The Keystone is Slipping

My neighbor is having his front entry repaired.  Old houses need attention and restoration on a regular basis.  As the workers were laying brick I couldn’t help but watch them rebuild the arch.  You have to know what you are doing to set the keystone.  It is absolutely the most important stone in an arch; it is the crown that locks the other pieces in place.  Without it, the arch will collapse.  As I watched the craftsmen I thought about the hundreds of churches we have worked with and realized marriage is the keystone for the local church.

With marriages in the church falling apart at an alarming rate, the church is losing its voice.  Not only are we losing our voice, we are also not being seen.  The welcoming arch that displays to the community all the wonderful ministries churches work so hard to develop is slipping and our voice and visibility is lost.

My neighbor had not inspected his front archway into his house for a while; fortunately, he caught it just in time.  Just like my neighbor, I believe the local church has forgotten to take a look at what is happening to the marriages for which they are responsible.  If we don’t address the issues, the whole thing will continue to crack and eventually will be gone. 

We see this demonstrated in the fact that the fastest growing divorce rate is in those who have been married 15 to 25 years.  It does not take a very intensive search to discover the cause.  Life gets busy and so we put our priorities in other places like raising children, pursuing a career, and trying to have a social life.  Not to mention a culture that says you have to have more and you have to have exactly what you want in order to be happy.  Whatever the reason, according to a study I recently examined we are seeing a travesty take place in our country.  It is proven in study after study that pre-marital coaching is a proven help to the first years of marriage.  Many churches are taking steps to do a better job of helping couples prepare for marriage, which is good!  My question is this:  Have we taken our eye off the keystone, and is it slipping in other areas, like the marriages of 15-25 years?  Studies show that by the time couples are married 15-25 years those who are still married have the same divorce rate whether or not they had pre-marital training.  These couples slip out the side door and we lose them.  The problem is that we get so involved with all the other bricks of ministry that we are forgetting to keep an eye on the keystone (marriage).

I read a provocative article this past week entitled: “Mum’s the Word on Divorce” by Eric Metaxas.    Metaxas allows the thought to arise that as we are silent on divorce we are also silent regarding marriage in general.  Listen to this quote out of the article by Albert Mohler, “The evangelicals allowed culture to trump Scripture….that divorce is no big deal…it is a private matter.”  He goes on to say that the “real scandal” is the fact that “evangelical Protestants divorce at rates at least as high as the rest of of the public” which creates a “significant credibility crisis when evangelicals then rise to speak in defense of marriage.”

If marriage is the keystone for the church, are we making sure the marriages in our churches are healthy, from pre-married to golden anniversaries?  

Welcoming the Next Generation

On July 13^th we welcomed our second grandchild, Thoryn Marie, into this world!  Twenty-seven years ago that very day, her mommy, Christa, had entered our lives. 

Justin and Christa are facing all the new parent struggles of feeding schedules, lack of sleep, dirty diapers, lifestyle changes…anyone who has ever had a child knows what I mean!  The list could go on and on.  Your life is no longer your own.  There is a little person now who depends on you for everything.  Big responsibility! 

We’re so thankful for the loving home Thoryn has!  She has been prayed for long before she was ever conceived.  But not all children have it so good. 

Dave, a young man who is meeting with us along with his fiancé for premarital instruction, did not have it so good.  After his parents divorced when he was four, he was part of the battle between his parents, shuffled back and forth, abused mentally, physically, emotionally, and sexually. He finally ended up in foster homes until he was old enough to decide to be on his own.  Dave then entered the army, married a girl for the sole purpose of receiving more benefits (his own explanation), and soon divorced.

This young couple hasn’t had much of an example set before them about what a marriage is or how to love someone till “death do you part.”

When they met with a couple in their church about getting married, they (a couple we had coached through some difficult times) immediately referred them to us.  And that’s where we enter the journey…a journey of a man and woman who will effect generations to come by the way they live their lives as a couple, how they raise their children, and how they serve the Lord.  And you are a part of that as you pray for and give to this ministry!

Enjoying being grandparents...as well as guides to couples who need help preparing for and living "happily ever after"!