Dr Carol Ministries
5 Ways to Keep Family Dysfunction from Ruining Christmas

5 Ways to Keep Family Dysfunction from Ruining Christmas

Family is a big deal around Christmas. The memories you have of Christmases past – both good and bad – almost certainly revolve around family, as do your expectations of this Christmas. Family stuff at Christmas can be filled with both heartache and happiness. How can you keep family dysfunction from ruining Christmas?

Continue reading...
Working Together With God For Your Freedom

Working Together With God For Your Freedom

Freedom is a metaphor used too often in Scripture for us to ignore. It’s not the only Biblical picture of what God does for us, but it helps us understand a great deal about redemption. There are a lot of ditches to be avoided when we talk about spiritual warfare. But the Bible has many examples and descriptions that help you understand more about working together with God for your freedom.

Continue reading...
5 Reasons Christian Marriages Fail

5 Reasons Christian Marriages Fail

Some people love to point to reported statistics that say 50% of even Christian marriages fail. Others find faith an indispensable aspect of learning to love well in marriage. The various statistics may be in dispute, but it’s undeniable that too many marriage fail even when those involved are Christians.

Supporting the bad news, the Barna Group reported in 2008 that the percentage of adults who were divorced did not differ significantly between Christians and non-Christians. However, the same group showed recently that the number of adults who are currently married is much higher among Christians than among non-Christians.

Some news is encouraging. The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia has produced an ongoing body of research showing that faith fosters family. Says Dr Bradford Wilcox, “In simple terms, the old slogan—“the family that prays together, stays together”—still holds in 2017.” In addition, those who make intentional decisions about their relationship do better than those who “slide” into marriage, and that intentionality is frequently encouraged by faith communities.

All these data can be and have been disputed. But what is clear is that being a Christian does not automatically mean your marriage will be successful. The percentages matter less than how your own marriage is doing.

Here are some critical reasons some Christian marriages fail. Make sure these mistakes aren’t happening in your marriage.

Continue reading...
How God Uses Marriage to Heal You

How God Uses Marriage to Heal You

God uses marriage to heal you. It’s one of the most important and effective tools He uses to bring you the healing and transformation you need.

If you’re in a miserable or dysfunctional marriage that may seem completely contradictory. How can I experience healing when my spouse is emotionally unavailable, won’t communicate, continues to cause me pain, refuses to understand me, and withholds intimacy? I need healing FROM my marriage!

You’re right; you married a sinner. You married someone who doesn’t meet your needs and keeps wounding you over and over again.

But your spouse married a sinner too – YOU. You don’t meet their needs and you keep wounding your spouse over and over again too.

Didn’t God know marriage would cause so much pain? Couldn’t He have created us without these needs and desires?

Yes, He could have. But without marriage we would be deprived of one of God’s most effective tools through which we experience our need of Him as well as His healing and transformation. Some of His best miracles only happen in the impossible environment of marriage.

(Note: Trauma, abuse, and violence is always wrong. If you are in an abusive marriage, get help right away.)

Here are some of the most important ways in which God uses marriage to heal:

Continue reading...