More about courtship

In WorldMovers this week we discussed the effects of courtship teaching on contemporary Christian young people.  The upshot was that we left with a renewed commitment to praying for the singles in our congregation.  More on that later.

The article in World was partly a response to the book at the right, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, a book that was popularized in the '90's that introduced the idea of courtship versus dating to a mass audience (the actual concept of courtship has been around for centuries, of course, while "dating" is a very recent and intially American phenomenon).  Since writing the book as a very young man, Harris has gone on to become pastor of the largest church in the Sovereign Grace movement, Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Here is a description of Harris's new edition of the I Kissed Dating Goodbye from the Sovereign Grace Ministries web site:

"Ideal for single adults and teens, I Kissed Dating Goodbye presents the model for Biblical friendship and principled romance. A best-selling book with more than 800,000 copies in print, this book was named the number one paperback non-fiction book for all of 1998 and number two for all of 1999.


Now, for the first time since its release, the national #1 best-seller has been totally updated. The new edition includes:

• A new foreword by Sam Torode
• A brand new chapter
• Expanded content in many chapters

Most 'new editions' are just the same book with a new cover. This is different. Every chapter has been carefully fine-tuned. Joshua builds on the strength of his book, clarifies its core message and honestly answers the concerns of critics who have written response books since I Kissed Dating Goodbye was first released. The result is that the book's simple message of trusting God with your love-life has more power than ever."