{"id":301999,"date":"2010-03-25T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/al-mohler-on-marriage-part-1\/"},"modified":"2010-03-25T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-25T15:00:00","slug":"al-mohler-on-marriage-part-1","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/al-mohler-on-marriage-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Mohler on Marriage, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Al Mohler provides a concise and challenging analysis of marriage\u2019s role as a foundation stone of civilization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-03-25.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"30.63M","filesize_raw":"32114781","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2805],"tags":[5137,4782],"podcast_series":[7716],"cwp_profile":[3441],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301999","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods-plan-for-marriage","tag-marriages-role","tag-traditional-marriage","podcast_series-al-mohler-on-marriage","cwp_profile-al-mohler","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301999\/al-mohler-on-marriage-part-1","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301999\/al-mohler-on-marriage-part-1","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"m28fYH7z9Z\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/al-mohler-on-marriage-part-1\/\">Al Mohler on Marriage, Part 1<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/al-mohler-on-marriage-part-1\/embed\/#?secret=m28fYH7z9Z\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Al Mohler on Marriage, Part 1&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"m28fYH7z9Z\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Dr. Al Mohler provides a concise and challenging analysis of marriage\u2019s role as a foundation stone of civilization.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-03-25.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>The institutions of marriage and family ordained by God are what root us as a part of the human community.\u00a0 Here\u2019s Dr. Al Mohler.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Al:<\/strong>\u00a0 Marriage allows the proper human connection in time and in place it looks back to our ancestors as we are commanded to honor our fathers and our mothers and looks forward to our progeny.\u00a0 The dissolution and subversion of marriage threatens to turn asunder the central bond not only that holds the human family together but also establishes ancestry and descendants, and family.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>,for Thursday March 25<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 Dr. Al Mohler today makes a compelling case for why the biblical view of marriage and family is the view that we need to embrace as a culture.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today <\/em>thanks for joining us.\u00a0 There are sometimes on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> when you\u2019re listening to a program and a particular speaker is on or somebody\u2019s sharing out of their life and their experience, and it\u2019s pretty easy to listen to.\u00a0 You can just sit back and relax and listen and enjoy.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Other times when you need to kind of strap it on, pay attention\u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>This is one of those times.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes, we\u2019re going to be hearing a powerful message on a critical issue in our day.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>We are.\u00a0 Back last September, Barbara and I were invited to a meeting and a gathering of a number of people who were concerned about the assault on marriage in this post-modern American culture.\u00a0 We came out of this meeting with what has become known as the \u201cManhattan Declaration.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019ll have some information about that at the end of this broadcast that our listeners, I think may want to consider.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the messages given was a message given by Dr. Al Mohler.\u00a0 Dr. Mohler is the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.\u00a0 It is the largest seminary in the world.\u00a0 Dr. Mohler has been on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> a number of times.\u00a0 He\u2019s become a good friend and as I was sitting there that evening listening to this message I thought, \u201cI want every listener of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> to hear this message.\u201d\u00a0 Now, it really is a heavy message.\u00a0 It is articulate, it is profound, but it is an apologetic of sorts for why marriage must be defended from the scriptures.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>We live in a culture today where as we\u2019ve said many times here, marriage is being redefined and reinterpreted and I don\u2019t know that as a culture we have stopped to consider the dramatic impact that that redefinition will have on civilization.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>I\u2019m going to tell you Bob, it\u2019s frightening as I think about my children, and my grandchildren, and what they\u2019re going to face if there is a redefinition of marriage embraced by the nation.\u00a0 This is not a light issue.\u00a0 This is a big time culture changer.\u00a0 I mean, you do not change the definition of marriage without altering a civilization profoundly.