Q: Is there one person I'm meant to marry, or should I just choose a good man? A: This question isn't simply a contemplative exercise; it impacts how you approach dating and marriage. However, I think it is the wrong question to be asking. The question of "Is there...
One very practical and creative way to work on sexual intimacy in your marriage is to put thought and intention into the physical space of your bedroom. Whether or not you are aware of it, the environment of your bedroom impacts your sexual intimacy. Here is a quick...
“Your most important sex organ is your brain.” I remember when I first heard this statement as a young married woman. Enjoying sex is practically impossible without thinking about it. Both men and women can struggle to know how to think about sex in a way that is...
Do you want to know the question that keeps me up at night? It’s this: How can I honor God with my sexuality in the face of my sexual brokenness and unmet desires? At Authentic Intimacy, we often use words like sexual wholeness or sexual integrity instead of sexual...
Several months ago, a friend invited me to coffee. After catching up on kids and ministry, I noticed her countenance shift. She obviously was struggling to share something difficult with me. After a few deep breaths, my friend explained how several years ago I had...
Is it “dirty” to dress up for your husband in the bedroom? Is it wrong to masturbate if your husband can’t have sex? What if your...
Do you need to change what you wear in the bedroom? Like me, maybe you choose your sleepwear based on comfort and not to entice. I much prefer Life is Good to Victoria Secret in the bedroom, but we will save that conversation for another day. Even though I sometimes...
Relationships naturally find ruts. With our natural bent toward self-love, we easily get stuck focusing on our own needs or...
Blended family couples have honeymoon phases too!—they just usually come a little later. Even the strongest couples will face...
What messages have you been told about your body and your sexuality? At the coffee shop with Juli are two...
How do you create an environment in your home where your kids feel OK talking about sex? When they struggle, how do you protect...
If there is one place in the Bible that gives women permission to have fun, to explore and to enjoy sexual pleasure, it’s the poetic...
Being intentional about the business of marriage builds intimacy. When couples make decisions together, their emotions and buy-in...
Saying "Yes!" to Sexual Pleasure Part 3 in this webinar series In the final webinar in our series, Dr. Jennifer Degler brings her humor, candor, and expertise to help you understand how to get your brain and your body working together so that you can share the kind of...
Do you feel stuck somewhere between "not married" and "not called to singleness"? Truth be told, few single Christians feel called...
“I had one woman say, ‘I struggle with masturbation.’ And she just started crying. And then she said, ‘I’ve never said that word...
There's ED (erectile dysfunction), PE (premature...
Do you struggle with being single? Maybe you've been rethinking that 21-point list of "non-negotiable" qualities you need in a...
What do you do when sex hurts? Do you white-knuckle your way through it, because you think you...
A complement, according to Webster, is “something that fills up, completes, or makes better or perfect.”...
Tiffany Bluhm wishes this wasn’t her story to tell. Like most victims or bystanders of sexual harassment, she had everything to lose...
Have you ever turned to Netflix instead of pursuing sex with your spouse? Have you turned to Instagram instead ending your day by...
What is emotional safety? Look at it this way: an emotionally unsafe relationship is a place where you can’t be yourself. You’re...
That longing you have to be fully known? God put it there. It’s meant to draw you into intimacy with Him....
Every abuse story has unique layers of complexity and pain. The decision whether or not to tell someone else is often a difficult...
It's hard to prioritize sexual intimacy when you don't understand why God created sex in the first place. Instead, you put up walls...
Compassionate. Inclusive. Nonjudgmental. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a church like this? It’s why...
Circumstances in Laurie’s life started triggering her memories of childhood sexual abuse. Her lifelong struggle...
As a single person, your sexuality isn’t defined by a list of “do's and don’ts” or captured by simplistic questions like, “What does...
Dr. Doug Rosenau, a pioneer in Christian sex therapy, has been answering questions about sex for decades—long...
Are you discouraged by what is happening in our world today? Have you recently found yourself asking, “Lord, why have you allowed...
We used to say, "If you don’t talk to your kids about sex, someone else will." These days, there is no more “if” about it! Whether...
In this episode, Juli sits down with Mark & Rosie Makinney to debunk misconceptions about pornography and marriage --many of...
One of Hettie’s greatest fears was that she would be raped. In her home country of South Africa, it is estimated...
“We are being shaped by a culture that idolizes romantic and sexual fulfillment. And I just think—Jesus was...
In parenting, shame is unavoidable. As a mom or dad, at times you'll likely feel ashamed of how you’re doing as a parent or of how...
