1/29/2008
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Marriage Class
<br><br>“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.’”    Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.  He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.  But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.  The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.”  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:18-24)<br><br>This coming Sunday afternoon will mark the beginning of the third installment of Fairfield’s Family Dynamic Marriage Series.  Some time ago, it was decided that this church would not only be in the business of saving souls, but also be in the business of saving marriages.  God makes it very clear in scripture how important the marriage relationship is to Him (Ephesians 5:22-33).   From the very beginning, God said that it was “not good for man to be alone.”  Though some choose to not marry....(Paul encourages some to stay single in I Corinthians 7)....most people seem destined for holy matrimony.  And like most everything else, when you introduce the human element, problems soon arise.  For some, the honeymoon period seems to last for years.  For others, it ends before the wedding cake is digested.  And contrary to what we might think, that fact may apply to the Christian sector more than any other.<br><br>George Barna, president and founder of Barna Research Group, says this:   "While it may be alarming to discover that born again Christians are more likely than others to experience a divorce, that pattern has been in place for quite some time. Even more disturbing, perhaps, is that when those individuals experience a divorce, many of them feel their community of faith provides rejection rather than support and healing. But the research also raises questions regarding the effectiveness of how churches minister to families. The ultimate responsibility for a marriage belongs to the husband and wife, but the high incidence of divorce within the Christian community challenges the idea that churches provide truly practical and life-changing support for marriages."  Mr. Barna goes on to say that divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and much higher than Atheists and Agnostics experience.  Now, something about that should not set well with us.  How can it be that a “non-God believing” group could have better success in their marriages than those who believe in the God who created it?  It is high time we pulled our heads out of the sand.<br><br>This Sunday afternoon, 9 couples will embark on an eight-week journey to a better marriage.  I’m sure the decision to take the class was a difficult one for some.  It’s not easy for any of us to face of our fears and shortcomings, especially when you are doing it in the presence of 17 other people.  But I can guarantee you this...at the end of the eighth week, you won’t have any trouble recognizing the ones who took the class.  They will be the ones who won’t have any more sand in their hair.<br><br>Go the extra mile - Devin<br>