2009-10-01T09:15:19-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com http://www.gospel.com/feeds/topics/sex http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/dining-from-the-garbage-cafe-5929 2009-10-01T09:15:19-05:00 If you're wondering why you feel defeated so many times, why you don't feel as close to Jesus as you used to, or why your dark side keeps winning and bringing you down, well consider your diet: what you're watching, what you're listening to, who you're spending time with, or the things you laugh at. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/blooming-too-soon-3612 2009-09-22T14:23:04-05:00 Whether it's a relationship, or finances, or a ministry goal, or getting justice, or meeting a need - wherever you're tempted to try to make it happen - don't. Just remember those blossoms whose instincts told them it was time when it wasn't. If it's blooming too soon, it probably won't make it. But in God's time - which is probably later than yours - in His time, it will be beautiful. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hindrances/the-fire-you-think-you-can-control-3521 2009-09-22T09:35:27-05:00 God has given us warning. This fire you think you can control will get out of control - and you will do more damage than you could ever have imagined. Your protection against the inferno is the commitment of Job 31:1 - "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully..." It's a choice. The payoff? Beauty instead of charred remains. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hindrances/spiritual-land-mines-3730 2009-09-21T10:41:55-05:00 Usually, if your sin is because of your love for money, you'll leave a trail and you'll eventually be caught. Usually, if your sin is one of the love of the opposite sex, it will ultimately be exposed and punished. But perhaps the most insidious spiritual land mine of all is the love of power. That one's hard to prove, hard to confront - but a prideful, power-loving spiritual leader can often maim and scar and even destroy people for a lifetime without ever being stopped. http://hutchcraft.com/a-life-that-matters/radio-program/sex-without-regret-8279 2009-09-16T14:26:46-05:00 Not every kind of business is suffering in our big recession. Home gardening is suddenly booming. They call them recession gardens–saving money by growing your own food. Listen, if I’m going to do a garden, I know who I’m going to look to as my consultant. My friend, Mel, has the ultimate garden, and I’ll tell you, long before it was a recession survival strategy. And guess what he’s got around his amazing garden? A fence. You know why? “Yeah, to keep everybody from enjoying it.” No, no. It’s so we can keep enjoying it. The fence is there to make sure that beautiful garden stays beautiful. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/girl-watching-god-is-watching-5906 2009-09-11T12:53:52-05:00 Both men and women have fallen for a casualness about sex that robs it of its God-given beauty. Like snow, it's beautiful when it's fresh and clean but it's ugly when it's trampled and soiled. Godly men, make that covenant with your eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. Godly women, dress for respect, not attention like the temple of God that you are. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/loving-by-anticipating-5883 2009-09-11T11:05:12-05:00 Anticipate when your spouse will need help, or comfort, or intimacy, or reassurance, maybe extended debriefing time, or tenderness, they need prayer together, or just some encouragement like praising small progress in an area where they've really been struggling. Usually, the love that really makes the other person feel loved means sacrifice on our part. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/blindness-that-makes-you-crash-5877 2009-09-11T10:52:37-05:00 God has sent you this way today to send you a wakeup call. Please, consider where your passions and your desires are taking you. Count the cost. Think about all you have to lose if you keep driving down this road. Think about the price that you will pay in your soul - maybe the price you're already paying. Think about the hurt this can cause. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/uncontrolled-fire-5862 2009-09-10T15:03:35-05:00 You may be playing with fire on the Internet, in magazines you look at or movies you watch, or just in the way you look at the opposite sex, or the way you push all the boundaries in what you're doing physically with someone. If you'll be honest with yourself, you will see increasing evidence that you're not controlling your passions. They're beginning to control you. The fire is spreading. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/hugging-the-wrong-thing-5850 2009-09-10T13:50:43-05:00 Face the responsibility you have for the distance that's been developing. Put aside whatever "dolly" you've been hugging for security and wrap both arms around the person you pledged your life to. Yes, you have to work at this oneness that God created marriage to bring. But it is so worth the work; so worth the sacrifices. If you're married, God intended you to find in one another the harbor for which our hearts truly long.