Devotions For Dating Couples

Devotions For Dating Couples: Building A Foundation For Spiritual Intimacy Paperback – October 6, 2002
Author: Visit ‘s Ben Young Page ID: 0785267492

From Publishers Weekly

Young, host of the syndicated radio show The Single Connection, and Adams, a clinical psychologist, present a nine-week course of daily devotionals for committed Christians involved in long-term relationships and aiming toward marriage. Weekly “disciplines” focusing on foundational spiritual themes-love, prayer, simplicity-are divided into daily mediations meant to be read in solitude. On Saturdays, suggest the authors (The Ten Commandments of Dating), couples should spend the day together and discuss their thoughts about the week’s theme; Sundays they ought to attend church. The Monday-to-Friday anecdotes, which often use the prosaic to illustrate the profound (the shame of a messy dorm room, for instance, teaches the importance of “healthy self-talk”), can feel a bit judgmental and preachy. But each week’s summary questions will help partners reconnect with their spiritual selves, and may even settle questions of compatibility. Successful relationships take work, the authors remind us. Their somewhat didactic approach, however, might turn off some readers, and the length and intensity of the course may mean that others lose steam partway through.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Ben Young, M.Div., leads seminars on how to build successful dating and marriage relationships. Ben is a teaching pastor at the 40,000-member Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Samuel Adams, Psy.D., is a licensed psychologist. He earned his master’s from Western Seminary and a doctorate from George Fox University. He maintains a full time counseling practice in Austin, Texas.

Paperback: 203 pagesPublisher: Thomas Nelson (October 6, 2002)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0785267492ISBN-13: 978-0785267492 Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #7,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #23 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Dating & Relationships #23 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Worship & Devotion > Devotionals #49 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Marriage

Well, I don’t know about not getting anything out of this book if you’ve been a "long time" Christian. Aren’t we always supposed to be learning, seeking truth?
Anyway, for any couple that feels they are ready to explore their individual spirituality with each other, this is a great way to start.
My favorite part about this devotional was that each of us can do our devotionals on our own (which is great when you’re not married/living together and can’t necessarily nail down a time to be together every day of the week with work and school to balance) and then at the end of the week, we can discuss it together. This gives you time to really explore how you feel about the week, where you are spiritually, and where you’d like to be.
I have another devotional which I didn’t particularly care for because it does not include any guidance questions. In "Devotions for Dating Couples" I love that guidance questions get us started, and then we continue the conversation into what we really enjoyed, learned, and how we can help each other.
When I bought this book, I really didn’t know what I was buying… it was so much better than I thought it would be!
* The week is set up so that you can do one devotion each day for five days, and the sixth day has questions to ask and discuss. The devotions are also very short and not as time consuming.
**Buy two books so that you can each write comments, underline, and do the devotionals alone, then you will have your thoughts handy on Saturday (or any day of your choosing) to discuss the week!
God Bless!

I like this book and recommend it as a starting place. My boyfreind and I are both strong adult christians with a view towards marriag and family. We attend church and consider God a foundation to us. However we were both a little shy about starting out to pray together, or read the bible together and so on. This book is a nice start. It is not overly heavy; each reading is short. It is not deep into theology nor does it preach. It is a nice easy starting point for us. Also I come from a more full-faith background while he is more consertive; this book has walked a nice middle ground.

My girlfriend and I were trying to find a book that would just help us get in the habit of doing devotions together and praying together, and for the most part, this book did the trick. While some of the topics covered will seem old-hat to people that have been raised Christian or been Christian for years, they sometimes serve as a nice "refresher course" – something every Christian needs now and then.

Overall, I felt this book was very non-threatening, and a good way to accomplish the goal we were trying to meet. If you’re looking for a way to introduce devotions in to your relationship without making it seem like a chore or a source of conflict, this book is a good bet.
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