Humans are like solar panels

How blessed are you by God because you realize how incapable you are of doing anything of Spiritual value; you humbly realize that you are very poor in God like Spiritual power and love. But as soon as you admit your humble, helpless and bankrupt condition regarding Spiritual things, God gives you His amazing Love and Power (His very Kingdom of Heaven) to abide within you. Matthew 5:3 He only gives his Grace (Power and Love) to the humble, to those who realize they are not worthy of it. James 4:6

Humble humans are like solar panels, soaking in the very nature, power and love from God in order to gain the power to live life as He wills (His main will is to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength) and He gives us the power and love to do these three main things: using His love to love Him, love others and to love ourselves. Our heart then is like the battery. As our body takes in the power and love from God as we stay humble, our mind and heart take in His words that are alive and powerful and our heart changes our thoughts, words and actions to reflect more and more of His characteristics of love and power. Hebrews 4:12, 1 John 4:7, 8

So, we are saved by His grace (love and power given only to the humble), through faith (trusting and hoping for the entire eternal plan of love and power to reach our lives soon). None of it comes by our puny, human efforts, it is God’s gift to those of us who are humble or we would surely boost about it. Ephesians 2:8, 9

Can the church save marriages?

Check out this recent article from the San Antonio Express news…you might recognize one of the experts quoted:

Ask Wallace and Nell Crain what’s the secret to a happy marriage, and they’ll tell you it’s the little things: putting each other first, not taking each other for granted, a compliment here, a kiss there. It’s worked for them for 67 years.

If only people listened.

The institution of marriage, experts say, is under siege. Compared with a generation ago, Americans today are marrying less frequently or eschewing it altogether. Divorce rates continue to hover in the 50 percent range, according to a study from the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University.

Religious institutions, which traditionally consecrate marriages, are now trying to preserve them.

In a national media campaign called “What Have You Done for Your Marriage Today?” sponsored by the U.S. Catholic bishops, television and radio spots show husbands and wives of different ages and backgrounds talking about ordinary acts of kindness they do for each other.

The campaign’s Web site, foryourmarriage.org, features daily tips on such issues as taking each other for granted, forgiveness and emotional presence.

That’s good, because marriage consultant Gary Smalley, director of the Smalley Relationship Center Mission, said this time of year is “the season for divorce.” (read the rest of this article here)

By the way, to answer the question in the title of this post, ‘Can church save marriages?’, yes! For communities that have implemented marriage policies, i.e. no one can get married unless they go through premarital education, their divorce rates have plummeted.

Why is oral sex such a problem for Christian couples?

Here is a comment we received lately from our most popular post on the site:

Do what I suggest. Read Commentaries from trusted Christian teachers from throughout Christian history (not just those who have lived during the past century), meditate on what they wrote and on the Scriptures on which they relied and the reasoning they used, ask whether the Holy Spirit would allow 19 centuries of Christians to be in error on these issues only to reveal the truth in the 20th century, and pray for His discernment.

If one believes truth is objective and unchanging, he has to ask himself why Christians throughout history up until the 20th century were uniformly of the view that sexual intercourse was only licit in a marital relationship between one man and one woman and then only if open to procreation and whether the relative recent abandonment of that teaching is of the Holy Spirit or not. He also must ask whether the abandonment of that teaching has been beneficial or harmful considering that those who opposed it predicted increases in infidelity in marriage, divorce, abortion, pre-marital sex, and a devaluation of the women in the minds of men. Has that in fact happened over the past century? Is it happenstance that it happened after abandoning the theretofore unbroken and uniform Christian condemnation of sex not open to life and that these effects were in fact predicted beforehand?

Most importantly, pray for discernment and don’t rely on the views of ANYONE writing today, including me, but on the wisdom of our ancestors in the faith and their exegesis. Who do you trust, 21st century bloggers and Michael Smalley or John Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley and Henry? Consider what Jeremy Taylor and Daniel DeFoe wrote. These are names who Christians across denominational traditions and across time honor.

May God guide you to His will.

