Agape Marriage Connection: Recent Episodes
Mike and Laurie Sheffield
At AGAPE Marriage Connection it is our desire to see happy, healthy marriages THRIVE and mediocre marriages REVITALIZED, as well as hurting and broken marriages REBUILT & RESTORED! We believe the best way to do this is to pursue His Word, Rejoice in His Spirit & Love His people...together!!
This week Mike and Laurie Sheffield talk about what completion looks like in marriage. We can help each other become more like Christ. Listen to today's podcast and be encouraged in your marriage.
Sex in marriage doesn't just happen...you have to make it happen. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection on today's show and hear how to talk about it!
Conflict seems like something that only marriages that are in trouble have. This, however, is a huge fallacy! Join Agape Marriage Radio today and hear the many ways that conflict can help and grow your relationship!
Communication is one of the most important aspects of any relationship, and it's essential for oneness in marriage. The goal of communication in marriage should be to mutually understand each other.
What does truth in marriage look like? It is choosing to believe Gods Word instead of believing the lies of the world. Issues like, "the issues in my marriage are unique." The truth is there are no issues or anything new in marriage that is unique. 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you that is nor common to man." There's also the lie that you married the wrong person, or that your soul mate is still out there somewhere! When you married your spouse, you made a commitment to them, also to God. If you're married, it's God's will that you stay married.
Everyone thinks they're "committed" until they aren't! Join us as we discuss what commitment needs to look like in your marriage!
Let's look at what forgiveness in action looks like. Join us this week and every week as we go through some marriage building strategies.
Discussing what forgiveness is and isn't this week on the radio. Tune into Agapemarriage.org for podcast links.
This weeks talk is on what humility means in marriage! Join us and go to agapemarriage.org for questions.
Join us as we go through our ReEngage curriculum over the radio and on podcast! This week we are covering Lesson 3, a chapter on Grace. Be sure to go to our website at agapemarriage.org for the follow-up questions.
Join as as we go through our ReEngage curriculum over the radio and via podcast. This week is Lesson 2: Brokenness. The 2nd part of the Principle- Recognize Your Inability To Love.
We've all heard it said not to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but what about dealing with the mole? We've all got them. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage to hear some ways to avoid the common "mole traps" in your marriage.
Who are you hanging out with? What about you as a married couple? Do you have friends that are for your marriage and encourage you in your walk with Jesus, or only life suckers? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage today to hear why it matters.
We all need a little renewing in our marriages. What are you doing to renew YOUR marriage? Join Agape Marriage Connection today and renew the hope in your marriage.
In todays show Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Radio take some Biblical truths from the book of Philemon and let you see how this can be applied to better intimacy in your marriage.
Do you bristle every time you hear the word "roles" as if it was a bad word? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield at Agape Marriage Radio and hear how they help us see the word as something good!
All of the Bible speaks to how we should be good Christians, but does this apply to our marriages? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield today to see just how much it does!
Church isn't about the building, the preacher or even which row you sit in! It doesn't matter if you meet at 6:00am or 10:00pm. It's about taking time out of the hustle and bustle of life to worship Jesus, with a community of other believers and questioners. It's about growing in your faith through the knowledge of who He is. It's a way to learn to love Jesus more through how that community lives, and it's about learning to believe that you're loved by Jesus even when you're unlovely !
We don't often repair our dishwasher or car if it's not broken, but there is maintenance that needs to happen. In marriage we need to make repairs for the maintenance of a peaceful and harmonious marriage. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Radio on this podcast to hear just how those repairs need to be made!
In First Corinthians Paul talks a lot about being united as a body. Tune in to Mike and Laurie Sheffield and see how they've applied this concept to YOUR marriage.
Eventually life will resume to a new norm. When this happens, will your marriage be ready? We've all made plenty of adjustments while there has been a stay at home mandate, so we just may need to make different adjustments when it's time to head back out into the world. Join us today to check out how to make those a little easier.
Eventually life will resume to a new norm. When this happens, will your marriage be ready? We've all made plenty of adjustments while there has been a stay at home mandate, so we just may need to make different adjustments when it's time to head back out into the world. Join us today to check out how to make those a little easier.
In this episode of Agape Marriage Connection, Laurie shares a little bit about just why Mike is her hero and thanks all of the medical professionals and others that are caring for all of us during this COVID19 pandemic. As they are all out there on the front lines caring for patients and Mike was actually unable to come into the studio to record!
