Issue 18 - January 8, 2007
Happy New Year from
Shannon Ethridge Ministries!
A New Look For A New Year
Our website just got an Extreme Makeover! Check it out at www.shannonethridge.com! We hope these changes will make surfing our site more enjoyable and put more valuable information about our resources at your fingertips.
We’ve added some cool features to make things more accessible to our friends outside the U.S., such as a link at the bottom to BabelFish where text can be read in your native language, as well as contact information for all of our foreign publishers (Every Woman’s Battle is translated into 8 different languages now!). Also, per your request, we’re adding some new features to our regular e-newsletter, beginning with…
Encouragement Corner
 For most people, every January comes with a new set of resolutions. Or, more accurately, an old set of resolutions that we are recycling from years past because we’ve yet to master them! If you are like me, you’ve made some of the same resolutions year after year to lose a few pounds and exercise more often so you can look and feel better. However, so often when women go this route, we eventually find ourselves facing sexual and emotional temptations that can feel overwhelming. Not everyone who notices a woman’s improved physique has honest motives when lauding compliments on her!
In fact, the reason why many women wind up sabotaging their own diets is to insulate themselves against inappropriate relational entanglements. How sad that when we feel sexually tempted, we try to punish ourselves by abusing our bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Remember, even Jesus Himself was tempted (see Hebrews 4:15-16), and temptation that’s not acted upon is NOT a sin. You can experience those temptations, yet conquer them rather than allowing them to conquer you.
Perhaps sticking to your diet and exercise resolutions this year would be manageable if you felt the spiritual strength to avoid indulging in the forbidden fruit of pre-marital sex or extramarital affairs. Winning the battle for sexual integrity is much easier when we pay attention to our mental, emotional, and spiritual diets as well as our physical diets. I encourage you to watch, read, or listen only to things that do not undermine your sexual values. Invest only in relationships that build your character and confidence as a woman of righteousness. Look for love where you know it will be found -- in more intimate times of prayer and praise with our heavenly Bridegroom. Make 2007 the year in which you look and feel your best not only on the outside, but on the inside (where it really counts) as well!
(For more practical help in living a life of sexual and emotional integrity, go to Books to read more about the Every Woman’s Battle book series.)
Coming Summer 2007:
The Loving Jesus Without Limits Series: Helping Women Embrace Their Role as the Bride of Christ!
Lead Book
Completely His: Loving Jesus Without Limits
4 Devotionals
Completely Loved: Recognizing God’s Passionate Pursuit of Us
Completely Forgiven: Responding to God’s Transforming Grace
Completely Blessed: Unwrapping God’s Extraordinary Gifts
Completely Irresistible: Drawing Others Toward God’s Extravagant Love
What's Shannon Working On Now?
With the new year also comes a new writing project—one that I’d love your help on! This will be a self-help book published by Random House for the secular market called, The Sexually-Confident Wife: Overcoming the Hurdles that Hold Women Back.
We’re currently gathering testimonies and questions from both women and men regarding the issues that rob a wife of her sexual confidence, and how she can regain it to become the sexually-confident, sexually-satisfied woman she deserves to be. If you would like to submit a personal testimony or question you’d like to see addressed in this book, please email Shannon at sethridge@shannonethridge.com. By doing so, you’ll be entered into a drawing to receive one of the 25 free autographed copies we’ll be awarding upon its release in 2008!
"Books For Zimbabwe" Program Update
We continue to experience a tremendous burden for the youth of Zimbabwe after our two-week mission trip this past September. At the invitation of Youth for Christ, we traveled to 16 different high schools, churches, and orphanages and spoke to over 6,000 teen girls and boys. Many approached with tears in their eyes saying, “Both my parents have already died of AIDS, and I assumed my life would end the same way. But you gave me hope that I can choose not to get this disease by saving sex for marriage!” (for our complete update, click here).
Unfortunately, we were only able to get 120 books into the country, but we hope to send hundreds or even thousands more in the coming year. Thanks to the generosity of those who’ve responded to our “matching funds” offer, yet another small shipment of books is already on its way, but would you please pray about helping us send more soon? We will continue to match your donations dollar-for-dollar throughout 2007. Please click here to donate online.
Calendar Of Events
January 25, 2007 - Shannon speaks on Every Woman’s Marriage: Igniting the Joy and Passion You Both Desire at the Van MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers) meeting, Garden Valley Bible Church, Lindale, TX, 9:30 a.m.
February 2-4, 2007 - Taking Your Marriage Over the Top Conference at the incredibly beautiful Gleneyrie Retreat Center in Colorado Springs, CO. Conference price per couple is $276 (or $158 per individual for those whose spouses are unable to attend). Overnight accommodations are additional (go to www.gleneyrie.org for information on rooms available). Register for the conference online through the aforementioned website, our call 1-800-944-4536 to register or receive more information.
March 9-10, 2007 - Every Man/Woman’s Battle Conference in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This will be an intergenerational conference for both parents and teens with Shannon speaking to the women at one church and Fred Stoeker, co-author of the Every Man series, speaking to the men at another. For more information, go to www.harnesstheriver.com.
June 28-30, 2007 - Teen Mania Ministries’ Emerging Leaders Summit in sunny Southern California. More information to come!
Testimonies Of Praise
"I have been an avid reader of the “Every Man/Woman” series and have all of them, including the ones that my wife and I are reading with our children. I just completed Every Woman’s Marriage and, from a husband’s perspective, this was one of the best books on marriage I have ever read. I enjoyed the transparency you show in this book and I could not agree more with all of your premises. It’s always nice to read books from people who have been through the fires of marriage and overcome them. What an insight God gives us then! This book is exactly what a man needs and desires from his wife. If more wives understood this, the more astounded they would be at how their husbands would meet their emotional needs. Great job, and we are so glad to have this wonderful book in our library to share." - Michael
"Dear Shannon, I heard you speak at the Thrive Conference in November and have been reading Every Woman’s Marriage. WOW!!! I have been married two years (second marriage) and thought things were great except for a little bickering about kids and stuff. But this book opened my eyes and I could see myself doing all this stuff to my poor husband. This awareness has already started changing our relationship as I am trying to follow through with all of your great recommendations. I feel confident that our marriage and family life will be much stronger from now on, so THANK YOU for your wonderful book!" - Michelle
Prayer Team Update
We are so blessed to have a group of prayer warriors who read every request submitted and personally respond via email to those seeking the Lord’s guidance for their unique situations. If you have a prayer request we can lift to God on your behalf, please let us know by going to www.shannonethridge.com and clicking on “prayer.”
You can also click here to post prayer requests or connect with other readers on the Every Woman’s Battle Message Board.
We appreciate your prayers and encouraging support
for the staff and volunteers of Shannon Ethridge Ministries!
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