I love how this comment begins, it is always wise to take in to consideration the views of our brilliant Christian ancestors. I’ve never compared myself to Augustine, Aquinas, or Luther but I also don’t believe that God stopped inspiring Christian thought with those men. God still speaks to us, and I challenge anyone to read Song of Songs and discover exactly the kind of sexual things that were going on between Solomon and Shulamith. Rabbis wouldn’t allow young jewish men to read that book until they were of age to actually marry. Why would they prevent them? Because there are very serious and erotic things going on in Song of Songs and a young man shouldn’t read about such things until he is capable of marrying, thus to prevent any kind of major temptation.

Always remember, if God only intended for sex to be for making babies, then why did He give us an enormous amount of nerve endings in our body parts involved with sex? Why would God make sex so incredibly pleasurable, if He did not intend us to enjoy it. One woman, one man, for a lifetime. Enjoying ourselves in that context is a gift and not a sin.

A positive conversation about sex - from a Christian point of view

Listen here to last week’s radio podcast. You might learn something about sex and the code name “Cloverfield”.

Family Ties: Building a bond to last a lifetime

This is the final week (week 4) of Retrofamily and it is a special one. Click here to learn exactly what it takes to ensure your family sticks together through the good times and the rough times.

RetroFamily: The love boat and the joy of sex

Check out week three of my RetroFamily series and learn all the positive benefits and sacredness of sex.

Hairstylist’s donation is a cut above

Check out this article, “Hairstylist’s donation is a cut above“:

A customer typically might tip a hairstylist 15 to 20 percent. But how much does one tip for an internal organ? Clare Seibert has been cutting Molly Zaruba’s hair for more than a decade. On Jan. 10, Seibert, 39, donated her left kidney to Zaruba, 37, her friend for almost 20 years.

I encourage all of you to actively pursue the chance to be a living donor…there is nothing more precious than giving life to someone in need.

The joy of marriage

Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, the First Couple of American Theater shared stage, screen and a stable marriage for 52 years. We should all want to be this happy with our spouse after 52 years!

The issue with love

The latest issue of TIME magazine is trying to tackle the issue of love, or more specifically, why we love. Jeffrey Kluger writes:

“People compose poetry, novels, sitcoms for love,” says Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University and something of the Queen Mum of romance research. “They live for love, die for love, kill for love. It can be stronger than the drive to stay alive.”

On its good days (and love has a lot of them), all this seems to make perfect sense. Nearly 30 years ago, psychologist Elaine Hatfield of the University of Hawaii and sociologist Susan Sprecher now of Illinois State University developed a 15-item questionnaire that ranks people along what the researchers call the passionate-love scale (see box, page 60). Hatfield has administered the test in places as varied as the U.S., Pacific islands, Russia, Mexico, Pakistan and, most recently, India and has found that no matter where she looks, it’s impossible to squash love. “It seemed only people in the West were goofy enough to marry for passionate love,” she says. “But in all of the cultures I’ve studied, people love wildly.”

Typically we Americans scoff at the practices of love from other cultures. But maybe it’s time to evaluate our methods of falling in love and getting married. Always remember that the “romantic” feelings you get in the early stages of love do not carry over to a lifelong commitment. There needs to be something more to your relationship than just feelings. There needs to be a decision to be committed to each other for a lifetime and committed to learning how to love each other better till death do you part.

The ever present joy of children

I’ve waited far too long to share this story with you all. But a few days before Halloween my wife dyed her hair black, and I mean a black that would make Elvira jealous! When she got home her first question was, “Do you like it?” Which, of course, is a totally loaded question that any honest, God fearing man would never…ever answer honestly. So I said, “Absolutely!”

Five minutes hadn’t gone by when my 9-year old daughter, Reagan, came prancing in to the kitchen where my wife was casually standing trying to admire her new hair color in the reflection of the refrigerator. Amy turned to face Reagan, to check out what she thought of the new hair color and Reagan stopped dead in her tracks. She didn’t say a word, which left time for the other two kids to come flying in to the kitchen. The boys rounded the corner and came to a sliding halt when they saw their mother, and her new hair color. All three kids just stood their trying to figure out who this strange woman was standing in their kitchen.

Amy broke the silence to ask what they all thought of her new hair color. I tried to caution the boys, but I was too late. They immediately started freaking out about Amy’s choice in hair color. But to my amazement, Reagan stood firmly in the center of the kitchen and pleaded for the boys to stop teasing mommy. She then said one of the most classic lines in Reagan’s young life, “Stop teasing mommy…she only did this for Halloween. She’ll change it back in a few days.”