Past trauma, childbirth, a physical fall—just a few of the MANY reasons you might experience painful sex or sexual dysfunction....
Online Christian sex therapy—yes, you read that right. Did you know that there are therapists trained specifically to address issues...
Think about your toughest relationship: The wife who only ever seems to offer you the cold shoulder. The husband you’re finding it...
One of the most painful experiences as a wife is learning of your husband’s porn addiction—or learning that...
Let’s face it: As Christians, we’re kind of afraid to touch. Touch feels unsafe and sexual—even...
This Java Pack is a Christian leader’s guide to addressing sexual pain. As Christians, we often spend a lot of time debating what we should believe about sexuality. We may devote some time to ensuring we are personally honoring God with our own sexual choices....
Sometimes life gets so hard, we doubt that Jesus is still with us. Did he abandon us? Was our faith even real in the...
Is God sexist? Does he value men more than he values women? If you've ever wrestled with this question, a...
I’ve heard a lot of people comment that life right now feels like the movie “Groundhog Day”—the same thing over and over again with no end in sight. While there are blessings in having our lives slow down, there are also tensions and frustrations that overflow out of...
The sad truth is that the damage of porn goes far beyond the person consuming it and also affects their relationships, the people in their lives, and culture as a whole.
The two biggest areas of conflict in marriage are sex and money. We talk a lot about sex on Java with Juli, but today we're talking...
Are you feeling stuck in your home and in your sex life? Think back to the last time you left your house: It could possibly have been four or five weeks! And most likely it has been even longer since you and your spouse went out for a date night. When my husband and I...
You may not be in the middle of an affair, but we all have to deal with sin in our relationships. It's easy to turn to other sources of comfort and avoid having hard conversations with your spouse. As your resentment builds, your heart drifts. Thankfully, Jesus has...
The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing all of our anxiety buttons; loss of loved ones, financial loss, being stuck inside...
What do you do when you find yourself in a situation you don't like, didn't sign up for, and can't wait to be done with? (Social...
(Presione aquí para leer en español). Since COVID-19 the pornography industry has seen a massive increase in website traffic. On March 24th, one major site announced that their premium content would be free to all visitors resulting in a massive increase of 18.5%. The...
Practically every conversation I’ve had in the last week has contained a phrase like, “These are strange times.” Strange times, indeed. Never in our lives have we walked through so much uncertainty. Our health, careers, and security all seem to be dangling on a...
Are you constantly preoccupied with what others think about you? With how you look, how much money you make, or how many Instagram...
Several years ago, I met with a spiritual mentor with whom I shared an ongoing battle with a particular sin. We had been meeting every month for over a year, yet I was still tempted by the same sin. I didn’t feel like I was making any spiritual progress! I asked her,...
Intimacy with your spouse is important is all phases of life--even when you're celebrating your 50th wedding...
When the Nashville statement was released, it brought conservative Christianity’s relationship with sexual issues front and center into the mainstream media. USA Today described the Nashville statement this way, “A coalition of conservative evangelical leaders laid...
Has anyone ever told you that it may be healthy to break your promises? No, I’m not talking about going back on your word or taking your wedding vows lightly. I’m referring to a different category of vows … the kind of promises that people rarely acknowledge. Our...
Dating has changed. A LOT. In the last decade, cohabitation, sex, and sexual experimentation have been touted as the best ways to...
Turning my calendar to January 1 is usually refreshing for me. It represents a new year with a clean slate and excitement ahead. So why does ushering in 2020 feel so heavy and discouraging? There are many indications that our culture is quickly moving in a dangerous...
If you haven’t noticed, our views on sexuality have changed quite a bit over the past 20 years. Americans are far more accepting of behaviors they once considered to be sexually immoral. Cohabitation, having sex outside of marriage, no-fault divorce, viewing...
Perhaps the best way to remember Jesus this Christmas is to imagine where you would be without Him. In this month’s webinar, we’ll talk practically about managing the tensions of Christmas; from strife in your marriage to losing a loved one to facing...
Are you a sugar addict? Do you run to the pantry each afternoon to get you through your day? Do you turn to Starbucks...
A sweet friendship refreshes the soul –and it’s better to have a friend nearby than a relative far away...
(Presione aquí para leer en español). If someone asks you, “What are your thoughts on cohabitation?” or “Do you believe God is ok with gay marriage?” how would you respond? To answer those questions, you will (without even realizing it) tap into your underlying...
True Love Waits. I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Promise rings. These are the touchstones of predominant teaching on sexual purity promoted by the Christian community throughout the past several decades. Yet, the word purity among today’s Christian adults can elicit feelings...