With the mandate to stay home until the storm of COVID19 passes, is coming up with “a plan” to have a joy filled home and marriage nonsense or a contradiction to God's Word? Absolutely not! The joy in God is not in freedom from affliction, and not in freedom from poverty, but our joy in God can be so full, it outweighs affliction. It outweighs poverty. When we overflow with a generosity of His love, there can be a real fullness, even if there is pain and sorrow along the way.
Agape Marriage Sunday school is currently in a series that is a survey of The New Testament. On this weeks lesson they will be covering The book of Hebrews.
Today Mike and Laurie speak to their Sunday school class and all listeners are welcome as they introduce the newest Sunday curriculum on The Survey of The New Testament.
Do WHATEVER you do, to whomever it is wherever you are with a joyful heart, as if your work was for The Lord!
On this episode of Agape Marriage Radio we are discussing how to have good conversations by asking questions in a way that the will not feel like an interrogation but encourage closeness and intimacy.
Is your spouse your best friend? Join Agape Marriage today to see if that's really necessary!
Flirting with our spouses is the only place we should be! Join Agape Marriage today and put a little romance in your steps!
Don't let the holidays get the better of you! Agape Marriage shares some tips and strategies to stay focused on the real meaning of "enjoying the holidays".
Are you already dreading how you're going to deal with the over scheduled, hustle and bustle of the holidays, not to mention Aunt Martha? Why is it that we let the holidays turn into a nightmare instead of the dream we see on TV? Today Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection dig into what traps we all need to avoid and give us some lively advice. (That will keep us out of jail!)
We have busy lives. Easily distracted. Have you paid as much attention to your spouse today as you have your phone? Just asking'! Agape Marriage challenges us to consider what really gets the most of our attention.
What trips you up in your home? We all have the same traps that we fall into with our spouses. Mine may not look the same as yours, but they are still traps. Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage discuss how to avoid the pitfalls today.
What are you aiming for in your home? Hitting the heart of the matter with your spouse can change everything! Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage and let them help you take aim!
Family is always tricky to navigate. Join Agape Marriage today as they discuss avoiding some of the traditional family pitfalls.
Family is always tricky to navigate. Join Agape Marriage today as they discuss avoiding some of the traditional family pitfalls.
It's essential for the health of your marriage to be flexible, in some areas and in other's to be rigid. Tune in and find out when you need to be each.
Conflict is never comfortable. It's especially uncomfortable when you live with the person you are in conflict with. There are many predictors of marriages that will survive but one of those greatest predictors is how you and your spouse handle conflict!
There are a lot of things in life that we don't feel like doing. But what about in marriage? What do you do when you just don't feel like it? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Radio as they delve into what God's Word has to say about "not feeling like it".
Mediocrity has many meanings. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage as they discuss making memories in your home that are more than mediocre!
Our homes should be a place of peace and respite. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage today and learn how this is possible.
Raising children can seem like a tedious, never ending task. The pay-off is great when we train them up according to God's Word. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Radio as they discuss this vital assignment!
The culture of parenting has changed. We are such a busy society that often times we don’t take time to even connect with our children…and we just go from point A to point B and hope that if we throw in a little teaching and discipline on the car ride to school or practice it may just stick!! Learning respect doesn’t work that way because it doesn't come naturally to humans. We’ve been rebels from the beginning, haven’t we? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection as they discuss how culture sets a low bar here. But God sets it high.
The culture of parenting has changed. We are such a busy society that often times we don’t take time to even connect with our children…and we just go from point A to point B and hope that if we throw in a little teaching and discipline on the car ride to school or practice it may just stick!! Learning respect doesn’t work that way because it doesn't come naturally to humans. We’ve been rebels from the beginning, haven’t we? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection as they discuss how culture sets a low bar here. But God sets it high.
Summer can be a time for rest but it can also cause restlessness! Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection as they share some travel tips and stress support!
Today Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage look at the truth of God's Word and suggest that there are many ways to love your spouse well, and discuss the "how to's" of doing just that by looking at the truth of God's Word, there are answers to this test!
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage for more discussion on why our relationship with God is crucial to grow our marriages, as they look at the truth of God's Word and disseminate the difference in commands and suggestions! We're commanded to love our spouse well!
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage as they discuss why we need a relationship with God to grow our marriages as they look at the truth of God's Word and what He calls us to do!
We all know that our "feelings" and emotions are as fickle as the weather. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage as they ponder what to do with those feelings in marriage as they look at the truth of God's Word and what He calls us to do!
