"These days sexual sin is far less about sex and far more about the misuse of power and exploitation of vulnerability. It's time to redraw the ethical map. But how should a contemporary Christian ethic of sexuality be formulated? Marvin Ellison, a pioneer in contemporary Christian rethinking of sexuality and sexual ethics, uses a series of provocative questions to increase readers' skills and confidence for engaging in ethical deliberation about sexuality. Students and all adults will welcome this book for enabling their personal clarity, approach to relationships, and mindful participation in respectful moral debate." -- Publisher description.

In making love, one is elevated beyond the carnal desires it satisfies. For the religious, it is Divine; for those who are not religiously inclined, it is still a spiritual experience, one of seamless solidarity, a unity of two as one that defies mere orgasmic stimulation. You don’t have to make love to have sex. Even strangers can be sexually attracted and have an orgasmic escapade. But in the act of making love, there is symbolic meaning that is felt through-and-through the sex act. Two in love are joined, in life, and the sexual expression of this unison is deeply felt in the sex act itself. This is sexual intimacy, the making of love, the likes of which is rarely, if ever, seen outside a loving relationship. There is no escape from the philosophical dimensions of such a loving relationship. It is as abstract as it is concrete in the ideals that ground it. There is a mystery about it, a kind of transcendent experience that defies translation into words. Making and being in love are thus joined at the hip. Loving relationships make the bed in which true lovers sleep. Unfortunately, many relationships flounder or never get off the ground. Just having sex may ease the tension, but it then becomes a means, not truly an end-in-itself. The moment the sex act ends, the couple may retreat and fall into discord. It is an oasis in a barren desert that provides temporary relief, a titillating, temporary escape from reality. This book can help you to overcome the obstacles, the unlovable habits that encumber your relationship, both inside and outside the bedroom. It can help to create the harmonic balance between your sex life and other aspects of your personal and interpersonal relationships, which are preludes to making and being in love. To accomplish this, it applies a five-step method based on Logic-Based Therapy & Consultation (LBTC), a popular form of evidence-based, philosophical counseling modality. First, it introduces you to six types of unlovable ways of thinking and acting and helps you to identify the ones that may be sabotaging your own relationship. Second, it shows you how to counter these self-defeating habits with certain lovable goals (“virtues of love”). Third, it helps you to identify and embrace a personal “love philosophy” that empowers you to reach for your lovable goals. Fourth, it provides core philosophical ideas that are key to any successful quest for romantic love. Fifth, it helps you construct a behavioral plan that applies your philosophies to making constructive changes in your relationship. The latter may require making changes both inside and outside your relationship. Thus, this book also shows you how the problems you are having in one area of your life (at work, in your social life, etc.) can affect the quality of your relationship, inside and outside the bedroom, and it offers guidance, including self-improvement exercises, to overcome these impediments and attain enduring love and sexual intimacy.

Drawing from her years of professional experience as a sexual surrogate and therapist, Keesling delves into the profound and complex powers of sexuality, offering readers the idea that sexual exchange between loving partners contains all the elements necessary for healing and happiness: touch, intimacy, communication, physical activity, and playfulness.

Derryl Venters, a retired educator, drew on her forty-three years of marriage and experience as a teacher to write a book on building strong marriages. Her conversations with other couples who have been married forty to sixty years gave her unique insight into the building blocks of successful marriages. Making Love That Lasts is developed around the belief that twenty-one days of focus on the marriage can form the habit of making lasting and positive changes in couples relationships. During the twenty-one days, topics such as forgiveness, money, change, love, prayer, and respect are covered from the perspective of successful marriages. Included in the book are stories about couples and the challenges of their lives that warm the heart and lead to understanding the topics. Making Love That Lasts is an easy read that encourages the soul and lays the foundation for lasting love.

When two hearts become one, both happiness and sometimes sadness will find a place in that seemingly perfect union. As much happiness as we shared, when I look back over our life together, I was blessed that God allowed me to experience such joy and love every day with a man who not only made promises but kept those promises. Even though I have also witnessed sadness to an unimaginable degree since his unexpected death, I can truly say I was still blessed to have loved and been loved to a magnitude I do not have words to describe. A lifetime cannot be defined in terms of hours, days, years, decades or century. Regardless of the length of time any relationship lasts, we must learn to live every minute like it is our last. That is what my one true love taught me! He added truth, honesty, love and devotion together and we had a sum total of joy and happiness divided by the number of offsprings produced by that love. And we never parted in anger or unforgiveness--because no one can predict what the next minute will bring. Sometimes I think my love was just too wise for this world--that is why God called him home to be with Him. As I look back over our life together, I feel enormously blessed by God to have had such a love as this in my lifetime. Only God made it possible. Only God allowed me to experience total bliss for a little while (29.8 years). Words cannot describe the memories stored in my memory bank of our span of time together. In all my days of blissful retreat, the only thing I feel I did not do enough of is giving grateful praise to the Almighty for creating that soul mate just for me and I for him. Life will go on and in each whisk of air against my skin as I sit and read, I will remember it is you my love stopping by to see me every now and then. God saw you were getting tired; So He did what He knew was best. He watched and waited for the exact time, You were in most need of some rest. You did not say to me farewell; Nor even a wave good-bye. God took you swift and easy-- I dare not ask God why. He gave you to me for a while; I loved you with all my heart, I showed you, I told you daily, Even in death, we are not apart. Rest easy Honey until I get there, I will know you when I arrive. We will be just two angels forever, Always--partners--side by side.

Remember, God is not for sale, so there is no way to purchase Him. You cannot do anything on your own that will be of any help to attain to God. All that you can do is not to stand in the way, not to resist – that’s all that man can do... to be absolutely relaxed, deeply non-resistant And this is what, to me, is prayer – a state of let-go.

When talking about sexual maturity you have to keep an open mind and realize we are talking more than just sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse can be a part of your sexual maturity growth but also understand you dont have to have intercourse to sexually grow. The main objective for the author of this book is to make the readers aware of the difference in their sexual maturity and to open doors for discussion about matters that someone may not have known how to bring up. If so, the author has accomplished his intention of getting couples to understand their sexual maturity and how to grow together.