Ed Wheat M.D. - Intended for pleasure: sex technique and sexual fulfillment in Christian marriage

We live in a culture that is saturated by sex. The Sexual Revolution that began in the 1960s challenged our countrys Judeo-Christian norms and boundaries. The revolution has not just brought about personal sexual permissiveness but an unabashed wholesale promotion of sex. It has questioned and undermined the basic tenants of male and female sexuality.

But it was God, not man, who created sex. What God designed, man has distorted. What God sought to protect, man has perverted. The result is a vast wasteland of burned-out, strung-out, and stressed-out people who wonder not only what sex is all about but also whom to trust.

May I introduce you to my trusted friend Dr. Ed Wheat? He is no longer with us, but if he were I could take you to his modest office. There we would be told, The doctor will be with you shortly. Im sure Dr. Wheat was always running a little bit behind, because he cared about people. He cared not only for the body but also for the soul and spirit. I have no idea how many people were introduced to Jesus Christ by Dr. Wheat, but I can imagine he was late for an appointment more than once because he took time guiding a patient to understand faith in Jesus Christ. His care for the whole person is also why Dr. Wheat developed one of the largest cassette tape loan libraries in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. He not only wanted to introduce a person to Christ but also really wanted to help that person grow.

When Dr. Wheat would finally come in and take his seat behind his desk, you would instantly sense that this was a man you could talk to. For one so intelligent and wise, he had a disarming way about him. You could talk to him about anything. He was one of us; he could be trusted. Thats why the most intimate of all subjects, sex, could be addressed by The Good Doctor.

In many ways, Ed Wheat was a spiritual pioneer, a prophet ahead of the times. He wrote Intended for Pleasure when he witnessed the beginning of the Sexual Revolution and understood the urgent need for a godly perspective on sex. His work provides a godly, straightforward, no baloney, biblical perspective of sex.

Over nearly three decades, FamilyLife has distributed thousands of copies of Dr. Wheats book to premarried and married couples who have attended the Weekend to Remember. I believe it is the classic work in the Christian community on the subject of sexual intimacy in marriage. This updated and edited version is even better.

Ed Wheat was a pioneer and a prophet. But mostly he was just a really good man! I want to commend his work to youits an invaluable guide for married couples and also for young adults before they marry. Give a copy to your children when they are engaged; tell them to read the first hundred pages and save the others for a bit later ... with the exception of chapter 14 on sexually transmitted diseases. That chapter needs to be read now.

Dr. Dennis Rainey
President and CEO
FamilyLife