…

A sobering reality has crashed in upon our consciousness in recent times: Couples in the ministry are not immune to the forces pulling marriages apart. Divorce rates among clergy are escalating. And evidence mounts that an unprecedented number…

Written by a pastor who frequently used drama in his worship services, these simple Nativity plays can be used by youth groups. They take a unique look at the Christmas story, using considerable imagination, which may be of concern to some.…

This book grew out of the author's feeling that an inordinate amount of guilt is levied upon divorcing Christians because of rigid, legalistic understandings of "once married, always married" held by the church. He sets out to reexamine what…

For the most part pastors view children in a congregation as a welcome I and healthy sign. Young families bring energy and enthusiasm, vibrancy and growth. Most churches put considerable energy into drawing families…

You've met her. She's visited your office, with bruises care fully camouflaged beneath makeup and a turtleneck.

You've seen her lower her eyes and study the floor when abuse and family violence were addressed openly, unable to disclose…

Angry and not at all amused, she watched him through an upper window as he led the parade into town. He had irreverently doffed his vestments, danced with one young woman after another along the sidewalks, and generally—it seemed to her,…

A healthy marriage is really a blending of two foreign cultures even if the couple belong to the same ethnic group or have grown up on the same street. So says noted family therapist Carl Whitaker.

Nations,…

It could have been almost any town, any place. The kids were acting out sexually and chemically, and the adults were worried. Worried enough to throw a lot of money into prevention. In fact, no one could ever say…

Elements of Seventh-day Adventist Faith, Belief #22: Marriage and the family. "Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship.…