Fwd: [breakpoint] Marital Safety Nets, 02/25/2002

#1 · February 25, 2002, 8:45 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on February 25, 2002, 8:45 pm
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

This is something serious to consider for people considering marriage. Quite a
few people on our list struggle because one partner is a Christian and the
other is not. Sometimes this happens because matters of faith change over
time, sometimes it happens because we do not consider faith as a crucial
parameter when we consider a lifelong partner. Some of us may not even think
about the seriousness of marriage at all - until we find ourselves in a
difficult situation.

God writes His Word for a reason. In spite of our refusal to listen, God is
faithful. He "hastens and chastens His will to make known" - that is, He does
everything within His power, yet keeping to His ways to teach us - first He
gently and carefully instructs us in His Word. When we don't listen, He
reminds us. When we continue not to listen, He brings us consequences for our
actions. We complain, saying God is unfair. (In our hearts, we know it is WE
who are unfair. God is righteous, true, and Holy).

I think this message from Colson hits it on the spot, so I'm sharing this with
just the 1Corinthians7 mailing list today.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

--- breakpoint@wilberforce.org wrote:
> Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 13:45:59 -0500
> From: breakpoint@wilberforce.org
> Reply-to: breakpoint@wilberforce.org
> To: BreakPoint with Charles Colson <breakpoint@lists.netcentral.net>
> Subject: [breakpoint] Marital Safety Nets, 02/25/2002
>
> BreakPoint/Justice Fellowship's three-day conference on justice and the
> Christian worldview is coming soon: March 14-16. Join with Chuck Colson
> and an exciting line-up of speakers, including: Arkansas Governor Mike
> Huckabee, Dr. J. Budziszewski, Dr. Russell Hittinger, Mark Earley, Dr.
> Nigel Cameron, Pat Nolan, Rev. Lee Earl, Dan Van Ness, Sheryl
> Ramstad-Hvass, and Dr. Reginald Wilkinson. Register online at
> <www.pfmonline.net/str_donation.taf?site=rjc>. Learn more at
> the end of this e-mail.
>
>
> ===================
> If you find these free daily transcripts helpful, please forward
> this one to friends and family. If you're not yet a subscriber,
> come to WWW.BREAKPOINT.ORG and click on "subscribe" to join.
> ===================
>
>
>
> BreakPoint with Charles Colson
> Commentary #020225 - 02/25/2002
> Marital Safety Nets: Community Marriage Policies
>
>
> In her new book, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE: DIVORCE
> RECONSIDERED, psychologist Mavis Hetherington argues
> that divorce isn't as bad for kids as everyone
> thought. For some seventy-five percent of the
> children of divorce, she says, their parents' breakup
> was not a long-term problem. Their productive,
> successful lives, she says, prove it.
>
> In response, one of those "productive, successful"
> children took her to task. In the WASHINGTON POST,
> thirty-one-year-old Elizabeth Marquardt wrote: "I
> have a graduate degree, a loving husband, and a
> supportive family. From the outside, I look pretty
> successful." But, she adds, her parents' divorce when
> she was two "produced sadness and a fear of loss that
> persisted when I grew up."
>
> And if that's one of the so-called "successful,
> productive" children of divorce, what happens to the
> unsuccessful ones? Studies indicate that they are
> much more prone to depression, school problems, drug
> use, and out-of-wedlock pregnancies than kids from
> two-parent families.
>
