The Art of Intimate Marriage


Book Description

From a two-time nationally award winning sexuality researcher - The Art of Intimate Marriage. God's plan for sexual intimacy in marriage is the work of a Master artist and genuine intimacy is like a beautiful masterpiece. Your marriage is going well but you want to make your sex life better and you’re looking for help on how to do that. You want to know what God has to say about how to build a fulfilling sexual intimacy in your marriage. Your sexual relationship has been full of pain, discouragement, and frustration and you need some answers. You have some medical issues that are making sex difficult and you would like to rekindle experiencing mutually pleasurable sex. For these issues and more, The Art of Intimate Marriage provides direction and guidance on how to get there. Creating that masterpiece may mean learning God’s view of sex, gaining life-giving intimacy skills, and figuring out how to work through conflict in a way that creates deeper connection. It may also mean overcoming things in your background, healing things in your marriage, or dealing with those medical challenges. We have the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of God’s loving heart through being deeply known and erotically bonded with our spouse. The Art of Intimate Marriage gives us a road map to experience growth toward a more rewarding, spiritual sexual relationship.




The Art of Intimate Marriage


Book Description

From a two-time nationally award winning sexuality researcher. Whether your sex life is going well or it has been full of discouragement and frustration, The Art of Intimate Marriage provides a road map to overcoming challenges and experiencing the beauty of sex as God intends.




Forever and Always


Book Description

This book reflects a multi disciplinary, integrative approach to the theology and practice of relational intimacy. It combines biblical data on sexuality and relationships with marriage and bonding research. The reader is then guided in applying the research to his or her relationships. In essence, this is a handbook for understanding and deepening the stages involved in bonding or attaching closely to another human being. Marriage, the most intimate of all human relationships, is described in Scripture as a "one-flesh mystery" (Eph 5:31-32). This mystery of human bonding is as beautiful as it is complex, particularly in a post-Eden world. Many of us are woefully aware of our relational deficits, yet lack vibrant marriages around us to emulate. Those of us who have not experienced relationships of health, safety, and security particularly find we need roadmaps along the way. Our desire is that in the pages of this book readers will find personal encouragement and direction that is both biblically precise and practical for their relational journeys. Our intimacy model is built upon God's bold promises to heal and redeem. His pathways bring life; he is the one true lover of our souls. Our intimacy with him is foundational to all other relationships.




Intimate Creativity


Book Description

Integrating the psychology of love and creativity, this pioneering book explores both how a couple’s involvement as lovers influences their creative collaboration and how working together affects their relationship. Representing a variety of genres—painting, sculpture, photography, and installation art—the celebrated couples profiled here include, among others, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, and Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel. Intrigued by this process of "intimate creativity," psychologists Irving and Suzanne Sarnoff (themselves partners in love and work) decided to conduct in-depth interviews with partners in visual art because they defy the supremely individualistic tradition of their field. Whatever their age or sexual orientation, these artist-couples combine their talents to form a collective identity as a professional team. Passionately intense about their shared commitment, they communicate endlessly to resolve conflicts and reach consensus. Providing mutual validation and support, they increase their productivity and the quality of their work; they minimize their fear and frustration and enhance their pleasure in being together. The authors also draw on historical and contemporary literature about similar couples, ranging from Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber to Gilbert and George to Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Stimulating and engaging, this book highlights the features of a unique collaborative process, considers the connection between creativity and sexuality, and suggests possibilities for any couple to expand their intimacy.




Closer


Book Description

Sexual intimacy in marriage is a great gift from a good God that cements couples together and brings unity and happiness. Nevertheless, in our broken and messed-up world we often need help and direction to understand and enjoy what it means to give ourselves to one another, and to overcome some of the difficulties and questions that every Christian husband and wife faces. Adrian and Celia Reynolds are straightforward and compassionate as they look at Scripture to guide couples in this area. They give five clear biblical principles relating to sex and apply them to the common questions Christian couples ask about intimacy.