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage today as they discuss why the health of your marriage matters to more than just what goes on in your home.
How important to your sense of "oneness" to your spouse is emotional intimacy? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage today as they answer this question.
On today's episode of Agape Marriage Radio, Mike and Laurie Sheffield answer those questions that are sometimes hard to ask. They answer according to, "What would God have to say about this?" Join them and see if this isn't something you've often wondered about too!
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage as they answer some commonly asked questions about marriage as well as some questions sent in by listeners, like you!
Vulnerability breeds intimacy. That's what our guests today want us to know. The Portland Women's Fellowship has some of the brightest and the best! Today they share their insights about relationship goals and their thoughts on marriage!
Today on Agape Marriage Radio, Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection interview The Women of The Portland Fellowship, Anna, Kate, Kelsey, Jaclyn and Olivia, and get their take on what they hope to find in a future spouse, and what they wish they could have seen. Let's be the example of good marriages lived out, and not the exception! Part 1 of a 2 part series.
Today on Agape Marriage Radio, Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection spend some time looking at what we as a society treasure. Do you treasure your spouse the way you do your car or favorite sports team? While this is no laughing matter, you'll leave today's show aware of how to treasure your spouse better and your sides will hurt from all of the laughter!
When you greet a neighbor or a friend do you use gracious and kind words? What about when you see your spouse at the end of the day? We could all use a little help in making sure our mouth is in check! Join Agape Marriage today and see if you learn a tip or two!
Most people wait to go to the doctor until they're sick. But we'd wager that healthcare professionals probably prefer to see all of their patients first when they're well. That way they have a baseline from which to access what parts aren't working best! Same in marriage, do an assessment before you're in trouble. Seek out the "trouble areas" and treat those before they grow too big to manage! Join Agape Marriage in this lively show, we think you'll be glad you did!
Join Agape Marriage with Mike and Laurie Sheffield as they pursue what it means to have relationship goals and chase after your spouses heart! There is a lot in God's Word about relationship goals, join us!
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage today as they look at the goals we should have in our marriages to guard them, and go through God's Word to see the relationship goals He sets for us.
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield today as Agape Marriage goes through God's Word to see how and why we need relationship goals.
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield today as Agape Marriage goes through God's Word to see how and why we need relationship goals.
Join Agape Marriage today as Mike and Laurie Sheffield go through God's Word and take a look at what it looks like to be known by your spouse.
Every marriage needs someone to nurture and defend it! Join Agape Marriage today as Mike and Laurie Sheffield go through God's Word and take a look at what true defense looks like.
This week on Agape Marriage Connection with Mike & Laurie Sheffield, they discuss more rules for "game day in marriage", specifically when it comes to communication. Our own pride and desires can cause us to be a real W-E-N-I when it comes to our methods of getting our point across! Withdraw, Escalate, Negatively Interpret, and Invalidate are a few of the not so positive methods. Tune in and hear how to turn it around!
Often in marriage the things we do and say could be handled better if we had an instruction book like when you play a board game. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection and hear about their playbook and avoid the pitfalls of games in your marriage.
What traditions and expectations do you have for your marriage and family that get brought to the forefront over the holidays? Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage navigate these with humor and a lot of trepidation! Join them to hear how.
Harmony is the combination of musical sounds being played simultaneously to produce a pleasing effect. So how close is this description to the harmony of the voices in YOUR home? Is the effect pleasing or like nails on a chalkboard? Join Agape Marriage Connection today as Mike and Laurie Sheffield share ideas to make the sounds coming out of your house more joyful.
Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage share today the many ways we can find to be grateful for our in-laws. Join them and laugh as you learn through their love of Christ and their transparently about much of their marriage history!
We all can be "set in our ways". But the question Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage ask today is: 'Are your ways stuck in the mud?' Join us and together we'll do some stretching exercises to become more flexible.
Every couple goes into marriage thinking we'll always be faithful. Why is this harder than we imagined? Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage wrestle with this topic today and help us focus on what faithful is and isn't!
We all shy away from anyone that tries to rule over us. How does that work in marriage? Should husbands make all the decisions and a wife just sit idly by? Join Mike and Laurie sheffield today as they discus what God's Word has to say about Colossians 3:23-24, and how we can live this out...with out being a doormat?
How does what we hear and see in this world change our hearts? On today's show Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage tackle the beast of what pornography does to our hearts and our marriages. Was pornography around in the Bible? What does God have to say about this "modern" epidemic?
