John Piper on Wife Abuse: Did He Retract His “Smacked One Night” Advice? A firestorm broke out when John Piper's video mentioning a wife "being smacked one night" was released....
Abuse and Divorce
What Are Focus on the Family Donors Really Funding? An Investigation into Hope Restored and Abuse
Are Christian Donors Funding a System That Keeps Abuse Victims Married? Focus on the Family receives desperate calls about abuse every week. What happens next? Most Christians...
Why Does My Husband Stay Married If He’s Always Criticizing Me?
Why Does My Husband Stay Married If He’s Always Criticizing Me? From time to time, confused wives say something like this to me: “He says I’m selfish, lazy, disrespectful,...
Gary Chapman Once Told a Better Version of His Marriage Story. Why Did He Stop? (Part 3)
Gary Chapman Once Told a Better Version of His Marriage Story. Why Did He Stop? For decades, Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages, has been treated as one of the...
3 Ways the Trad Wife Ideal Can Make Women Vulnerable to Abuse
3 Ways the Trad Wife Ideal Can Make Women Vulnerable to Abuse I understand why the “trad wife” ideal appeals to many Christians, because it appealed to me for most of my life. My...
I’m Having Second Thoughts About Filing for Divorce—Is That Normal?
I’m Having Second Thoughts About Filing for Divorce Yes. It is completely normal to have second thoughts while moving toward divorce—and to keep having doubts for months after...
The Day A Young Pastor Told Me I Haven’t Counted the Cost of Divorce
A young married pastor recently wrote to me as if I had not weighed the cost of divorce carefully enough. Here's my message to him: Young man, devout Christians in horrific...
Dating Character & Safety Screening Tool
Dating Safety Screening Important: This tool is based on the 7 antisocial traits. It is a private dating (or premarital) screening questionnaire for identifying patterns of...
The “Easy Divorce” Myth: For Many Christian Survivors, Divorce Took Years
Divorce Wasn’t “Easy.” For Many, It Took Years. When policymakers talk about making divorce harder, they often seem to imagine careless people casually walking away from decent...
His Needs, Her Needs Review: Helpful Advice, Dangerous Framework
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in His Needs, Her Needs Willard F. Harley Jr.’s His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage includes the typical good advice for...
7 Dangerous Teachings in Lies Women Believe That Can Harm Abused Wives
Seven of the Most Troubling Teachings in Lies Women Believe, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth The book Lies Women Believe is not dangerous because of one isolated sentence. It is...
Is Your Spouse Pushing for a Fast Divorce? 12 Hidden Motives in a Controlling Marriage
Is Your Spouse Pushing for a Fast Divorce? 12 Hidden Motives in a Controlling Marriage Question from a reader: “Why would an abusive spouse want to speed up the divorce?” For...
Listening for Self‑Confrontation Keywords in Sermons and Teachings
Listening for Self‑Confrontation Keywords in Sermons and Teachings This article is part of a critique of Biblical Counseling Foundation’s Self‑Confrontation manual. Though...
Is Your Spouse Lying? What Behavior Actually Gives Away a Lie
Is Your Spouse Lying? What Behavior Actually Gives Away a Lie Part 3: The Clues We Miss — and Why We Miss Them Based on The Lies We Tell and the Clues We Miss by Bella DePaulo Is...
Is Your Spouse Lying? Why Lies Are So Hard to See
Is Your Spouse Lying? Why Lies Are So Hard to See Part 2: Why It's So Hard to Finally Realize Your Marriage Is Abusive or Deceptive Based on The Lies We Tell and the Clues We...
Is Your Spouse Lying? What Are the Lies Protecting?
Is Your Spouse Lying? Pay Attention, Because Chronic Lying Is Not a Normal in Marriage Part 1: Research shows that good spouses lie very little — so what are the lies protecting?...
7 Shocking Signs Your Pastor Is Helping Your Abuser
7 Shocking Signs Your Pastor Is Helping Your Abuser How to Know You’ve Got a Bad Pastor When You’re in an Abusive Marriage A good pastor does not need to be perfect. He does not...
Self-Confrontation by John C. Broger: The Biblical Counseling Manual That Blames Victims
When “Biblical Counseling” Misreads Abuse: The Troubling Mary and Tom Story in the Self-Confrontation Manual This is Part 2 of a multi-part series on John C. Broger’s...
Will I Be Charged With Kidnapping If I Leave With the Kids? What Parents Need to Know
Will I Be Charged With Kidnapping If I Leave With the Kids? What Parents Need to Know One of the least discussed fears facing protective parents is the fear of being accused of...
Is This Abuse? 130 Overt and Covert Warning Signs
Is This Abuse? 130 Overt and Covert Warning Signs Not all abuse is physical. Not all abuse is loud. Some abuse slowly wears you down until you barely recognize yourself. This...
Emotional Abuse IS Physical Abuse: More Than 80 Examples from Medical Science
Emotional Abuse IS Physical Abuse More precisely: emotional abuse can become physical abuse in the body. The body processes emotional abuse much like it does physical abuse,...