Family Matters

After my Mother's Day message, I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine. This gentleman grew up in a particular sect of Christianity that never emphasized the blessing of having children. He said, "If my wife and I had been attending your church when we were younger, we would have probably had more children." I must admit that I was surprised to hear he had never heard this preached in his church. Since family is one of our core values in Every Nation, I guess I assumed everyone feels like we do about the dominion mandate (Genesis 1:28).

This conversation got me thinking about the reality of what is being taught in our pulpits today. As I pondered this further, I began to become deeply concerned about the lack of Bible knowledge people possess when it involves the topic of family. This was confirmed to me today by another conversation with a lady after our service. My sermon topic was called "The Role of a Husband and a Wife."

As I always do after church, I was standing at the entrance/exit door of our facility to shake hands with people as they were leaving the service. I recognized this particular lady as a first time attendee and began to engage in a conversation with her. She was very complimentary of the message she had just heard. I enjoyed meeting her and thanked her for her kind words. Then she said this statement, "My husband and I had no business getting married." In other words, she was communicating to me that they did not have a clue about their roles and responsibilities as a husband and wife when they got married. Sadly, I know this is true for most people who get married in our society today.

Family is the first institution God created, and it is primarily through the family that God intends to accomplish his purposes on planet earth. Unfortunately, we have lived with the devastating results from the breakdown of our families in the 21st century. History has proven that good intentions are not enough to produce a healthy marriage. We must understand God's intentions for us in this divine institution if we are going to build healthy marriages.

If we are going to change the world, we must have strong and godly families. Our future hope for a better world begins in our homes. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to blog on Family Matters. Starting on Wednesday, May 31st, I will be writing on such topics as the role of a husband, characteristics of godly leadership in husbands, the role of a wife, misconceptions of submission, and hindrances to submission.

Please stay tuned. I will try to e-mail a new blog on these topics every three to four days until they are done. I appreciate everyone who reads my blogs. I hope you share my passion for family, and take the time to make sure you have an understanding of your roles and responsibilities in marriage. The majority of the points and thoughts come from Robert Andrew's book "The Family, God's Weapon for Victory." I have included some of my thoughts and experiences from nearly ten years of being married and sixteen years of studying the Bible on these topics. God bless and remember Family Matters.