John Gunter

Thoughts on Life and Living

My “singleness” radio interview & other recent articles

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The entire Gunter family at Mother's Day 2014
My family on Mother’s Day. My two sisters have four children each. I miss them all so much while in Asia!

In the midst of my time with family, rest, and taking care of life in America, I have pulled back from writing on my blog for this season.  However, I have been able to contribute articles to a few other websites on topics I am passion about AND I was even honored to be the guest on a Denver based talk radio show.  Strange, I know.

Through this blog I write, I have come across many others who are doing other sites similar to this one.  One such lady is Erin Szczerba who writes on this excellent blog.  Erin asked me to consider doing a Q&A for her blog.  What I didn’t know was that it was ACTUALLY a live broadcast radio show based in Denver, CO and I was the special guest “expert” on issues of singleness.

So, with very little understanding of the scale and scope of the project, I agreed.  Honestly, as I think about some of my answers I gave on these two shows, I probably disagree with a few.  Oh well.

In the midst of my writing silence on this site (johngunter.com), I thought I would share this radio interview.  Here are three of the clips from this time: [Read more…]

The fallacy of “singles ministry” & the beauty of Biblical obedience

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A few months ago, I was asked to be a guest writer for the excellent website, SingleMatters.com.  Here is an article I wrote for them a little while back.  With some slight changes, I thought it might be nice to re-post it here.

John Gunter and Aaron Milam in the Middle East
My friend Aaron Milan and I in the Middle East a few years ago. Picture courtesy of Ed Graham.

It was spring of my senior year in college. My friend Phil and I decided to go to our first ever “singles Bible study.” There was one in our city that was making all kinds of buzz. Thousands were showing up. “The teaching and music are amazing” we were hearing everywhere. We decided to give it a shot.

What we found was pretty shocking.

[Read more…]

The pain and JOY of singleness at Christmas

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ohn Gunter with nieces and nephews on Christmas
Tired but happy. . . with seven of my nieces and nephews on that Christmas

Scene #1:  As I looked out of the window of the plane, my heart was beating with anticipation.  I have always loved seeing the Atlanta skyline from inbound flights.  This viewing, though, was even more significant than others.

It was Christmas Eve.  It was the fourth of four flights I had taken that day.  It had been over 26 hours since I had left my apartment in Asia, but I had finally arrived. [Read more…]

An awkward conversation about singleness (and 2 thoughts)

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I didn't have a cool pic to put here, so just did a selfie from my computer while writing this. . .
I didn’t have a cool pic to put here, so just did a selfie from my computer while writing this. . .

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!

I honestly thought I was done with my thoughts on singleness. However, I had an experience recently which has changed a bit of my thinking. I set out a few months ago to get ALL of my thoughts on singleness on paper. I unimaginatively called the series “My thoughts on singleness (a series. . .)” Very creative, I know.

Recently, I was sitting with a pastor friend of mine. He is a wonderful man, very smart, and has a great heart for the Lord and the work of the Kingdom of God. He has sacrificed for the advance of the Gospel in ways I can’t imagine. We are good friends and meet whenever possible.

As we often do, we met for coffee. We talked of life, our personal issues, and even touched on some theology. He has enjoyed reading the works of John Stott, as I have as well.

Then the conversation took a familiar, yet uncomfortable turn.

[Read more…]

5 “best practices” in singleness. . . your input desired

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This was me in the Arabian Dessert. . . with an unfortunate goatee.
This was me in the Arabian Dessert. . . with an unfortunate goatee.

If you missed the previous article, you might want to read it first (CLICK HERE). It gives the introduction to this article and the motivation behind it. This article is the final installment of my series “My thoughts on singleness (a series. . . )”. At the end of this article, I would love to hear the thoughts and ideas you have regarding this article.

Here are five of the “best practices” I have learned (mostly the hard way) which have helped me thrive, not merely survive, in singleness.

Do activities that draw you into community

I have written often on this blog in the area of community (CLICK HERE and HERE for two examples), so I will keep it short here. However, I do seek activities which draw me into community with others. In Atlanta, I played softball on a team of old friends (old both in age and length of friendship with the likes of Pat Ku). Here in Asia, I try to only do stuff like scuba dive and dirt biking with friends with whom I want to spend time.

Side note to marrieds . . .

[Read more…]

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