> Clearly, if for no other reason than our children,
> Americans need to radically rethink our view of
> divorce. And since most marriages take place in
> churches, Christians can become a force for building
> stronger marriages.
>
> Many churches have tried to meet the challenge by
> requiring long and demanding periods of premarital
> counseling. The problem, however, is that many
> couples simply say, "No thanks," and hold their
> wedding at the church down the street where the
> requirements are less demanding or non-existent.
>
> To solve this problem, marriage expert Mike McManus
> has instituted Community Marriage Policies -- a
> uniform requirement that all the local churches adopt
> together. Catholic and Protestant, liberal and
> conservative, black and white clergy all band
> together to radically reduce the community's divorce
> rate.
>
> Typically, clergy agree to require engaged couples to
> undergo four months of marriage preparation including
> a premarital inventory to evaluate the maturity of
> the relationship. Churches also nurture existing
> marriages by training older married couples to mentor
> younger ones.
>
> Community Marriage Policies are now in place in 150
> cities and the results have been phenomenal. In
> Modesto, California, the first city to adopt a
> Community Marriage Policy seventeen years ago,
> divorce rates have plunged an incredible forty-seven
> percent. Other cities are witnessing similar eye-
> popping results.
>
> "Clearly," says McManus, "we hold in our hands the
> answer to America's divorce rate."
>
> The troubling question, however, is will the church
> accept the challenge? W. Bradford Wilcox, a
> researcher on religion at Yale University, writes
> that America's houses of worship are "traditionally
> the most important custodians of marriage in the
> nation." And yet, he concludes, they "have been
> unable and unwilling to foster the beliefs and
> virtues that make for a strong marriage culture."
>
> What an indictment of the church -- an indictment we
> can and must answer.
>
> I hope you'll read Mike McManus's book, MARRIAGE
> SAVERS. You'll learn more about how your church can
> help heal America's divorce epidemic -- and put a
> dent in the suffering that a million divorces a year
> visit on America's children.
>
>
> For further reading:
>
> Elizabeth Marquardt, "We're Successful, and Hurt,"
> WASHINGTON POST, 3 February 2002.
> <www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11820-2002Feb1.html>
>
> Marquardt is an affiliate scholar of the Institute
> for American Values, <www.americanvalues.org>
> and author of forthcoming book, THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL
> LIVES OF CHILDREN OF DIVORCE,
> <www.americanvalues.org/html/children_of_divorce.shtml>.
>
> "Why Marriage Matters: Twenty-One Conclusions from
> the Social Sciences," (NY: Center of the American
> Experiment, Coalition of Marriage, Family and Couples
> Education, 2002).
> <www.americanvalues.org/html/new_statement.shtml>.
>
> E. Mavis Hetherington, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE:
> DIVORCE RECONSIDERED (W.W. Norton & Company, 2002).
>
> Michael McManus, MARRIAGE SAVERS (Zondervan
> Publishing, 1995).
> <www.pfmonline.net/products.taf?_function=detail&Site=BPT&Item_Co
> de=BKKC0>
>
> Learn more about Mike McManus's group, Marriage
> Savers, by visiting <www.marriagesavers.org>.
>
> ======================================
>
> "Justice That Restores": Breakpoint/Justice Fellowship's conference on
> justice and the Christian worldview will take place March 14-16, 2002,
> at the Hyatt Regency, Orlando, Florida.
>
