Blended family expert Ron Deal tackles the delicate topic of sexual intimacy. As Deal explains, to be intimate with someone is to know them at a deep level. But what does a person do with their sexual past, especially as they enter into a new marriage? Deal answers those questions and more.

Everyone has a context. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is no exception. Jemar Tisby, author of "The Color of Compromise," and Bob Lepine have a candid conversation about how the Lord prepared Dr. King through his childhood, his family, and his education, to be the right person at the right time to be the figurehead for the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's. Program Note: Bob Lepine mentions the entire conversation is online. The web version and podcast feed is not edited down fore time and includes the longer conversation.

Tim Muehlhoff, a professor of communication at Biola, talks about the reality of spiritual warfare in marriage. Muehlhoff reminds believers that the enemy of our souls is still alive and well and would love to see your marriage fail. He explains where a couple might see evil's influence and how a couple can fight back with faith.

Tim Muehlhoff, author of "Defending Your Marriage," exposes the real enemy of your marriage--Satan. Muehlhoff reminds couples that their marriage is taking place on a spiritual battlefield, and evil forces have husbands and wives in their crosshairs. Couples need to put on the armor of God and pray for protection for their marriages.

Every couple will have conflict. But it's how they handle that conflict that makes all the difference. Author Jim Burns explains that fear is often hiding behind our defensiveness. He feared that his wife wouldn't like him, for example, and his wife, Kathy, often feared Jim would leave her. But once you realize your fears, you can face them and handle conflict better. In some cases, a couple might have to agree to disagree, and that's okay.

The best thing a couple can do for their marriage is to pray together every day. The second best: laugh. Author and counselor Jim Burns encourages any couple who wants to win in marriage to laugh a lot. Burns realized the fun had slipped from his own marriage when his daughter came home one day and said the couple she had been babysitting had told her that her parents used to be so fun and funny. She wondered why they were so different now. Burns tells how they got their fun back by investing in their marriage.Show Notes and ResourcesWhat's a Perma Jack®?

Jim Burns, executive director of the Homeward Center at Azusa Pacific University, explains why the early years of marriage are critical. Burns looks back on his own early years of marriage and the difficulties that arose from having a high-maintenance marriage. Burns reminds couples to use wisdom by building their marriage on the Rock, not the sand. Change will happen and struggles will come, but Christ's presence can help a couple weather any storm.