I fell to the floor laughing. I couldn’t help myself. Thankfully, Amy laughed as well.

Amy’s hair is back to normal today…after her brief stint as Elvira’s hair backup.

Keep it in front of ‘em

The title is a quote from a man at Borders that heard my ringtone, Glorious, by Chris Tomlin. He mentioned that he liked my ringtone and its message. I mentioned that it was the song I chose for my son’s ringtone. The title of this post is his respones to me and I thought they were wise words.

What he meant was to keep God in front of my kids.  Sometimes it’s the little things that matter and maybe it is just a ringtone, but maybe it reminds my children of who they are in Christ.

Love and Honor

Over the last several years, I have learned the importance of honoring those you love. The definition of honor is to “show high respect”. When I think of what it means to honor someone, I think about taking the time to let them know how important and special they are. I think about making sure they know what it means to me to have them in my life.

One of my favorite ways to honor someone is to celebrate their birthday. Yep, celebrate a birthday. I’m one of those overgrown babies whose birthday is extremely important to me. Ask anyone who knows me well and they will adamantly confirm that fact. And I think everyone’s birthday is important.

In my circle of friends, several of our birthdays follow each other beginning in September and running through January. When a birthday is upcoming, we either plan some great surprise for that person, or we give her the opportunity to choose what she’d like to do. My birthday is close to Christmas so it makes it hard to plan sometimes, but this past year, I asked to just be together with my friends over a nice dinner. And I challenged them to prepare my favorites. They did really well! We had a great time eating and talking and just being together.

The point of these birthday celebrations is to honor those we love on their day by making them feel special. Yes, we should find ways to honor them EVERY day, but it’s great to set aside some special time and just be a blessing to them. I think the greatest honor there is, is to know that we’re loved and important and to be able to show the same to others in our lives.

The true essence of fun dies

The co-founder of Wham-O, Richard Knerr, died last Monday. He was best known for bringing us the Hoola Hoop and the Frisbee.
What an amazing creative force! Sometimes the most simple things in life are the best things of all. Maybe we should apply that to all our relationships as well.

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Engaged Couples Rarely Discuss Sex, Finances Or Other Issues Before Wedding

Check out the full article here:

In the euphoria of engagement and hubbub of wedding planning, brides and grooms avoid authentic conversations about the issues that eventually lead to almost half of all marriages ending in divorce.

The estimated 2.3 million pairs of American brides and grooms who will wed this year will spend, on average, $20,000 on their ceremonies and receptions — a large expenditure to create a memorable and festive event that will last for only five hours. Few couples, approximately three in 10, will participate in any form of premarital education. According to Ted Beasley, founder of YourPreMaritalCounseling.com, a few open and simple conversations between the bride and groom about difficult subjects can increase their chances of not becoming a divorce statistic.

A review of 23 longitudinal studies found that premarital counseling reduces the risk of divorce by 31 percent. Marriage preparation, whether it is in the form of counseling with a therapist or clergy member or simply in the form of the bride and groom reading a book together, creates the most important habit of a successful marriage: communication. “Engagement is actually the perfect time to talk about all of the hard subjects. You’re already committed to the marriage. There are obviously no deal-breakers, so why not be honest about some of your areas of disagreement?” commented Beasley.

The most important financial investment an engaged couple can make is premarital education…so check out our one-day program.

Change Your Heart, Change Your Life: How Changing What You Believe Will Give You the Great Life You’ve Always Wanted

Check our my dad’s latest book!

Out of your heart flow your words and actions. Change your heart, and you’ll change your life.

According to best-selling author Dr. Gary Smalley, nobody has to live by the destructive subtle lies or believe the distortions of truth this world holds out to us. There are steps, strategies, and beliefs people can bring to their lives to either totally transform them or quietly improve them-and it all starts with hiding God’s Word in their hearts.

Hiding God’s Word in his heart radically changed the life of Smalley himself, and he is seeing it revolutionize the lives of people around him as well-from lust, materialism, selfishness, anger, stress, overeating, anxiety, and guilt, just to name a few. No matter a person’s age, experiences, or previous patterns, this book will guide readers to the whys and hows of orchestrating their beliefs to forever change their lives and relationships.

You can purchase this book today here.