> Come meet and talk with top scholars, theologians, criminal justice
> professionals, community leaders, and elected officials who have put
> Restorative Justice principles to work. You'll learn what Restorative
> Justice is, where it comes from, how it is being successfully
> implemented in areas across the country. Most importantly, you will
> learn how you can help to bring about Restorative Justice in your
> community.
>
> Join with Chuck Colson and an exciting line-up of speakers, including:
> Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Dr. J. Budziszewski, Dr. Russell
> Hittinger, Mark Earley, Dr. Nigel Cameron, Pat Nolan, Rev. Lee Earl,
> Dan Van Ness, Sheryl Ramstad Hvass, and Dr. Reginald Wilkinson.
>
> Cost is $350 per person; $250, if alumni of previous conference.
>
> Register online <www.pfmonline.net/str_donation.taf?site=rjc>.
> For more information and the agenda, visit
> <www.justicefellowship.org>. Call 1-800-217-2743, or e-mail
> <Jake_Noland@pfm.org>, for more information.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Copyright (c) 2002 Prison Fellowship Ministries
>
> ===================
>
> THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN FINAL
> FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
>
> "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a daily commentary
> on news and trends from a Christian perspective.
> Heard on more than 1000 radio outlets nationwide,
> BreakPoint transcripts are also available on the Internet.
>
> BreakPoint is a production of The Wilberforce Forum,
> a division of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
>
> Chairman: Charles W. Colson
> Dean: Nigel M. de S. Cameron, Ph.D.
> Associate Dean: Jim Nelson Black, Ph.D.
> Managing Editor: Jim Tonkowich, D.Min.
> Senior Writer: Anne Morse
> Associate Editor: Roberto Rivera
> Associate Producer: Teresa Woodward
> Research Associate: Kim Robbins
> List Maintainer: Larry Wilson
>
> For product requests, further information, or to make a
> donation, visit our website at www.breakpoint.org
> or call 1-800-457-6125 in the United States.
>
> Copyright notice: BreakPoint may be copied and re-
> transmitted by electronic mail, and individual copies
> of a particular BreakPoint e-mail transcript may be
> printed, provided that such copying, re-transmission,
> printing, or other use is not for profit or other
> commercial purpose. BreakPoint may NOT be reproduced
> on the World Wide Web or in broadcast media, print
> media, or other media without express written permission.
> Please contact Prison Fellowship Ministries at
> 1-800-457-6125 to submit a request.
>
> Any copying, re-transmission, distribution, printing,
> or other use of BreakPoint must set forth the
> following credit line, in full, at the conclusion of
> the portion of BreakPoint that is used:
>
> Copyright (c) 2002 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted
> with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio
> ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
>
> Prison Fellowship Ministries(R) may withdraw or modify this
> grant of permission at any time.
>
> ===================
>
> www.breakpoint.org/
> www.wilberforce.org/
> www.pfm.org/
> www.angeltree.org/
>
>
>
> ----
> INSTRUCTIONS!
>
> If you want to unsubscribe your address, send a message from the
> e-mail box that receives the transcripts to:
> mailto:breakpoint-request@lists.netcentral.net
>
> Put "unsubscribe" in the SUBJECT of the message.
>
> **********************************************************************
> This list is from your pals at NetCentral <www.netcentral.net/>
> ---- NETCENTRAL IS A SPAM-FREE ZONE ----

