Lets face it. Your bank account isnt going to grow by accident or good intentions. Neither is your sex life. Thank you, Dillows and Pintuses, for dragging our conversation out of the Dark Ages and into the light of our good Fathers design. May we never go back.
JARED ANDERSON
worship leader, songwriter, and composer of Great I Am
MEGAN ANDERSON
It turns out that the antidote to a blah intimacy is one part service, one part vulnerability, and believe it or not three parts theology. Who knew? Do your marriage a favor and read this life-changing book. (Maybe twice.)
JESSIE MINASSIAN
author of Crushed: Why Guys Dont Have to Make or Break You
Married couples: Become married lovers! This book offers some of the most practical help and biblical insight Ive read in a long time.
PAULA RINEHART
author of Strong Women, Soft Hearts and Sex and the Soul of a Woman
Intimacy Ignited follows through on its promise to ignite intimacy in marriage. With so many mixed messages about sex in our society, Intimacy Ignited removes the confusion through honest, candid, and biblically inspiring truths. Bravo, Peter, Lorraine, Jody, and Linda, for providing such powerful, practical, and insightful principles that are sure to ignite intimacy in marriage.
JULIE GORMAN
a John Maxwell certified coach, trainer, and speaker, and author of What I Wish My Mother Had Told Me About Men
Intimacy Ignited is a biblical, insightful, chockful-of-ideas kind of book. Its for couples who together hand in hand want to step carefully into the water and walk with love into the deep of sexual intimacy.
JACK AND CAROLE MAYHALL
authors of Marriage Takes More Than Love
We highly recommend Intimacy Ignited for couples who desire to be inspired, encouraged, and strengthened in their intimate lives. This book should answer any question youve ever had about your sex life.
PAUL STANLEY
international vice president, The Navigators
PHYLLIS STANLEY
author of Celebrate the Seasons
Wow! After reading this book just once, we can hardly wait to read it again. Filled with honesty, helpful ideas, and incredible insight into Gods perspective on sex and passion, Intimacy Ignited is a book well recommend again and again.
TOBEN AND JOANNE HEIM
authors of Happily Ever After
Driven by Scripture, Intimacy Ignited obtains the remarkable achievement of being both profoundly holy and intensely erotic. Tasefully written yet unabashedly frank, this book presents sex by Gods design. Read it and apply what you learn. Its one of the best gifts you can give your marriage.
GARY L. THOMAS
author of Sacred Marriage and Not the End but the Road
NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators, an international Christian organization and leader in personal spiritual development. NavPress is committed to helping people grow spiritually and enjoy lives of meaning and hope through personal and group resources that are biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical.
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Copyright 2004 by Joseph and Linda Dillow, Peter and Lorraine Pintus. All rights reserved.
A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
NAVPRESS and the NavPress logo are registered trademarks of NavPress, The Navigators, Colorado Springs, CO. Absence of in connection with marks of NavPress or other parties does not indicate an absence of registration of those marks.
TYNDALE is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Cover design by Nicole Grimes
Cover photograph of smoke heart copyright Dragan Todorovic. Getty Images. All rights reserved.
Cover photograph of matches copyright pogonici/Shutterstock. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. (Some quotations may be from the earlier NIV edition, copyright 1984.) Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified Bible, copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. (Some quotations may be from the NLT1, copyright 1996.) Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Intimacy ignited : conversations couple to couple : fire up your sex life with the song of solomon / Joseph Dillow ... [Et al.].
P. Cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Isbn 1-57683-640-1
1. Marriage Religious aspects Christianity. 2. Intimacy (Psychology) Religious aspects Christianity. 3. Sex Biblical teaching. 4. Bible. O.T. Song of Solomon Ccriticism, interpretation, etc. I. Dillow, Joseph C.
BV835.158 2004
241.6'6 Dc22 2004013566
ISBN 978-1-63146-342-6 (sc)
Build: 2016-02-19 14:49:23
Acknowledgments
A book is always the work of a team. In this case, God handpicked the best, and wed like to express our gratitude.
A heartfelt hurrah to our super editor and friend Liz Heaney, who waded through this book concept by concept, line by line. Your exceptional talents made this a better book. Thank you to the original team who worked on this book at NavPress Dan Rich, Terry Behimer, and the entire creative group. All of you supported the vision of this book with your talents. May God be glorified through the final work.
Thank you to the lively group that sacrificed many Wednesday evenings to field-test the Bible study: Brian and Pam Clifford, Mic and Sharon Davis, John and Valorie Havercamp, Phil and Karla Kroeker, David and Julie Kuss, Ron and D. J. McCormack, Terry and Sherry Middleton, and Doug and Tina Van Schooneveld. We laughed much together, didnt we?