How do I convince myself and everyone else that I’m worthy of being loved? That may not be what the question...
Making time to make love is always going to take effort. There will always be an excuse to put it off for another season. Grab your...
For the past decade, my full-time job has been to address sexual issues from a Christian perspective. Knowing that, you can imagine the kind of emails I regularly receive in my inbox! What I’ve learned is that sexuality represents pain in a lot of lives and marriages....
What do you do when your marriage isn’t what you want it to be, but your spouse won't work on it, no matter...
Most of us have been told that sex in marriage is important. But why does it matter? For many of us, sex may just be “meh” or tend to cause more division in our relationships than unity. The reality is that sexual issues are always among the top reasons for marital...
My dear friend Christine and I were recently talking over a cup of coffee about the battle of pride—how difficult it is to detect and how impossible to conquer. She told me a story that perfectly symbolized the problem: Juli, every morning I go out to my garden and...
There’s no such thing as instant intimacy. Love at first sight? Perhaps. But intimacy is something else entirely. It takes years to...
Sarah got married believing that absolute submission to her husband would glorify God; making Him, her and her man happy. Only, she...
We spend a lot of time as Christ-followers talking about forgiving one another. After all, Jesus taught the importance of forgiveness, saying that our Heavenly Father will not forgive us if we fail to forgive each other. That’s pretty heavy! While forgiveness is a...
Tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. How can we be grateful, joyful, and love others well whatever season we're in? Today...
Most women bask in the comment “You look so young!” but not Jeni. Why? Because she is young … too young to be the mom of a six-year-old girl. When Jeni goes to her daughter’s kindergarten class, she feels out of place with every other mom, many of whom are more than a...
Recently, the evangelical world has been rocked by the news of Joshua Harris’s decision to leave his marriage and Christian beliefs. Joshua is the bestselling author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye and was a well-known spokesperson for the purity movement of the 1990s. A...
(Presione aquí para leer en español) If you listen to our podcast, Java with Juli, you know that I don’t like small talk. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been able to acutely sense unspoken tension in a room. I’m anxious when I have a conflict with a friend or...
One in seven couples struggles with infertility --and it's easy to make some pretty hurtful assumptions about them...
Sometimes the most difficult battles we face are the ones that rage within our own hearts and minds. In this episode, Juli gets...
No matter what season of life you’re in, the object is the same: love Jesus and become more like Him. Are you single and wondering...
It’s one thing to be lonely when you are single, wondering if and when God will ever bring the right guy. It’s another matter for your heart to ache with loneliness when the “right guy” is living in your home and sleeping in your bed. If this is your reality, please...
What do you want out of marriage? If you’re like most of us, you hope for love, companionship, passion and other good things that...
Within the past month, I’ve been accused of two things that seem to be mutually exclusive. A few women have made comments like, “Why don’t you ever challenge the men? Why is it always the woman’s responsibility to build a healthy marriage?” And men have written me...
“God created our bodies to become one in marriage in a very physical and neurological way. When that is suddenly...
What can you do to make sure the voices of sexual abuse victims continue to be heard following the #MeToo movement? How...
Why is there so much confusion in the Church about sex? If God's word is clear on this issue, why do so many great...
When you and your spouse have separate (but equally important) callings that pull you in different directions, who yields?...
Every sexual question is a spiritual question. Every sexual opinion you hold comes from a foundation of who Jesus is to you. In the...
Have you ever wondered why God made you and your husband so different? For many years, I thought that might be my first question to God when I got to heaven. The differences between me and my husband, particularly in the bedroom, were driving us both crazy. Sexual...
How do we foster relationships that show the world that the Gospel is not just beautiful, it's also...
Sexual abuse. Fame. Infidelity and divorce. Five-time Grammy award winner Sandi Patty has walked through them all. How has she come...
Do you pray about your sex life? About that friend you're hoping will become more than a friend? Some of us...
The headlines are filled with horrific accounts of childhood sexual abuse. Behind every headline are children and their parents, families grasping for help and hope through devastating news. We have received many emails from parents who recently discovered that their...
Take the politics out of conversations about abortion. You don't have to choose between valuing the rights of a...
Opposites attract... for a little while. Then those cute, quirky things that attracted you to your spouse early on...
"If you ask him to, God will make you straight." Have you ever said this to a loved one who is struggling...
"I'm not loved if I'm not desired." "I don't deserve a great sex life." "God...
Have you ever hidden a receipt from your spouse? Join Juli and her guests to find out why holding grudges or...