Dating is not really a biblical word at all. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to go out with someone on a “date.” But it is important to remember what the Bible has to say about developing romantic friendships.
If you begin dating without some clear guidelines and boundaries, you are headed for disaster. Take a quick glance at what dating is not:
- Dating is not for those who aren’t ready. In my opinion, dating shouldn’t even be a consideration until a young person is at least 16 years old.
That’s been “the Law” with my three teenage boys, and they’re doing just fine with it. That doesn’t mean you can’t have good friendships with the opposite sex; just keep things in a group environment.
- Dating is not a great way to “really get to know someone.” Why? Because everyone is on best behavior during a date.
If you really want to get to know someone, watch the person at school every day, or both of you get a job together at McDonald’s. Eight straight hours over a hot greaser full of fries will tell you the real tale.
- Dating is not all it’s cracked up to be. Think about two people out together who hardly know each other. They’re young and have limited social skills. They have to try to create awkward conversation for hours on end.
The point is, it’s usually a whole lot easier to get to know someone among a group of other friends who can help fill those awkward moments, keeping things fun.
by Blaine Bartel.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Blaine and Lori Bartel didn’t set out to build a place like this. They became it.
Blaine once lived at the top of the ministry world—national TV, a booming youth movement at Church on the Move, and a growing church in Dallas. But while the stage lights were bright, the darkness underneath was darker. A secret 23-year sexual addiction buried everything he valued—his marriage, ministry, finances, reputation, and identity.
Crushed and barely holding on to life, he spent over a year in deep therapy, wrestling with shame and fighting for healing. Then, somewhere on a windswept highway between Kansas City and Tulsa, he heard the voice that lifted him out of the soil:
“I am not going to give you a recovery. I am calling you into resurrection.”
Everything changed.
Blaine found complete freedom and began decoding a Jesus-centered path that leads men out of the grave and into new life. For more than a decade, he’s been guiding other men through that same resurrection.
Lori was walking her own road—rebuilding after 17 years married to a chronic alcoholic, carrying both the wounds and the courage of a woman who refused to stay broken. She was searching for purpose, for peace, for somewhere her heart could breathe again.
Then God crossed their paths.
They met over pasta at Ti Amo (“I love you”—God’s little wink).
A year later, in a simple wedding wrapped in hope, they said yes to each other and to a calling bigger than themselves.
Today—13 years in—they share one mission:
To pull men out of addiction and to rebuild the marriages addiction has shattered.
House of Resurrection is the fruit of the very ground that once tried to bury them—a sacred space for honesty, healing, and brand-new beginnings.
They are joyful parents of four grown kids, proud grandparents of two, and happiest anywhere with lakes, beaches, sunshine, and reminders that darkness never gets to write the final chapter.