Fortified Marriages
Fortified Marriages
Episode 10 - Part One
Hello, and welcome to In the Lighthouse: your safe harbor from the storm brought to you by Carry the Light Ministries. I’m Daphne Collins, your Lighthouse Keeper and host for our time together. The topic of the discussion presented to you over the next two episodes is one that is near and dear to many of us – marriage. The importance of marriage from God’s perspective will hold great significance because it is part of the Genesis creation narrative. In Genesis 2:23-25 the story continues, “Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” As his image bearers, God created marriage for man and woman to enjoy one another and provided the perfect landscape that was fortified with boundaries instituted by God for their welfare. Chapter 3 of the narrative opens with an evil that sought to magnify a hidden potential weakness in man in order to drastically weaken the perfection of the human God created. When man sinned, their nakedness was made known to them, and their idyllic protections were removed as the couple was cast from God’s presence. They were sent forth to build their marriage relationship in harsh conditions. For those who are called into this covenantal institution, you know and understand the work required to protect the union at all times. Marriage is real and not a construct that can be reimagined according to caprice. It is a tangible and present structure ordained by God for all to witness. But how can we protect our marriage from outside forces? We’re going to hear from two people who will share their stories of how they strengthened their marriage amid the test of time. Okay, let’s get started!
One cannot build on marriage without ensuring that the foundation is carefully laid, otherwise, the structure will implode under the weight of life circumstances that are sure to test its weaknesses. And how does a structure maintain its durability? It requires fortification which is defined as having reinforcement built in to strengthen the structure against attack. The adjective form of this word is fortified, to describe the structure which has been strengthened against any impending peril. This episode is entitled Fortified Marriages, and our guests, Chris and Carmen Garner, Marriage and Family counselors, understand and have built their ministry on a biblical principle found in Matthew 7:24 which says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” They believe this so much that they named their ministry Fortified Marriages, and use a castle fortress as their logo to demonstrate the necessity of providing tools and resources for building a strong Christian marriage. God calls us to be stewards of the things he entrusts us with, and as we’ve seen, marriage is important to God. Chris and Carmen have joined me here In the Lighthouse to explain how Fortified Marriages Ministries is their way of stewarding couples in building strong marriages. According to research on marriage and divorce released in 2008, the George Barna Group commented that “America has become an experimental, experience-driven culture . . . people who prefer to follow their instincts and let the chips fall where they may.” The Group concluded that because of our prevailing cultural norms, “young people are . . . embracing the idea of serial marriage, in which a person gets married two or three times, seeking a different partner for each phase of their adult life.” Chris and Carmen will speak of the reality of these broken marriages. It is the wise listener who will gain insight from the experience of this remarkable couple who turned away from leaning on their own understanding and looked instead, to the Rock of their salvation to strengthen their marriage. Some parts of what is spoken may not be suitable for younger audiences, so I caution adults and parents to use discretion with their young ones when listening to this episode.
Chris and Carmen Garner
Show Notes
Recommended Books:
Fortified Marriages: How to Build and Maintain a Strong Marriage & Family - Chris Garner
Victory Over Darkness - Neil T. Anderson
https://www.barna.com/research/new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released/
Opening Theme: Going For Gold
Transition Theme: Piano Background
Conclusion Theme: Love Piano by Synthezx
Castle/Fortress: Alanya Kalesi Castle in Alanya, Turkey; Khotyn Fortress in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine
Transcript of “Fortified Marriages” - by Daphne Collins
Transcript of “Repentance” - by Laine Wilder
How to Build and Maintain a Strong Marriage & Family
