Every month on the blog, I like to focus on a particular topic.
It doesn’t mean that every post in that month has to do with that topic, but often I have more to say on something than just one post will allow, and so I dedicate a month to go more in-depth.
In August, we’ve been talking about periods! But I’ve also tackled emotional labor, MBTI personalities, birth control, submission in marriage, and so much more.
I know some of you have joined the blog only relatively recently, and so you may not have had time to delve into some of the series that I’ve done in the past. Since there’s an extra Monday in August, I thought I’d post my most recent series, so that you all can peruse and catch up if there’s a topic you’ve missed. And the other posts in each series should be listed at the bottom of these posts, too.
Have fun!
Does Waiting for Marriage for Sex Increase the Chance for Painful Sex?
Does waiting for marriage for sex increase sexual pain disorders? In short, yes. We found this in our survey of 20,000 women for our book The Great...
PODCAST: What We Uncovered Making the Love & Respect Docuseries
The Love & Respect Docuseries has been a long time in the making! While Rebecca and Joanna have been working nonstop for the last few months,...
Love & Respect Part 3: When Hurt People Hurt People
Pastors should not be writing books until they've dealt with their trauma. And even then, they shouldn't write the book based on how they dealt with...
Why You Can’t Say: “This Advice Isn’t Meant for Those in Abusive Marriages”
Thank you to Zondervan and the book To Heal or Harm for sponsoring this post Often when we point out advice is harmful people respond with "but it's...
PODCAST: Bad Stats, Editing the Bible, and Recycling 1970s Ideas: A Love & Respect Deep Dive Part 2
What if Love & Respect is Based on a Faulty Foundation? Love & Respect is based on shoddy data; misrepresented research; edited Bible...
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Why Emerson Eggerichs’ Love & Respect Presents an Unworkable Dichotomy
It's impossible for Emerson Eggerichs' ideas in Love & Respect to work in practice. Because what he tells men to do and what he tells women to...
Why It Matters that Jeffrey Epstein Recommended James Dobson
Jeffrey Epstein apparently found James Dobson useful. TW: I will be talking in generic terms about sexual abuse in this article, and mentioning...
PODCAST: To Heal Or Harm–Making Sense of the Weaponized Bible Verses
Scripture can be used to abuse people. But it can also be used to heal! Today Dr. Steven Tracy takes us through some of the most weaponized verses...
What If “Keeping the Peace” Hurts Long-Term?
What if keeping the peace seems safer--but it's actually riskier long-term?Sheila here! Those of you who read the blog regularly, and who follow me...
Revisiting Complementarianism and Authoritarianism in Light of Minneapolis
In January of 1994 I went to see Schindler's list in movie theatres. About two hours after watching it I had a miscarriage, losing my first...
PODCAST: The Complementarian Bar for Men is in the Basement
One of the things that amazes me is that so little is expected of complementarian men. The last few weeks has shown us that in spades, as so many...
Reading Ephesians 5:21-23 Through Paul’s New-Creation Ethic: An Academic Essay by Liana Cavanaugh
A scholarly look at Ephesians 5 shows that egalitarianism was baked in. I'm going to do something different today. Recently a woman named Liana...
What Should We Do With Pastors Who Struggle with Sexual Sin?
We have a crisis in the evangelical church of pastors normalizing sexual sin and the objectification of women. Late last week I started talking...
New Starter Playlists for the Bare Marriage Podcast!
How do you find the best Bare Marriage episodes? What if you're trying to introduce our podcast to a friend, but you don't know where to start? Or...
Why SAFETY Is My Word of the Year for 2026
Safety is the precursor to everything that helps us thrive. Often as the year changes I spend some time between Christmas and New Year's in...
PODCAST: Evangelicals Shouldn’t Be Embarrassing: The Oklahoma Student’s Essay and How Our Faith Has Changed
We're coming full circle for the last podcast of 2025! We started this "season" (I never know how to count the seasons really!) since we came back...
Why People in Power Often Miss Jesus
The Christmas story brings peace to me when people refuse to hear the truth. It's my last post of 2025, and I've been a little quieter lately,...
Let’s Not Overspiritualize Our Problems! (A Christmas Reflection)
What if sin isn't the cause of all the bad or counterproductive things we do? And what if blaming it on sin does harm? I wrote this reflection two...
PODCAST: Incels vs. Pastors–“We Respond to Crazy Pastor Clips” Pallooza!
Let's take on some common horrid evangelical talking points! I thought, as we're getting to the end of the year, that Keith and I could spend a...
Many Evangelicals Resemble Generic Fundamentalists More than Jesus Followers
Modern evangelicals are often closet fundamentalists. They may wear hip clothing, and they may try to sound "cool", but they often look far more...
What If the Church Emphasized Emotional Wholeness Rather Than Marriage?
Scripture does not say that our goal in life is to be married. If anything, 1 Corinthians 7 says the opposite, that people should remain single if...
PODCAST: What does the Plight of Missionary Kids Teach Us about The Church?
We need to listen to the stories of missionary kids. Holly Berkley Fletcher released an amazing book called Missionary Kids that I read all in one...
Why Do Women Often Create the Most Toxic Content?
Why is it that the worst messages are often shared by women? Why is it that it’s often social media accounts run by women, and books written by...
What Stranger Things Has in Common with Bare Marriage
Is Stranger Things actually a good analogy? I was sitting here in my yellow chair trying to come up with an analogy I want to talk about today. I...
How A Comment Thread on A Social Media Post Represents A Masculinity Panic: Let’s Analyze!
Social media comments often give a sobering insight into what men are thinking. And today I'd like to show you what a thematic analysis of social...
Are there any other topics you’d like me to cover? Let me know in the comments!








Great round up! I’m looking forward to reading these. 🙂
Since you asked what we would like to see in a series:
Getting your marriage back on track after it has been derailed by (fill in the blank, and maybe this changes depending on what derailed it)
The emotional and perspective issues for newlyweds. Sorry if this is hard to describe, but I think a lot of newlyweds, especially younger ones, start marriage with ideas like:
the wedding is a big party
your first loyalty is still to your family of origin
this is just a more permanent version of a dating relationship where God allows us to have sex
it’s okay to disagree in public or in front of the kids
if your friends and family have always given you good advice, you should continue to turn to them for advice (even if it has the effect of putting marital decisions up to a popular vote)
I would love something about how and when to give marriage advice to friends. When is it appropriate to mention if you feel like something is off and how to bring that up.
Oh, that’s a great idea for a series! About how to support marriages in your circle/community, and support people when something is really off. Maybe for December when we’re talking about family? I’ll put that in the docket!