“Facing the Giants: In Your Marriage” Crossroads Church

Peanut Gallery – This is the best message that I have ever heard on marriage. Yes – EVER!

The text was – 2 Samuel 11 – the story of David and Bathsheba. The message was Biblical, honest and kind… and it offered help and hope. The speakers knew what they were talking about and had the congregation’s full attention… because everyone there knew they were talking to them.

The message was delivered at my daughter’s church outside of Chicago. It starts a little slow… but is well worth the time. Perhaps God will speak to you… as He did to me.

The Ring Makes All the Difference – Believe it!

“Yesterday we talked about a heartbreaking statistic: the majority of women under thirty who have children now do so out of wedlock. Unfortunately, many of these aren’t eager to tie the knot with the fathers of their babies because they see marriage as a formality — one which still doesn’t guarantee lasting commitment anyway.

“Marriage has become a luxury good,” says Frank Furstenberg at the University of Pennsylvania. Those who think they can’t afford it simply opt for cohabitation.

But in reality, it’s cohabitation that carries the greater cost. I shared with you yesterday the facts on children whose parents are married. They are much more likely to avoid the challenges like behavioral problems and crime that plague the children of unmarried parents. But what about the parents, themselves?

As Glenn Stanton argues in his book, The Ring Makes All the Difference, cohabitation is fundamentally different from marriage. In fact, it’s the opposite. Come to ThePointRadio.org, and I’ll link you to Glenn’s book and other powerful sources on this crucial topic. For The Point, I’m John Stonestreet.”

Please click on graphic/link for full story –

The Ring Makes All the Difference.

“162 Reasons to Marry” – Pat Fagan, Anne Dougherty, and Miriam McElvain February 8, 2012

“Marriage is the foundational relationship for all of society. All other relationships in society stem from the father-mother relationship, and these other relationships thrive most if that father-mother relationship is simultaneously a close and a closed husband-wife relationship. Good marriages are the bedrock of strong societies….”

“The future of the human race and all its component societies is embodied in each newborn. Whether that newborn grows to be a strong, capable adult depends much on the marriage of his parents. Whether he is physically strong; whether she is intelligent; whether he is hardworking or a dropout; whether she will be mentally healthy and happy; whether he will be more educated; whether she will marry in her own turn; whether he will be a taxpayer or a drain on the commons; whether she enjoys her own sexuality to the full; whether he worships and prays; whether she has children and how many; whether he finishes high school and goes to college or learns a trade; whether she is law-abiding; whether he grows old with a family surrounding him-all these most desirable outcomes (common goods) are strongly connected to the strength of the marriage of that child’s parents.”

“The findings herein demonstrate that in marriage are contained all the five basic institutions, all the basic tasks, of society: family, church, school, marketplace and government…. How [adults learn to] do that will depend much on what they experienced in growing up in their families of origin….”

“The future strength of our nation depends on good marriages to yield strong revenues, good health, low crime, high education, and high human capital. As the following enumeration shows, smart parents and smart societies pay attention to the state and strength of marriage….”

Click on link for the – 162 Reasons to Marry.