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I’m Single. Is Jesus Enough?

It sounds so right. And that’s because it is, in one sense, absolutely true. Jesus should be our all-in-all. He should be enough.

But there’s another sense in which I think it’s wrong to give us singles the impression that Jesus can satisfy that stab we feel inside when we look at someone else’s wedding photos or hold someone else’s baby.

Let me explain...

boundless.org In a sense, I think it’s wrong to give singles the impression that Jesus can satisfy the stab we feel when we look at someone else’s wedding photos.

Muppet Christmas Carol - It Feels Like Christmas

"It is the summer of the soul in Decemeber, yes, when you do your best for love, it feels like Christmas!"

youtube.com The Ghost of Christmas Present teaches Scrooge about Christmas, on the streets of London town.

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

1 Timothy 3:16

for KING & COUNTRY- O Come, O Come Emmanuel | Official Picture-Story Lyric Video | SCENE 03

Just as Israel waited for the Messiah, we await His return. Enjoy this rendition of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by for KING & COUNTRY

youtube.com Click here to stream/download 'A Drummer Boy Christmas': https://forkingandcountry.lnk.to/ADrummerBoyChristmasJoin us for 'A DRUMMER BOY DRIVE-IN': 2020 Chri...

We always did one on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day. What about you?

Guys, Don’t Be a Creep: Episode 673

Merry Christmas Eve! On this week's show, women share how men can be creepy in dating, plus Ryan and Selena Frederick of Fierce Marriage talk about practicing transparency in marriage, and a listener askes about processing post-election hostility.

boundless.org Women on how men can be creepy in dating, plus practicing transparency in marriage, and processing post-election hostility.

Hm, never thought about that...

Several of my friends have married and started their families. I’ve noticed that parents seem to have a renewed excitement for Christmas. And the thrill doesn’t come from finding the latest high-tech gadget under the tree. It comes from watching their children’s joy.⁠
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I have decided to translate this concept into my own holiday project. Each day I will look for little ways I can bless and serve my parents, brother and sisters — waking up early for coffee with my dad, helping Mom around the house, writing notes of love to my sisters. I suspect that as I look for ways to make their holidays special, I will discover some joy of my own.⁠

From today's article, "Making it a Merry Christmas"⁠

Making it a Merry Christmas - Boundless

Whether Christmas traditions are lagging, your family has a new member, or your parents have moved into a new house, Christmas may feel different than it used to.

Last year I realized too late that something was wrong. Instead of treasuring the time I had with my family, I had wasted it feeling like a victim. This year I’m making a few Christmas resolutions.

boundless.org If Christmas and the holidays with your family leave you feeling depressed, it may be time for some new resolutions. Here are some ideas.

A Holiday Hack to Help You Remember the Meaning of Christmas

I want to dwell more on the birth of Jesus and what His birth means for the world, my community and my life, but too often that goal remains elusive because I don’t have any practical ideas for how to introduce moments of reflection into my day to day life.

Enter my hack — my imperfect-yet-savvy solution to this problem.

boundless.org It's easy to get swept up in the season and give little thought to the significance of the church calendar. Enter my hack — my solution to this problem.

⁠From today's blog post, "What Christmas Movies Teach Us About Relationships"⁠
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What Christmas Movies Teach Us About Relationships

I don’t know about you, but I love a good Christmas flick. Each holiday season I cozy up to the TV to watch favorites such as “Rudolph…,” “White Christmas” and “Elf.” Not only are these films entertaining, but they can also be educational when it comes to dating and relationships. Here are seven seasonal movies that teach us something about romance.

boundless.org Not only are these Christmas movies entertaining, but they can also be educational when it comes to dating and relationships.

I want to know who told that kid to play drums 🥁

Playing Jesus

I hate knocking on doors, especially on Christmas Eve. Especially at a hipster apartment complex with an onsite dog park and a zillion tiny balconies overlooking the Priuses. Especially for the fourth time, when I know somebody’s home because I can hear a gooey Josh Groban song blaring through the door.

“It’s Network Cable,” I yell, knocking harder. “Somebody schedule a service call?”

There’s movement at the peephole as the music goes silent. “Can I see some identification?” asks a suspicious voice...

(A Christmas story from Drama by George)

boundless.org I can only remember one Christmas that comes close to being this grim, and it happened when I was eight. That’s the year I decided to play Jesus.

😆

021 | Singles in the Church (Lisa Anderson) - LEAD Pods

Lisa Anderson is this week's guest on the USMB's LEAD Pods with Matt Ehresman!

buzzsprout.com Singles often get overlooked in today's churches. Sometimes churches inadvertently do or say hurtful things to single (no pun intended) them out, and we would all be wise to do a little check-up to ensure we're ministering to and meeting the needs...

The Humblebrag

"Idk why I'm so tired... I only fed five street children, brought a sick man to the hospital, helped a lady get her stolen wallet back, and adopted a kitten today. #Blessed"

🙄

boundless.org Do motives matter when posting online? How can we avoid the humblebrag and honestly glorify God in what we post?