What we feed to our mind grows inside of us: part 2

Fear and Anger will grow within a person’s heart if they feed those lying thoughts into their mind everyday and night. Whatever we think on all day long becomes a deep belief within our heart. Fear and Anger do not stay stagnant; they will grow because they are alive within a person. Two truths to think on each day while still fearing or remaining angry:

1. God is alive and powerful and wants to give each person His love and power everyday. The love and power of God are gifts He gives only to the humble. He gifts His love and power to people who rehearse the truth all day long of being “poor in Spirit.” When a person realizes that he/she does not have any part of God’s Spirit living within his/her heart naturally, they are humble. A humble, poor in God’s Spirit person is “bankrupt”, helpless to do and receive anything of God’s Spirit in their own flesh. He/she can’t do anything like what God does on his/her own human power. Humans are just too weak in the Spiritual world. We are completely helpless to do anything Spiritual without God’s Son, the Vine. As we humble ourselves before God and stay connected to His Vine, “we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us.” God’s grace is gifted to a helpless person and as he/she receives these gifts, His power and love allow him/her to do great and mighty things for and with God. God is eternal life and all of His gifts are freely given to only the humble. And God even gives mankind the ability to remain humble. Matt. 5:3 If a man gains the whole world, a mate, children, lots of money, big house, many friends, he/she still does not get eternal life and all of God’s other gifts (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, etc.) until mankind humbles themselves and freely receives God’s gifts of life, love and power.
2. “God does not give mankind the Spirit of fear, but He gives His love and power along with a self-controlled mind.” 2 Tim. 1:7 That is the truth. Mankind can start today thanking God for His love and power and being freed from fear. Gratefulness will grow within the person who recognizes that God will use “whatever happens to man to enrich him with more of His character and qualities. Nothing is wasted by God that happens to man. If a man will meditate upon one or all four of the following powerful and living words of God, God will use the truth of these words of His to set man free from fear and anger. Paul tells us to “think only on what is truth.” Phil 4:6-8 We shall know the truth and it will set us free. John 8:32 and 17:17 The words of God are powerful, alive and sharper than a two edged sword.” Hebrews 4:12 The four verses that will set man free of fear and anger:

• Romans 5:3-5 All trials are trophies and will give man more patience, God’s character and hope by pouring within him daily more and more of God’s love trough His Spirit.
• 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10 Whatever difficulties that weaken man, God will use the pain to give that man more of His love and power. We can give thanks to God as we suffer because God is pouring into us more of His love and power. And as we grow in God’s love and power, fear is cast out. I John
• 1 Thess. 5:16-18 Man can “rejoice” (continually return to the source of his joy), pray all day long and he can give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus.
• Romans 8:28 God causes all things to work together for our good to those who love Him and are called according to His will (loving others by using His love and power to both love Him and others)

Anger and fears are lies! We are either growing more fear and anger or we are allowing God’s words to grow more of His love and power within our hearts. Whatever is growing within our heart will control us! Whatever thoughts we entertain within our mind all day long will eventually become our beliefs.

A discussion on family values and flamingos

Check out this week’s radio podcast and learn more about family values and flamingos.

What we feed to our mind grows inside of us

When I was 28 years old, I fed the truth into my heart everyday while still fearing the dark and someone breaking into my house and hurting or killing me. I hated staying alone because of my brother and how he used to torment me. But each day, I thought about the truth of only three possible outcomes of someone breaking into my house at night.

1. Pain from a beating and then growing more like God
2. Coma from a beating, then, awakening and either 1 or 3
3. Death from a beating and instant presence with God.

It took six months for this truth to end my fear.

The three most significant family values you must have

This week’s sermon teaches the three most fundamental values a family has to have if they want to succeed in today’s world.  Listen to the message here.

Amish miracle heater

Get a miracle heater made by the Amish for FREE! The HEAT SURGE heater is a work of engineering genius report USA Today. Check them out at www.amishfireplaces.com

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Dear Mr. Santa

Our first broadcast: a commentary on having fun and Chuck Norris

The inaugural Parkway Church radio broadcast aired yesterday! Click here to check out the new show with me, Skip Mozisek, and Erik Emmons (Bard Letsinger was missing this time but will join the show next week).   We will broadcast live every Wednesday at 2pm (CST).  If you want to submit a question, please do so here.