How can we serve someone else and live happily ever after? Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage and hear if this is possible!
You can be married happily ever after, but there are a few things necessary for this to take place, and none of the things has anything to do with riding off into the sunset in a pumpkin carriage! Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection for this fun and lively marriage discussion today!
We need to study and continually learn our spouse. This week on Agape Marriage Connection, Mike and Laurie Sheffield discuss ways to continually study and really get to know them...forever!
Expectations in our marriages can either build us up or really wreck us! Today Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection encourage us to Date Our Mates without expectations.
Why is dating our mate important? Because with life and kids... It's easy to loose that feeling that you ad when you first met. Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection today and hear how to keep the romance in your marriage alive!
If you create monumental milestones, celebrate! Make a mountain out of a mole hill! Marriage monuments should be celebrated. Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage share some monumental marriages tips!
It's never to early or too late to date your mate if you're both still breathing!! Invite them out. Make it an adventure! Dating can seem "unnecessary", or life is just too busy. But Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection challenge you to "take your spouses breath away!" and date, date ,date your mate!
It seems if we get knocked down, we're going to get knocked out. Especially when life comes at us with the tough "stuff" in rapid succession! Join Agape Marriage Connection Today, with Mike and Laurie Sheffield as they talk with their good friends and Pastor James Harms and his wife, author and speaker, Kay Harms. When your marriage gets knocked down, you can get back up again!
Many couples expect romance to just happen, but we have found that being intentional in pursuing your spouse is the key to rekindling romance. When was he last time you went on a real date with your spouse? By "real", we mean, intentional. Not just that you happened to find 5 minutes with no one around and seized the moment, but planned and anticipated a date with each other. Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection share why and when this is crucial for EVERY marriage.
Often we think once we've "got our spouse" the mission ends. After we marry the woman or man we love, the most exciting and rewarding work is over. Marriage is somehow viewed as the destination, the payoff, the final credits we don't think about HOW they lived happily ever after! But this view can only be true if the wedding day is the end instead of the beginning of pursuing your mate! Join Mike & Laure Sheffield of AgapeMarriage.org and see where the Bible tells us something different.
Sometimes we blow it with the ones we love. Often it feels impossible to resolve. Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage discuss what you can do if this has happened to you or someone you know!
Today Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage share the second part of a talk they did at Portland Community Church from The book of Ephesians, titled Facebook Reel or Real Healthy Marriage. Join them as they discuss what good communication in marriage looks like and challenge us by asking, "if we're living out the very best version of the marriage God intended for us to have."
Everyone of us looks at the lawn across the street or next door and wishes ours looked as good. So it's no surprise in this era of posts and tweets, that we all desire something that our neighbor has, because we decide it MUST be so much better. If everyone could just "swipe right" with regards to how awesome our children and ourhome, our vacations and our parties are. Why do we seek that as affirmation?
Join Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection as they share their hearts for a world that looks to God's Word BEFORE checking Instagram and FB!
We all desire Unity in our families. Most specifically in our marriages and with our children. Often we are so convinced that if everyone around us would change, then everything would be better. On today's episode, Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection take a look at the wise words of the apostle Paul, and see how he lays out the nuts and bolts of building a house that is undivided!
How much more united would we be either as spouses, parents or friends to others if we tried to measure up to Christ’s standard. Today Mike & Laurie Sheffield, of Agape Marriage Connection, look at Ephesians 4 where the Apostle Paul is talking to church members about how good unity is for families. The power of the Holy Spirit joins us to our children with a power that is stronger than ANY family tie. As we attain more unity we build up each other, we grow up, and we measure up to His standard.
Can silence be golden? Our words are one of the most important and essential building blocks to a healthy marriage. Words can build us up or tear us down. But is there ever a time that we can complicate the situations we face with our spouse or our circle of influence by over-communicating?
“When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” – Proverbs 10:19
On today's show Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection discuss why Solomon calls his readers to pursue wisdom rather than foolishness, and sometimes that may be in the form of silence!
The Apostle Paul cautions Jesus followers, specifically dad's, about exasperating or frustrating our loved ones. Join Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection and learn the value of nurturing and feeding them instead.
So often in marriage we have expectations that we either over exaggerate or we completely understate! Which camp are you and your spouse in? Today Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection talk through what God's Word has to say about our expectancy with regards to others and with Him!