My Single Christmas Tree

How do you decorate for Christmas? Do you have any decorations that are especially meaningful to you?

boundless.org As I adjusted its snowflake garland and a little more glitter sprinkled off, I realized something — this was my “single Christmas tree.”

Is the Way We Think About Male Spiritual Leadership a Myth?

What do you think? Is the way we typically think of spiritual leadership just a myth? For the married folks, how do you see spiritual leadership modeled?

boundless.org Is the way we typically think of spiritual leadership just a myth?

"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). What a relief, right?⁠
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Well … maybe not.⁠
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Perhaps the thought of finding security in the idea of inner beauty should make some of us feel a bit uneasy. Consider the words of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:⁠
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"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties, either, but right through every human heart."⁠
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I must admit there are days when my heart looks like a blackened piece of catfish. Seared with sin. Charred with pride and self-centeredness. There’s not a whole lot of beauty to be found in it, and instead of fearing the Lord, I find myself fearing more what other people think. “What comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart,” Jesus said. “It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies and cussing” (Matthew 15:18, 19, The Message).⁠
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From today's article, "Beauty and the Beastly Heart"⁠

Turns out there are a bunch of Star Wars fans in the Insiders group. Any other Boundless/Star Wars fans out there?

Beauty and the Beastly Heart

It’s amazing how quick women are to imagine fault in other beautiful women. You don’t have to be a psychoanalyst to understand that’s how we attempt to cope with our own insecurities and lack of self worth.

boundless.org We're so much more than our faces and bodies. But is what's beneath our skin any better looking?

Great Scott!!

Men on how women can be creepy in dating, plus tips for making money in a gig economy with Art Rainer, and when you feel less gifted than other people.

Listen to "Ladies, Don’t Be a Creep: Episode 672"
here: https://bit.ly/37tiItL

Covid be like...

Deck the Halls With Christmas Trivia

Share a tradition that you and your family do every year! 🎄

(We are especially interested in hearing from our international community 🌎🌍🌏)

boundless.org I love that people around the world celebrate when Jesus came to save the world.

Hiding your phone is sus...

How Do I Know If We Should Get Married?

I could see the worry on my friend’s face. He had been dating his girlfriend for six months and didn’t know if he should start planning a proposal or a breakup. It was a ripe time to choose.

I know others who have faced similar situations, so I asked my married friends on Facebook how they knew they should marry their spouse. Here are their answers.

boundless.org I asked my married friends how they knew they should marry their spouse. Here are their answers.

7 Things You Shouldn't Sacrifice for a Relationship

We talked about things you should sacrifice for a relationship, but what about the things you shouldn't sacrifice?

What would you add to the list?

boundless.org Close relationships require sacrifice, compromise and humility. But there are some things you shouldn’t completely give up for the other person.

Am I the Only One With a Porn Problem?

Take a leap of faith, be vulnerable and admit you need the love, grace and forgiveness Jesus gives us all. The next time you fall into temptation by looking at porn, talk to someone about it. It doesn’t have to be a face-to-face conversation with your pastor. Send an email to a trusted friend asking for help. Start a blog about how God’s grace is bigger than your struggle. Ask for advice in Christian social media groups, which are full of people in the same boat with you. You will find the support you need because you’re not the only one struggling with pornography.

boundless.org If you talk about it, I guarantee you’ll find other Christian men and women who are right there with you, needing prayer, encouragement and guidance to overcome the same problem.

Silent Night, Lonely Night

There are many reasons for grieving, not all of them related to physical death. Some grieve the death of hopes and plans, as the years of singleness, childlessness, or chronic illness accumulate. Others grieve the families they once had, now divided by divorce. Still, others miss the ease of family celebrations before this new, blended family arrangement hit them.

Christmas often staggers under the weight of human emotion and expectation — just as it has from the very start.

boundless.org No matter how lonely Christmas feels to any of us this year, we know someone who has endure intense loneliness — and He did it to rescue us.

When a guy says, 'God told me to marry you,' what's a girl to do?

It’s like he tried to do an end run around the appropriate process of winning your heart. He wants the reward without the work. If you’re going to have a change of heart toward him, it won’t be because he tells you that you should.

boundless.org I am a bit confused and bothered because I do not share this "revelation" at all.

"God Told Me To..."

Be careful not to forge God’s signature on a decision or an action.

boundless.org Ever heard these words, "I just really feel like God is telling me to..."? People say this quite a bit and most sincerely believe it.

Smoooooth

Is it OK to sleep together without having sex?

My girlfriend and I have been dating for about a year and a half. Eight months or so in, we fell in sexual temptation and started having sex regularly, along with sharing a bed. Later, I was strongly convicted about our sinful habits and made the choice to stop engaging in them. When I told her about this, she agreed that the sex was wrong but that she needed to sleep with me because the way she shows and receives love is physical touch.

I feel that any act like this (sleeping with each other, cuddling in private or unsupervised) could lead us right back into the sin that we were living in. She says that sleeping together is something she absolutely needs or she thinks it will be impossible to continue the relationship. Thoughts? Suggestions? I want to honor God in our relationship.

boundless.org My girlfriend says sleeping together is something she absolutely needs or she thinks it will be impossible to continue the relationship.