Retro Family: “Happy Days” - bringing joy into our homes

Listen to this week’s message to discover what it takes to have a family that is truly joyful.  Learn how to laugh, relax, and have fun together as a family.

My 8 most powerful beliefs

1. God: Love and power giving self control and all other qualities of Himself to mankind by His grace through faith and hope.
2. Jesus Christ: Love and power becoming flesh and dwelling among mankind reflecting God’s qualities, laying down His life, sacrificing Himself so that mankind can have eternal salvation and abundant life by of the grace of God.
3. Holy Spirit: Love and power entering mankind by the grace of God through faith and hope.
4. Mankind Serving: Man using the power and love of God to serve each other as Christ laid down His life for mankind.  Love and power are only given to the man who is “poor in Spirit”, humble, bankrupt, helpless.  And all that man is given by God is through God’s grace, by faith and hope is waiting for the love and power to enter within him by faith.
5. Gratefulness: A grateful and thankful heart is obtained by mankind through faith knowing that all things work together for good to the man who loves God (using God’s love to love God) and who is doing God’s will of loving others by serving.  Gratefulness is the by product of seeing all trials and difficulties as a gift in becoming more like God in character.   The Holy Spirit of God transforms the man who has the belief that he can “give thanks in all circumstances because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.”
6. The Words of God: All Scriptures are inspired by God.   They are another gift to mankind for instruction, reproof, correction so that mankind can be thoroughly equipped for the work of God.  Scripture is alive, powerful and sharper than a two edged sword.   The Bible explains the “over all picture” of how God’s grace will be given to mankind.   God gives mankind the picture of His plan as “faith” and hope is waiting for God’s plan to enter man as reality.   Man does not have to labor in his own energy to live out God’s plan.  The power and love to do God’s will is given by God so that mankind can relax in peace and joy waiting to see God at work within him through the power of His living words and powerful Spirit.
7. Grace of God: The free gifts of God to mankind who are so undeserving and can not earn the gifts or repay God in any way.   In that while man was sinning against God and living out of control without God, God gave Himself through Christ and laid down his life for mankind showing the greatest reflection of what love is.
8. Faith: Another gift of God.  Faith is seeing the entire picture of who God is: power and love.  Faith is also what God is giving to mankind and it is how He is giving it to mankind through Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit.   Hope is waiting to see the plans of God for mankind become reality within.

The love and power of God given to all mankind

All men and women sin, they develop the natural belief that they are in charge of their life and they can go through life doing as they please. Romans 3:23  This belief leads them all to the deaths of addictions, sadness, earlier death, murders, wars, seeking more and more material goods, more and more pleasures and thrills, more and more thinking that they can do whatever they please because each of them are the center of the universe. Romans 6:23

But while mankind continued in their sin of independence from God, God the “I Am” transformed Himself into His Son, Jesus Christ and broke into the world to live and die for all men and women. Romans 5:8  He had created mankind and designed them each to receive Him into their life so that they could experience the power and love of Him.   To accomplish this prophetic act, He gave Himself on the cross to pay for man’s sins.  John 1:12 and 3:16  Man now can have both eternal life and an abundant life now because God can live within man’s heart and through His Spirit and Word which is alive and powerful and sharper than a two edged sword.  Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

God gives the man or woman His Grace (grace is the undeserving power and love given to mankind because man doesn’t have any of God’s type of love and power on his own and when man comes to understand that he is helpless, bankrupt of God’s brand of love and power without God, that he is “very poor inside himself alone of God’s type of Spirit”, Poor in Spirit, then, God will fill him up with all of the fullness of His love and power).  Matthew 5:3,  Eph. 2:8, 9

Man is saved by God’s freely given Grace, through faith (faith is the mental picture, the vision, dream, the idea of what exactly God gives mankind or what the entire picture looks like that God has planned for mankind).   The Picture has been stated above.  Man is saved by God’s grace and given all of God’s power and love as a gift to those who believe in Him (those who have taken to their heart the reality and belief that he/she will receive all that God promised sooner or later.  Some receive it over night and others receive it later.  No one knows when it will come.  Mankind simply waits to see the evidence within their life little by little.  Man will start watching himself being more under control with thoughts, actions and words.  He will see himself more peaceful, joyful, kind and good to others and himself.  He will see evidence of increased patience, faithfulness, less lying; more of everything that God is as explained in His alive and powerful words to man through the Bible.