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
sports.yahoo.com

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

This is something serious to consider for people considering marriage. Quite a
few people on our list struggle because one partner is a Christian and the
other is not. Sometimes this happens because matters of faith change over
time, sometimes it happens because we do not consider faith as a crucial
parameter when we consider a lifelong partner. Some of us may not even think
about the seriousness of marriage at all - until we find ourselves in a
difficult situation.

God writes His Word for a reason. In spite of our refusal to listen, God is
faithful. He "hastens and chastens His will to make known" - that is, He does
everything within His power, yet keeping to His ways to teach us - first He
gently and carefully instructs us in His Word. When we don't listen, He
reminds us. When we continue not to listen, He brings us consequences for our
actions. We complain, saying God is unfair. (In our hearts, we know it is WE
who are unfair. God is righteous, true, and Holy).

I think this message from Colson hits it on the spot, so I'm sharing this with
just the 1Corinthians7 mailing list today.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

--- breakpoint@wilberforce.org wrote:
> Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 13:45:59 -0500
> From: breakpoint@wilberforce.org
> Reply-to: breakpoint@wilberforce.org
> To: BreakPoint with Charles Colson <breakpoint@lists.netcentral.net>
> Subject: [breakpoint] Marital Safety Nets, 02/25/2002
>
> BreakPoint/Justice Fellowship's three-day conference on justice and the
> Christian worldview is coming soon: March 14-16. Join with Chuck Colson
> and an exciting line-up of speakers, including: Arkansas Governor Mike
> Huckabee, Dr. J. Budziszewski, Dr. Russell Hittinger, Mark Earley, Dr.
> Nigel Cameron, Pat Nolan, Rev. Lee Earl, Dan Van Ness, Sheryl
> Ramstad-Hvass, and Dr. Reginald Wilkinson. Register online at
> <http://www.pfmonline.net/str_donation.taf?site=rjc>. Learn more at
> the end of this e-mail.
>
>
> ===================
> If you find these free daily transcripts helpful, please forward
> this one to friends and family. If you're not yet a subscriber,
> come to http://WWW.BREAKPOINT.ORG and click on "subscribe" to join.
> ===================
>
>
>
> BreakPoint with Charles Colson
> Commentary #020225 - 02/25/2002
> Marital Safety Nets: Community Marriage Policies
>
>
> In her new book, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE: DIVORCE
> RECONSIDERED, psychologist Mavis Hetherington argues
> that divorce isn't as bad for kids as everyone
> thought. For some seventy-five percent of the
> children of divorce, she says, their parents' breakup
> was not a long-term problem. Their productive,
> successful lives, she says, prove it.
>
> In response, one of those "productive, successful"
> children took her to task. In the WASHINGTON POST,
> thirty-one-year-old Elizabeth Marquardt wrote: "I
> have a graduate degree, a loving husband, and a
> supportive family. From the outside, I look pretty
> successful." But, she adds, her parents' divorce when
> she was two "produced sadness and a fear of loss that
> persisted when I grew up."
>
> And if that's one of the so-called "successful,
> productive" children of divorce, what happens to the
> unsuccessful ones? Studies indicate that they are
> much more prone to depression, school problems, drug
> use, and out-of-wedlock pregnancies than kids from
> two-parent families.
>
> Clearly, if for no other reason than our children,
> Americans need to radically rethink our view of
> divorce. And since most marriages take place in
> churches, Christians can become a force for building
> stronger marriages.
>
> Many churches have tried to meet the challenge by
> requiring long and demanding periods of premarital
> counseling. The problem, however, is that many
> couples simply say, "No thanks," and hold their
> wedding at the church down the street where the
> requirements are less demanding or non-existent.
>
> To solve this problem, marriage expert Mike McManus
> has instituted Community Marriage Policies -- a
> uniform requirement that all the local churches adopt
> together. Catholic and Protestant, liberal and
> conservative, black and white clergy all band
> together to radically reduce the community's divorce
> rate.
>
> Typically, clergy agree to require engaged couples to
> undergo four months of marriage preparation including
> a premarital inventory to evaluate the maturity of
> the relationship. Churches also nurture existing
> marriages by training older married couples to mentor
> younger ones.
>
> Community Marriage Policies are now in place in 150
> cities and the results have been phenomenal. In
> Modesto, California, the first city to adopt a
> Community Marriage Policy seventeen years ago,
> divorce rates have plunged an incredible forty-seven
> percent. Other cities are witnessing similar eye-
> popping results.
>
> "Clearly," says McManus, "we hold in our hands the
> answer to America's divorce rate."
>
> The troubling question, however, is will the church
> accept the challenge? W. Bradford Wilcox, a
> researcher on religion at Yale University, writes
> that America's houses of worship are "traditionally
> the most important custodians of marriage in the
> nation." And yet, he concludes, they "have been
> unable and unwilling to foster the beliefs and
> virtues that make for a strong marriage culture."
