Steven H Miller, Th.M.

1 John 4:18 - "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."      For many years, I have been thinking about the complete meaning of this verse. I have not been able to completely understand what "perfect love" truly was. And trying to figure out how it cast out fear was something I did not understand even more.      I thought I understood what love was; after all, I had been married to a wonderful woman for almost 25 years and those were some pretty awesome years, even with all the problems she had with her illness. But I apparently did not have a complete idea of what God's love really was. I understood things like, "for God so loved the world" (John 3:16), but I still did not understand the reality of God's love.      I haven't thought of this for verse for quite awhile, but as he so often does, recently God gave me a complete revelat...

If you have never been canoeing, one thing you need to know is that it is an exercise in teamwork. It takes a lot of cooperation to keep a canoe going straight in the water. It also takes a lot of cooperation between the two rowers to negotiate a tight turn or narrow passage or rapid waters. In addition to good teamwork, it takes a lot of commitment. If either rower gives up and does not do his/her part, the rowing effort becomes more difficult  for the one who is left doing the rowing. The canoe is harder to turn; harder to get moving again from a standstill and also harder to keep going straight. Teamwork in canoeing is not unlike the teamwork it takes to keep a good marriage moving ahead. Each spouse must take up his/her part of the teamwork and do what's necessary to keep the marriage going straight. If either slacks off or refuses to do his/her part, the couple will veer off course. They will not be able to navigate the tight twisting turns that life has and the marria...