Faith by Hearing
Sanctifying the MP3 RevolutionArchive for Marriage
God, the Gospel and Your Marriage: Art Azurdia
At Grace & Truth Bible Church’s 2009 Couples Conference, Art Azurdia gave 3 stirring messages on marriage. If you’ve not heard Art speak on marriage before, don’t miss these. Art takes a hard look at what commonly passes for marriage instruction and shows how much of it actually undermines our marriages rather than builds it up.
Raising the Bar: Biblical Manhood Summit
First Baptist Church in Killen, Alabama hosted Paul Washer for a summit to speak to the men. Washer challenges men not with the challenges the world or the common challenges that most men’s conferences do. Washer challenges men to do what the plain reading of Scripture says.
Men need to get their jobs and ministries in sync with a true belief in God’s sovereignty. This means we don’t sacrifice our wives or children on the altar of career or ministry. To do so is a denial of God’s sovereignty over your life.
Men are called to serve and sacrifice. Do you care for your wife? Do you sacrifice for her good? Do you truly love her without condition? Are you washing her with the Word. Washer says, “If you’ve been married for 10 years and your wife is not any more presentable to you than she was in the first year of your marriage, you are to blame.” Husbands must be ministering the Word of God to their wives and children, not using Scripture to prop you up as a privileged officer.
Washer also suggests that Christian dating organizations are not God’s will, because God’s will is not that you find someone who is compatible. Very often the wife God has for you is far from compatible. Because God’s goal for your life is Christ-likeness, not compatibility in marriage.
Paul also looks at men as fathers, and considers how our society is loosing our children because we are more concerned about socializing them with other children their age while we completely neglect having them around us while we are with other adults. Children need to be around adults.
This is a very challenging and much needed series of 3 addresses to men. I highly recommend them.
Paul Washer is the founder of Heart Cry Missionary Society.
Raising the Bar Session 1 mp3>>>
Raising the Bar Session 2 mp3 >>>
Kostenberger: God, Marriage & Family
Does your understanding of marriage point to God and the Gospel? I’m currently preparing a marriage course for my church and in the process, I’m devouring a lot of good resources.
Andreas Kostenberger, who authored of one of the best books I’ve found on marriage, God, Marriage & Family, also presented a discipleship class on marriage and the family at Richland Creek Community Church.
Kostenberger is an incredibly sharp theologian, and has written a number of very good commentaries. He was also picked by Don Carson to author two books for Carson’s New Biblical Studies in Theology series.
Kostenberger is disarmingly unremarkable as a speaker, but once he gets warmed up his material is very helpful. This was not a preaching situation, but rather more of a classroom type of setting.
These courses are all on wma video (a hateful format) unfortunately, so not compatible with iPod’s or iTunes.
Passionate Partners for Life
This is an excellent series of messages on marriage, given at a marriage retreat for Sovereign Grace Fellowship. The speaker is Steve Shank, pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship, Gilbert Arizona.
Steve brings a great mix of deep truths seldom brought forth in marriage courses, and practical application mixed with humor. This is very enriching instruction and exhortation.
Mike Bullmore on Marriage
Andy Naselli, a member of Mike’s church, wrote a brief bio of Mike calling him an ‘exemplary’ husband and father. Always on the lookout for good marriage material, I searched the archives of CrossWay Community Church and found a number of messages and a conference on the subject of marriage given by Mike. The conference messages contain some very useful PDF. Print them out and take notes on them. This is excellent material from a gifted preacher and practitioner of his subject.
2006 Marriage Conference
Session 1: God’s Instruction for Husbands and Wives mp3
Session 2: Building Your Relationship mp3
Session 3: Your Speech and Your Marriage Part 1 mp3
Session 3: Your Speech and Your Marriage Part 2 mp3
Other Marriage Messages and Retreats
Marriage, Christ and Covenant: One Flesh for the Glory of God
John Piper’s series on marriage has one defining feature that few other series on marriage have: it demonstrates the exalted glory of covenant marriage as a reflection of God himself. And I’m not just talking about how it’s an example of Christ and the church. He resets marriage on the high mantle of God’s glory. This series is sweeping in scope. A very valuable series.
