In this episode, Ryan and Selena discuss how our earthly marriage is simply a shadow to our eternal marriage with Christ, and the implications of living too focused on the happiness level of our marriage rather than the One we were created for can have … As marriage ministers, it’s important for us to continually point people to Christ and commission marriages for the gospel…
Can I Have Close Friends of the Opposite Sex?
There is a lot of godly information and instruction around this area of friendship with the opposite sex and whether or not it is something that can happen or should happen. In this episode, Ryan and Selena will discuss this controversial topic while sharing their own experiences and biblical understanding of how we “can have the wisdom to know and enjoy the blessing of friendship…
Cohabitation: is it Good or Bad, and Why?
The popularity of marriage appears to be trending downward while cohabitation trends upward. Culture seems to favor cohabitation, but the facts say that’s a bad thing. As Christians, it’s important to understand why cohabitation is bad from both a biblical perspective as well as sociologically, for ourselves but also as lights and salt in our communities. In this episode, we’ll dive deep into the reasons…
How is Your Phone Hurting Your Marriage (Part 2)
You’re probably using your smartphone to listen to this. Your phone is a great tool! But it can also create problems in life and marriage. (Side note: This episode marks 1 FULL YEAR of the Fierce Marriage Podcast! Thanks for listening!) Anyways… A few diagnostic questions you may want to ask yourself: Do you check your phone first thing in the morning? Do you spend…
Living with Unshakeable Peace
Well, it was one of those nights…hard to sleep, too much on my mind and slightly anxious about the busy weeks ahead. My stomach turned, seemingly without end. Eventually, I started praying and after a while, I drifted off to sleep. It was a night of crazy, adventurous, and to be honest, stressful dreams (about mountain lions, Ivan the gorilla, and hiking). I woke up…
3 Boundaries You Absolutely Need In Your Marriage
Healthy boundaries will protect you from overextending yourself in life. They will also protect the health of your marriage when they’re clearly defined. Every season of frustration in our own marriage (“season” = many months) can usually be traced back to some issue with boundaries. Usually I’m overworking, or we’re making poor decisions in areas where we haven’t clearly defined our “walls”. Boundaries are important, so…
10 Big Questions: Sex, Compatibility, Kids, and More
Every once in a while we go through our inboxes, voicemails, and texts to gather common questions from readers and listeners. In our years of writing for and ministering to couples, we’ve found that certain themes exist in questions we receive. That’s why we dedicated a full podcast episode to exploring (and hopefully answering) those questions! Below is the list of questions we addressed in…
The Art of Appreciation
One of the quickest ways to defuse all manner of marital dysfunction is to show and feel appreciation toward one another. The thing about appreciation is that it’s a choice and a skill. I’d even say that just like many things, one can learn the art of appreciation! In this episode of the Fierce Marriage Podcast, we discuss a few ways to exercise your “appreciation…
3 Reasons You [Probably] Avoid Church and Why to Go Anyway
If you’re reading this, there’s a great chance that you identify with being called a Christian. However, that’s about where the assumptions stop. You might be married, you might read your Bible, and you probably (statistically) don’t gather weekly with other believers in your area. Life is busy and church attendance tends to get placed on the chopping block. Given our culture’s adversity to ‘organized religion’ and…
5 Reasons Why Your Family of Origin Matters… a Lot
To put it plainly, “Family of Origin” refers to the environment in which you grew up. It’s not a new concept by any means, but it’s one Selena and I hadn’t explored at length. Until recently. I love thinking about family of origin in tree terms (hence the image for this post). How a tree grows doesn’t only depend on its species; it’s the net…