Fierce Marriage


Book Description

Ryan and Selena Frederick were newlyweds when they landed in Switzerland to pursue Selena's dream of training horses. Neither of them knew at the time that Ryan was living out a death sentence brought on by a worsening genetic heart defect. Soon it became clear he needed major surgery that could either save his life--or result in his death on the operating table. The young couple prepared for the worst. When Ryan survived, they both realized that they still had a future together. But the near loss changed the way they saw all that would lie ahead. They would live and love fiercely, fighting for each other and for a Christ-centered marriage, every step of the way. Fierce Marriage is their story, but more than that, it is a call for married couples to put God first in their relationship, to measure everything they do and say to each other against what Christ did for them, and to see marriage not just as a relationship they should try to keep healthy but also as one worth fighting for in every situation. With the gospel as their foundation, Ryan and Selena offer hope and practical help for common struggles in marriage, including communication problems, sexual frustration, financial stress, family tension, screen-time disconnection, and unrealistic expectations.




Redeemed Sexuality


Book Description

You are a sexual person. Whether you are single or married, a teenager or an older single adult, God created you as a sexual person. So how do we inhabit our sexuality in a way that brings honor to God? And what exactly is sexuality? Is it just sexual intercourse? Or is it perhaps something much greater? God created them male and female. From the moment of our conception, we are born in this act of creation as a sexual being. God's creation was the work of a master artist. It is vital that we discover both the artwork and the artist. God intended for sex to be a wonderful good. When someone allows God to guide them in how they engage in sex, it can be. However, sometimes sexuality has become a source of shame, guilt, pain, confusion, frustration, and sorrow. Sexual challenges can come from the choices we make, from the things that others do against us, and from the ways in which Satan has inundated the world with a tsunami of destructive words and images about sex. Those challenges can also come from the lack of being able to talk openly about sex. Perhaps you want to lead a life of sexual purity but you are finding it hard to find solid, biblical answers to some of the very real questions you have. You may feel like you've tried to bring up these things with those involved in your life but that you often receive the same-old trite and empty arguments about purity: "Just wait" or "Just repent" or "God has a plan. Be patient." So how do we reconcile God’s intricate and amazing plan for sex with the devastation, destruction, and frustration that sex outside of His plan can cause? How can we pursue purity and honor sexuality at the same time? What exactly is God's plan for sexuality for those who are not married? Redeeming Sexuality answers many of these and other questions that singles, teens, and parents ask the authors in their conferences and sessions, including: What is God’s plan for sex? How should single, working professionals, college students, teens, and all other unmarried individuals understand their sexuality in light of God’s plan? What is allowed and how far is too far? How can we have healthy, intimate connections with others? What is purity and how do we deal with temptation when it is so hard to escape? How do we work through the damage and pain that is already done? How can parents effectively communicate with their kids about sex? This comprehensive guide strives to bring clarity and understanding to topics that many Christians have trouble discussing. Journey with us as we discover a vibrant understanding of God's plan for redeemed sexuality.




Intimacy and Desire


Book Description

In this groundbreaking book, Dr. David Schnarch, one of the foremost experts on sexuality and relationships, explains why normal healthy couples in long-term relationships have sexual desire problems, regardless of how much they love each other or how well they communicate. In-depth examples of couples he has counselled reveal his unique understanding of common-but-difficult sexual desire problems that affect couples of all ages. Combining compassion and clinical wisdom, Dr. Schnarch explains how to use his revolutionary Four Points of Balance approach to resolve low desire, mismatched desire, sexual boredom, and the emotional gridlock that accompanies these problems. Intimacy and Desire provides a roadmap for how couples can transform common sexual desire problems into self-exploration and personal development that leads to psychological and spiritual growth, stronger relationships, and more powerful and meaningful desire for each other. It provides time-proven comprehensive solutions that help couples reconnect with each other sexually, and take their intimacy and passion to new, previously unexplored heights.




The Way of the Superior Man


Book Description

Deida explores the most important issues in men's lives--from career and family to women and intimacy to love and spirituality--to offer a practical guidebook for living a masculine life of integrity, authenticity, and freedom.




The Act of Marriage


Book Description

A book for married couples, from newlyweds to those married for fifty years or more, advice on how to maintain a healthy sex life.