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Critique: Hope Restored Marriage Intensives Are Not the "Miracle" Abused Wives Seek If you’re new, start here: This is Part 1 of a series on Hope Restored Marriage Intensives. Read Part 2 on children. Watch my survey of five major Christian marriage intensives. Read...
There's meme going around in social media that appears to be a verse from the Bible, but it is not. It is a note in a study Bible placed just above a Bible verse. (And it's got an interesting history.) It contains this quote: "The Devil will exaggerate your mate's...
Bible Verses That Support Leaving Destructive People Have Nothing to Do with Them: Abuse and Boundaries in Scripture We were taught to love, love, love. And forgive, forgive, forgive. But many Christians were never shown the other side of Scripture—the many passages...
Abuse, Abandonment, and Adultery Are Biblical Grounds for Divorce MYTH: God Forbids All Divorce Except for Adultery TRUTH: Scripture permits divorce in more than one situation. Yes. The Bible condones divorce for more than one reason. The clearest biblical grounds...
Marriage Is a Conditional Covenant (Not an Unbreakable Promise) Biblically, marriage is a conditional covenant—not an unconditional one. Marriage includes mutual vows, and persistent covenant-breaking through adultery, abuse, abandonment, or severe neglect violates...
When a God-Ordained Marriage Becomes Unsafe I thought it was God’s will for us to marry. I prayed earnestly. I asked for God’s guidance. I sought counsel from trusted Christians and believed I was following the Lord’s leading. Like many believers, I entered marriage...
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Gretchen Baskerville was interviewed for this article published by The Christian Post. It discusses the secret online groups that provide encouragement and understanding for women and men of faith who need a life-saving divorce. Tens of thousands of committed...
THIS WAS THE #1 DOWNLOADED EPISODE OF 2022 FOR THE UNTANGLE FAITH PODCAST: Host Amy Fritz and I talk about Bible verses about divorce (including 2 in the Old Testament that command divorce). We talk about Weekend to Remember, Christian authors, and Focus on the Family...
NEW PODCAST: Leslie Vernick interviewed me, Gretchen Baskerville, on the "Relationship Truth" podcast. Leslie Vernick - Enriching Relationships That Matter Most Vernick says, "Gretchen Baskerville was the ultimate good Christian girl. She followed all the "rules" so...
Hope Restored Says Its Model Works. So Who Gets Blamed When It Doesn’t? Robert Paul and Tara Lalonde’s 2024 book Empowered to Love presents principles drawn directly from Focus on the Family’s Hope Restored marriage intensives. Paul is the primary architect of Hope...
The Bible Requires Offenders to Repent Forgiveness Does Not Cancel Accountability Scripture teaches forgiveness, but it also emphasizes repentance, accountability, and changed behavior. Yet some Christians use teachings about forgiveness to pressure injured people...
Ken Sande Has Changed His Mind about Abuse and Divorce Summary: This is about two Ken Sande articles, How Churches Can Preserve and Heal Marriages, and Myths of Divorce, and how his views have changed. Ken Sande has changed his mind about divorce and abuse, but his...
Want a Marriage Where Both People Matter? Date Men Who Treat You As an Equal. In her Atlantic article, "If You Want a Marriage of Equals, Then Date as Equals," sociologist Ellen Lamont raises an interesting concern: Many women want egalitarian marriages but still...
Before Hope Restored Publishes Another Success Rate: 12 Questions Its Longitudinal Study Must Answer October 4, 2026: Focus on the Family’s Hope Restored Marriage Intensive has publicly promoted it's "84.5% still married two years later" success claims for years, even...
The Hope Restored Marriage Intensive talks constantly about safety. Here’s what a truly safety-first model would require. Let’s first look at Hope Restored’s Tools This blog post goes through the key tools used at Hope Restored, starting with the Reactive Cycle....
Focus on the Family is approaching an unusually important crossroads. Jim Daly plans to step down in 2027 after more than two decades of leadership as president, and Focus is explicitly doing an executive search for a new president — the “next-gen leadership” capable...
Before You Choose a Focus on the Family Counselor, Ask These 4 Questions Can This Counselor Distinguish Marital Conflict From Abuse? Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselors Network (CCN) offers to connect Christians with licensed mental-health professionals. But...
Hope Restored’s Bait-and-Switch Why Focus on the Family’s Marriage Intensives Are So Disappointing A couple signs up for a $3,000-$6,000 Hope Restored marriage intensive, often at the insistence of the wife (or husband or parents or pastor), hoping that their spouse...