Focus on the Family will offer more than practical tips and keys to good communication at its landmark simulcast event Focus on Marriage.
For nearly two years, Director Mitch Temple and his team in Focus' Marriage Department have been planning the event — which will take a biblical message on marriage to the masses.
"Couples need to understand the 'why' and the purpose behind marriage," Temple said. "That can change everything."
The Feb. 28, 2009, simulcast will feature Christian authors Beth Moore, Dr. Gary Smalley, Dr. John Trent and Gary Thomas, as well as Dr. Del Tackett, founder of Focus on the Family's Truth Project.
Thomas told CitizenLink the time for churches to get involved is now.
1. How did you get involved with this landmark event?
I was eager to get involved. I am so grateful to God for the ministry of Focus on the Family, which has courageously stood up for God-designed marriage over the past three decades. Anything I can do to help further their outreach, I’m interested in doing. Second, I was intrigued by why I was invited. The organizers told me, “We don’t just want to do another ‘how to’ event; we want to focus on some of the deeper questions, including God’s purpose behind marriage.” That “deeper purpose” has been a focus of my ministry for the past decade, so it seemed like a very good fit. Third, I’m excited by the prospect of churches coming together all over the country to invest in their own marriages. It is vital for our witness and for the spiritual health of the next generation that we maintain the integrity, health and intimacy of Christian marriages.
2. What is your role in the simulcast?
I’ll be the first main presenter, putting marriage in the proper context of God’s overall purpose for our spiritual growth — one of the primary ways in which we can worship him, and a school through which we learn to love Him and others. I want to expose and challenge foolish expectations regarding love and romance, and replace them with a spiritual motivation and purpose, rooted in Christ and the Gospel, in such a way that our marriages will honor God and testify to an unbelieving world. My prayer is that God will speak so powerfully through this event that every one who participates will gain (or maintain) a God-centered view of their marriage.
3. The event isn't until February. Why do churches need to get involved now?
First, we live in an extremely driven and busy culture. Family calendars fill up almost as fast as gas prices rise. If churches wait until January to announce this event, many people won’t be able to even consider attending due to prior engagements. The earlier we get out the word, the earlier couples can commit.
Second, a national event like this is all but guaranteed to draw significant spiritual warfare. I can say from experience that I notice the difference when an event has had substantial prayer covering. We need churches to get onboard not just to sign people up, but to begin praying that God will guide, protect and use this event for his glory and to accomplish his purposes.
4. How would you encourage married couples in the U.S.?
Your marriage is worth fighting for, no matter how difficult it has become. Your marriage is worth investing a Saturday to be inspired, encouraged, motivated and renewed in your affection. Strong Christian marriages bring great pleasure to God; they nurture our children; they protect and increase our Christian witness. Like so many areas in life, modern marriages most frequently begin to break down not from a scandalous sin, gross abuse or a sudden affair: these things and other enemies creep into marriages on the back of simple neglect. It’s time for Christians to renew our efforts to actively build and strengthen our marriages.
5. Is marriage dying off? Why do you have hope for the future?
My hope is based on God’s promises, and on His history of being victorious in a fallen world. Marriage never has been “our” idea; we don’t own it, which is also why we dare not “redefine” it to be anything other than what God created it to be: a lifelong, monogamous relationship between one man and one woman.
Ultimately, much more than families are at stake: God’s authority is. He may have a history of being long-suffering and allowing nations to wander a bit, but He also has a track record of bringing revival or judgment when a nation has strayed too far. God is not indifferent to this world, and He is not blind to the attacks being leveled against His divine design for marriage.
As long as we are not ashamed of the Gospel and its teachings, as long as we embrace the Gospel as the power of God for everyone who believes, there is great hope. God has preserved family and faith for thousands of years, and He never grows weary. The only thing we need to fear is diluting our faith or fudging on the truth to try to curry favor with God’s enemies. In other words, let’s fear God, not failure, because in fearing God, failure isn’t possible.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Ask your church to host the simulcast. To learn more, visit the Focus on Marriage Web site.
Visit Gary Thomas' Web site.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
