The church should not be "promoting" marriage at all. A couple who want to marry should consult GOD before they take that step to determine if it's HIS will for them. The reason the divorce rate is as high among Christians as it is in the rest of the community is because many Christians decide to marry without consulting God FIRST. Getting married in a church does not make it God's marriage. And illicit sex will not be cured by encouraging marriage but by better parenting.
Amen Chaplain Bob!
Brother, it's great to hear from you. We've been missing you.
I feel the same way about this issue as you do. Some would call us out of touch with mainstream thinking, and that would be true. However, I could care less what mainstream thinking is. Mainstream thinking these days is mainly worldly thinking, and worldly thinking is the cause of many of our worst problems we face today. The first examples I think about are broken homes and societies running away from GOD. Talking about Biblical morals many times makes people look at us like we're out of our mind. There has been a horrible price for worldly thinking, and the price is getting worse by the day.
Further, GOD sees everything. People can choose to live like the world and disobey GOD, but nothing is hidden from GOD. GOD still knows all and sees all. Biblical thinking, prayer, and asking GOD about HIS Will for us would eliminate a lot of pain, disappointment, and torture in this short life. YES - I said "torture". Many bad decisions do result in torture. There isn't any irony that GOD'S Ways are the best for us, and this is the way to be happy in this short life.Love In Christ,
Tom