The more God’s powerful words and Spirit indwells each man/woman, the more they each will become aware of how helpless they are without God.   They will come to know their weaknesses in every area of life.   But as the circumstances of life face them either as good experiences or “bad”, the weaker life makes them, the more power and love enter them by the truth of His words and Spirit.   All difficult trials can make a man feel weaker and even more dependent upon God.   That increased dependence simply translates into God given even more of Himself to the “weaker” person.  As mankind feels the helplessness of weakness, God’s will for him is to increase His love and power within him.  2 Corithians 12:9, 10,  Romans 5:3-5,  1 Thess. 5:16-18, Romans 8:28,   James 1:2-5.

As God’s love increases within men/women, he/she has less fear, stress, anxiety.  Because God’s love casts out all of man’s fears I John 4:18, God also does not give man the spirit of fears (timidity, fearfulness, cowardice), but He gives man power, love and a sound mind (self-control, moderation)  2 Timothy 1:7.

Therefore, man gains God’s power and love through the admission of weakness and helplessness.  James 4:6, Matthew 5:3   All trials increase God’s love and power within each man or woman.   The result of more power and love increases man’s desire to use God’s love and power to serve others in their needs.  Galatians 5:3, 4  The man or woman of God deeply desires helping the welfare of others and to share the wonderful news about what God did through Jesus and the new freedoms, love and power that is available to all. Acts 1:8 and 1 John 3:16  Godly men and women can’t help but lovingly share about what has been freely given to them by God.

The top ten reasons Huckabee will win the nomination

Huckabee and covenant marriages

Way to go Huckabee!

Huckabee even used his home and his marriage to gain publicity. In 2001, Huckabee signed into law an option for couples to enter into covenant marriages, which can be ended only after counseling and only on certain grounds — adultery, criminal activity, physical or sexual abuse or a two-year separation.

To mark the occasion, Huckabee and wife Janet converted their 30-year union to a covenant marriage in front of a crowd of 6,400 people at Alltel Arena in 2005.

I’ve had the brief privilege of meeting Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee while he was Governor of Arkansas,  and I must say, that I liked him then and I like him now.  He’s a loving and caring individual and  I’m thrilled with his candidacy.

Dispelling the myths of kidney donation (and others)

Check out this article and take the step toward being a living donor.  I donated my kidney 4 years ago to my dad, he’s still alive (and better than ever).  The gift of donation is incredible and there are so many who need help.

Why are so few people deciding to become donors? I’d like to think the primary culprit is ignorance. People don’t know how to, or simply forget to do so. There are also myths about becoming an organ and tissue donor.

Get educated now on the benefits of a covenant marriage

I keep running into this same kind of argument when it comes to people going against covenant marriages:

Laws that would make it more difficult to get divorced topped the agenda today at a summit coordinated by Lt. Gov.-elect Phil Bryant.

Bryant, a Republican, said he wants to strengthen families. About 45 percent of marriages end in divorce nationwide, and 47 percent of children live in single parent families in Mississippi, according to the Department of Human Services.

At the Jackson Marriott, state senators and policy experts discussed ideas that ranged from requiring premarital education in classrooms to raising fees for marriage licenses.

Bryant was particularly interested in legislation dealing with covenant marriages. To discourage divorce, some states have enacted an optional covenant marriage license that requires premarital counseling and sets strict conditions for divorce.

But a study found that few couples have chosen covenant marriages. And the legislation would face hurdles from some state lawmakers.

House Judiciary A Committee Chairman Ed Blackmon said it sounds like “heavy-handed politics.”

Lawmakers shouldn’t “be putting our noses into the business of people,” Blackmon, D-Canton, added. “You can’t say, ‘You ought to live that way.’” [go to the article here]

This kind of argument just blows my mind.  Young people need to be educated on the benefits of a covenant marriage, as well as premarital training.  The financial, health, and social benefits are overwhelming when it comes to marriage.  As for ‘heavy-handed politics’, hogwash!  The government feels fine telling people they can’t smoke, and in fact, they go as far as penalizing them financially and socially.  But when it comes to helping people understand the benefits of a healthy marriage, they think it’s heavy-handed?

Doesn’t add up to me.