Happy Easter to all of you from us, Appeal for Purity Ministry!
What a day to go to church!
Yes, Jesus is risen! He is the reason for the season! He is the reason for us to be here today!
Oh, Jesus is the reason for me personally to be alive today and write this! Because of Jesus Christ, I live, move and have my being! (Acts 17:28) May all the glory, praise, honor, power, worship be to our risen Lord, Jesus Christ! ///
We all know that good marriages won’t just come from heaven and fall on us.
We make them!
We can’t say, “I’m just unlucky to be in this marriage” because there is no luck with good marriages; only hard work. From my personal experience, this is the one thing I’ve noticed in all good marriages: There are two people who diligently work hard towards making their marriage better everyday.
So, whenever I see a good marriage, I ask this question, “Why do I feel like their marriage is better than mine?” And if my feeling is true, I always find more than one answer. Continue reading Characteristics of a Good Marriage Worth Copying
A4P Guest: “I’m confused. I read some of your posts where you talked about how important marital sexual intimacy is and how married couples have to make sure that they make love as often as they can. I also heard on one of your messages you uploaded on the A4P YouTube channel where you said, “Sexless marriages are dangerous marriages.” Now in your latest post, you said, “Sex is not a necessity.” Am I missing something or did you make a mistake? I always notice how an important role sex plays in the health of my own marriage. And I don’t know if my marriage survives without sex. I believe sex is a necessity.”
A4P: Well, the Bible says, “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.” (James 3:2) Continue reading “I believe sex is a necessity”
A4P Guest: “I am – – a little concerned, (about what you said) that God will never change His mind when we seek His mercy by fasting and praying. I know this is one of the very controversial topics in Biblical discourse. But, I believe God will listen to our prayers and stop the wrath He would have otherwise brought. That’s what He did to the people of Israel. That’s what He did to the Nineveh people. So fasting and praying do matter. Your point sounded like praying and fasting have got nothing to do with God’s mercy.”
A4P: First, thank you for your – “Your point sounded like” phrase. That means you doubted that I meant to say God doesn’t answer our prayers or doesn’t give us mercy when we ask. Well, I’ll try to clarify my point today if I may. Continue reading Interesting Comment on “Fasting from Sex” Post
A4P Guest: “My husband and I are born against Christians. We are members of one local church in our area. We try our best to get involved in every activity our church may have. For this Easter season, our church has a 21 days fasting program that we, my husband and I, are taking part in. So this past Sunday, after the church service, a topic came up about what to fast and what not to fast from. And some of our church folks said that our fasting should include fasting from sex for our fasting to be biblically right. I asked them to prove it for me from the Bible but nobody knew exactly what verse to tell me but they kept on claiming that it is biblical to fast from sex when we fast from food. I and my husband don’t think we need to fast from sex. What is your take on this issue? I don’t think sex has anything to do with fasting.”
A4P: Thank you for your timely question and thank you for giving me permission to address your question on the page.
Most churches use this Easter season for fasting. I think that is excellent! Fasting is one of the Christian disciplines that is becoming rare and considered as outdated. But fasting has the most spiritual significance in a Christian life as praying and studying the Word of God have. And I appreciate you and your husband for taking part in your church’s fasting program. Continue reading Fasting from Sex
First let me say this:
“Thank you” to all of you the Appeal for Purity Ministry Facebook page fans who liked our wedding pictures and wished us a happy anniversary! My Berhan and I were very humbled by it all! We really appreciate you all a lot! May Jesus Christ take all the glory, praise and honor because He is the Author of our life and marriage!
Today is Sunday and you know what I’m about to say, don’t you?
Let’s all go to church!
Local church is where we find Christ working relentlessly to bring light to the dark world by destroying the work of the devil.
Jesus said, “- – – on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18)
Whether a local church is strong or weak, Christ is the Head of her and nothing can overcome her. Be part of a Bible believing and teaching local church. Then lock your hands with other believers so that you be a channel for the Holy Spirit to reach out to the lost. ///
The Bible says, Jesus came to seek and save the lost! (Luke 19:10) And my Berhan and I were one of those lost people Jesus came for! And we praise Him forever for seeking and saving us!
Jesus is also a reason for our marriage to stand still until this day. Yes, just as it is with everybody else’s marriage, the rain came down, the streams rose and the wind blew and beat against our marriage many times but because of the Foundation, the Rock, we built our marriage on, our marriage stood still! (Matthew 7:24-25) What the enemy meant it for evil God turned it all for good! (Genesis 50:20) Through it all, our love got stronger and deeper than ever! Continue reading Today is our 18th Years Wedding Anniversary!
We know that men and women are different. I mean, however much we think we are modernized, educated and sophisticated, there is one truth we can’t deny, i.e. men and women are different. I’m not talking about the husband being a night owl and the wife being an early bird. I mean those differences can drive a couple crazy too but I’m talking about sexual wiring differences.
Those kinds of differences sometimes make you secretly ask this question: “Is this person really created on this planet or does this person come from a different planet?” (I mean, men are more guilty of asking this question than women, that is for sure) Continue reading “Sex is Good in the Evening!”
Whenever I find a good book to read, I forget the whole world, I mean I literally forget the rest of the world, including myself.
And Joshua Harris who is one of my favorite authors successfully makes his readers get lost in the Truth of God. As you flip the pages, you get socked, drowned and lost in awe of God and His Truth! For me personally, reading Pastor Harris’ book is like having a wonderful devotional time with my LORD and God. Breathtaking!
If you didn’t read his books such as “sex is not the problem (lust is)” or “not even a hint” or “Boy meets Girl” or “I kissed Dating Goodbye”, well, you are missing out. You may not know this but Pastor Harris’s books are one of those “must-read” books many marriage counselors recommend to singles! So, if you are single, get these books and you will know what I am talking about. Continue reading “Jesus didn’t come to rescue us from our humanity”
A4P Guest: “How about taking HIV/AIDS as a topic by itself out in the open? Our community (Ethiopian and Eritrean) is disproportionately infected by it and lots of studies have shown that fact. Yet we as a community of people especially at the churches are very quiet about sexually transmitted disease (STD) because it’s still considered as a very sinful and taboo thing to talk about. It is by far worse here among the diaspora than back home in Africa. I for one have been closely following this issue for years being HIV positive myself for 18 years, I can say with certainty that we are going backward. I tried to bring the dialogue going around churches but the doors are closed. I believe it’s time to talk about it out in the open because it will ease the stigma and help reduce the spread of all the STDs as it also encourages people to get tested. That’s what needs to be done.”
A4P: First, let me say this – I was blown away when I read your “being HIV positive myself for 18 years” comment posted on A4P Facebook page! Wow! I wonder how that feels like, to come out and say it like that in the open! It should feel good in and out! “No secret to hide” kind of life feels wonderful! Doesn’t it? Continue reading Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)