>
> What an indictment of the church -- an indictment we
> can and must answer.
>
> I hope you'll read Mike McManus's book, MARRIAGE
> SAVERS. You'll learn more about how your church can
> help heal America's divorce epidemic -- and put a
> dent in the suffering that a million divorces a year
> visit on America's children.
>
>
> For further reading:
>
> Elizabeth Marquardt, "We're Successful, and Hurt,"
> WASHINGTON POST, 3 February 2002.
> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11820-2002Feb1.html>
>
> Marquardt is an affiliate scholar of the Institute
> for American Values, <http://www.americanvalues.org>
> and author of forthcoming book, THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL
> LIVES OF CHILDREN OF DIVORCE,
> <http://www.americanvalues.org/html/children_of_divorce.shtml>.
>
> "Why Marriage Matters: Twenty-One Conclusions from
> the Social Sciences," (NY: Center of the American
> Experiment, Coalition of Marriage, Family and Couples
> Education, 2002).
> <http://www.americanvalues.org/html/new_statement.shtml>.
>
> E. Mavis Hetherington, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE:
> DIVORCE RECONSIDERED (W.W. Norton & Company, 2002).
>
> Michael McManus, MARRIAGE SAVERS (Zondervan
> Publishing, 1995).
> <http://www.pfmonline.net/products.taf?_function=detail&Site=BPT&Item_Co
> de=BKKC0>
>
> Learn more about Mike McManus's group, Marriage
> Savers, by visiting <http://www.marriagesavers.org>.
>
> ======================================
>
> "Justice That Restores": Breakpoint/Justice Fellowship's conference on
> justice and the Christian worldview will take place March 14-16, 2002,
> at the Hyatt Regency, Orlando, Florida.
>
> Come meet and talk with top scholars, theologians, criminal justice
> professionals, community leaders, and elected officials who have put
> Restorative Justice principles to work. You'll learn what Restorative
> Justice is, where it comes from, how it is being successfully
> implemented in areas across the country. Most importantly, you will
> learn how you can help to bring about Restorative Justice in your
> community.
>
> Join with Chuck Colson and an exciting line-up of speakers, including:
> Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Dr. J. Budziszewski, Dr. Russell
> Hittinger, Mark Earley, Dr. Nigel Cameron, Pat Nolan, Rev. Lee Earl,
> Dan Van Ness, Sheryl Ramstad Hvass, and Dr. Reginald Wilkinson.
>
> Cost is $350 per person; $250, if alumni of previous conference.
>
> Register online <http://www.pfmonline.net/str_donation.taf?site=rjc>.
> For more information and the agenda, visit
> <http://www.justicefellowship.org>. Call 1-800-217-2743, or e-mail
> <Jake_Noland@pfm.org>, for more information.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Copyright (c) 2002 Prison Fellowship Ministries
>
> ===================
>
> THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN FINAL
> FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
>
> "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a daily commentary
> on news and trends from a Christian perspective.
> Heard on more than 1000 radio outlets nationwide,
> BreakPoint transcripts are also available on the Internet.
>
> BreakPoint is a production of The Wilberforce Forum,
> a division of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
>
> Chairman: Charles W. Colson
> Dean: Nigel M. de S. Cameron, Ph.D.
> Associate Dean: Jim Nelson Black, Ph.D.
> Managing Editor: Jim Tonkowich, D.Min.
> Senior Writer: Anne Morse
> Associate Editor: Roberto Rivera
> Associate Producer: Teresa Woodward
> Research Associate: Kim Robbins
> List Maintainer: Larry Wilson
>
> For product requests, further information, or to make a
> donation, visit our website at http://www.breakpoint.org
> or call 1-800-457-6125 in the United States.
>
> Copyright notice: BreakPoint may be copied and re-
> transmitted by electronic mail, and individual copies
> of a particular BreakPoint e-mail transcript may be
> printed, provided that such copying, re-transmission,
> printing, or other use is not for profit or other
> commercial purpose. BreakPoint may NOT be reproduced
> on the World Wide Web or in broadcast media, print
> media, or other media without express written permission.
> Please contact Prison Fellowship Ministries at
> 1-800-457-6125 to submit a request.
>
> Any copying, re-transmission, distribution, printing,
> or other use of BreakPoint must set forth the
> following credit line, in full, at the conclusion of
> the portion of BreakPoint that is used:
>
> Copyright (c) 2002 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted
> with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio
> ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
>
> Prison Fellowship Ministries(R) may withdraw or modify this
> grant of permission at any time.
>
> ===================
>
> http://www.breakpoint.org/
> http://www.wilberforce.org/
> http://www.pfm.org/
> http://www.angeltree.org/
>
>
>
> ----
> INSTRUCTIONS!
>
> If you want to unsubscribe your address, send a message from the
> e-mail box that receives the transcripts to:
> mailto:breakpoint-request@lists.netcentral.net
>
> Put "unsubscribe" in the SUBJECT of the message.
>
> **********************************************************************
> This list is from your pals at NetCentral <http://www.netcentral.net/>
> ---- NETCENTRAL IS A SPAM-FREE ZONE ----

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
sports.yahoo.com