In this show from our series: Sticks and Stones, How Our Words Matter, we take a look at how to correct our course without being coarse! Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection look through God's Word and help us with a biblical application of everyday life scenarios!
Are you so comfortable with your spouse that you say whatever you want whenever you want? Does your spouse speak nicer to complete strangers than they do to you?
Every couple and every person has a different threshold for sarcasm, joking, or “transparent” words in our conversations.
If you've fallen into the "Buddy Trap" tune in today to Agape Marriage Connection with Mike and Laurie Sheffield where they discuss what it means to care enough to confront.
We all go into marriage with plans and dreams about how wonderful married life will be. We expect our new spouse to want and desire everything the same as ourselves. Family dinners will always be fun, and you will equally share parenting of your children and household chores. If you like vacations in the sun so will your spouse...right? Today on Agape Marriage Connection with Mike and Laurie Sheffield, they will discuss expectations in marriage verses demands.
Today on Agape Marriage Connection Mike and Laurie Sheffield give us four core principles that can be easily applied to build your marriage up! If you would like to have a stronger, healthier, Christ centered marriage, tune in and hear what God has to say through His People, His Word and His Spirit at Agape Marriage Connection!
Do your words alone matter? It's actions that follow our words that make a difference. Just saying you want to be strong doesn't make you strong. Today Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection explain to us why it's the same with healing words in our marriages.
The words we use can cut like a knife or can heal broken hearts better than surgery! Today on Agape Marriage Connection, Mike & Laurie Sheffield share just how important our words are, not only to our spouse, but to God too!
We all wonder if we are not communicating clearly to others when the response isn't what we hope for or expect. Join Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection to find applicable ways to be known and heard.
Each of us has an innate desire to be known by our spouse. When we don't get their coffee order right or know the name of their best friend from High School does it matter?
Join in on the conversation todaywith Agape Marriage Connection as Mike & Laurie Sheffield explain how to truly "KNOW" your spouse.
Communication in marriage can be tricky. We should be able to talk about anything with the person that we will spend the rest of our life with. Why then is communication so hard?
Today on Agape Marriage Connection, Mike & Laurie Sheffield take a look at God's Word and what it has to say about communication.
Does your spouse like basketball and you love cooking shows? How can you be good companions if you don't even like the same stuff?
Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection share with us some ideas about the importance of being good companions. Using God's Word, and relying on His Spirit for insight in today's episode.
Selfishness is something we all know, but do we admit when it's our own attitude? In marriage there really isn't room for selfishness. Tune in today to Agape Marriage Connection with Mike & Laurie Sheffield and hear what God's Word has to tell us about this "self defeating" attitude.
Our tongues may be a small part of our body, but they can build up or tear down with one wag! Join Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection has they help every marriage extinguish those "tongue fires"!
Is simply saying' "I'm sorry" enough? Can you forgive with out hearing those words? Forgiveness isn't an easy subject. But today on Agape Marriage Connection, Mike & Laurie Sheffield wrestle with what God's Word has to say about this life changing word.
How important is intimacy in your marriage? Join Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection as they talk about this glue that is vital in marriages and holds them together!
Hearing-Listening-Knowing. Is there a difference?
Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection take some time today to explain how they're each different and why it's important to understand those differences in our marriages!
Have you ever wondered if your spouse is really listening or even cares about what you're saying? We all want to be heard...but more importantly-known!
Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection have a humorous and fun way to help us understand the need to be heard, and to help us teach our spouses how they don't even have to turn up their hearing aids to understand us!
Do you ever wonder why we must forgive someone who has hurt or offended you? God's Word has a lot to say about this, and on today's episode Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection begin to break this down so it is in bite size pieces!
We all have a "go-to" response when we are under pressure or backed into a corner. Pressure cookers explode if left in high pressure mode too long. Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection share with us some better "fight" tactics, by using His Word, and relying on His Spirit to help with this in today's episode.
Fighting for your spouse looks very different than fighting with your spouse!
Join Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection as they look at the difference and encourage you to build up your team though God's Word!
We all have road blocks that we put in place to guard our hearts from getting too close. But how does this hinder our ability to truly be “in” our relationships?
Join Mike & Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection as they dive into God's Word to hear what He has to say about this!
Mike and Laurie Sheffield of Agape Marriage Connection share ways to build your marriage through His Word.
Communication will always be a challenge in any relationship, even 2 well meaning people that are married for life! Mike & Laurie Sheffield from Agape Marriage Connection help you see what God's Word has to say to help you in this area in your marriage!