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe Bible is God\u2019s word.\u00a0 It tells you how to put together things that work.\u00a0 How to build civilizations and life around, for instance the Ten Commandments, so people can relate to each other in a civil manner.\u00a0 You can\u2019t redefine marriage without dramatically impacting civilization.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Well, we\u2019re going to step aside and let our friend Dr. Albert Mohler address his issue as he does so eloquently in this message.\u00a0 Again, this was presented at a gathering of leaders in New York City back in September of 2009.\u00a0 Here is Dr. Al Mohler.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Al:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>It is such a high honor to be here with you, and for us to be together on an occasion like this.\u00a0 A part of the joy of being here tonight, is knowing how many people are scratching their heads if they could just see.\u00a0 I even had a member of the staff of the club ask me, \u201cWhat in the world is this?\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s not mine to explain, frankly.\u00a0 Nonetheless, those who think it\u2019s a conspiracy, to them I can only say, \u201cI certainly hope so.\u201d I am highly honored to be with the rest of you co-conspirators here.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt is an open conspiracy.\u00a0 It is our open declaration that marriage matters.\u00a0 And, that we intend to dedicate our lives, our ministries, our churches, our souls to the task of defending and defining marriage in biblical terms, Christian terms.\u00a0 The terms set forth by our creator and embedded in every atom and molecule of this creation.\u00a0 I am thankful to be with you here.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe title of my address is \u201cLet Us Be Agreed: Marriage, The Gospel of Christ, and the Test of Faith.\u201d\u00a0 For many people in this society, especially for those in the elites, there is a new normal.\u00a0 Having been at war since the sixties against any norm, or notion of normativity, there is now a new norm.\u00a0 There\u2019s a new normal, there\u2019s a new moral state of affairs, and civilization pivots on such distinctions.\u00a0 And even moral relativists have an absolute morality.\u00a0 It\u2019s just selective.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn that selectivity, in that great reversal in this seismic shift that we have experienced, that which was considered good by virtually all peoples and all civilizations and all cultures and all societies everywhere throughout time, is now seen as an impediment to human happiness and self-fulfillment and human expression, and of course, with the feminist assault, marriage is limited as inherently patriarchal, and along will come the deconstructionists who say it\u2019s hegemonic and totalitarian and oppressive.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd here we are.\u00a0 The world\u2019s turned upside-down.\u00a0 Let me suggest first of all that we must be agreed that marriage matters.\u00a0 The basis for our own understanding of marriage is not merely sociological, is not merely phenomenological, or anthropological, or legal or cultural or social or much less a matter of mere social etiquette.\u00a0 It is deeply theological.\u00a0 I\u2019m here tonight to speak of a very theological vision of marriage that should undergird us as we are reminded of why this is important.\u00a0 Not only for ourselves, but for all creation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe believe that marriage is a central gift of God to His human creatures.\u00a0 It is God\u2019s gift for the flourishing of his human creatures.\u00a0 The conjugal union of one man and one woman is essential.\u00a0 It points beyond itself, but it can never be reduced smaller than itself.\u00a0 It is not a human invention, it\u2019s not just a sociological adaptation, it\u2019s not just the process of some kind of cultural evolution.\u00a0 Human beings in terms of their social development and not merely find the convenience of pair reproduction and then of committed monogamous pairing and then of romantic marriage and expressive marriage\u2026\u00a0 No, marriage as an institution is given to us by our creator.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt is a demonstration of God\u2019s fatherly love for his human creatures.\u00a0 It is not a prison of patriarchy, it is a gift wherein we find human joy and health and human flourishing.\u00a0 Now, in the background to our conversation of marriage is something as basic as gender the two sexes, the fact that God, by his own declaration made both men and women in His image.\u00a0 But, he did make us as male and female.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGender is a part of the goodness of God\u2019s creation; again it\u2019s not some kind of accidental by-product of a naturalistic evolution.\u00a0 It is a part of the reflection of the glorious purpose for us.\u00a0 Our embodiment is a part of the revelation God speaks to us, and the theology of the body is absolutely necessary if we are to understand the importance of marriage, also the importance of what it means to be human.\u00a0 Marriage is a demonstration of the creator\u2019s fatherly love for us. Gender is a part of the messaging that indeed our creator is giving to us.\u00a0 Marriage is a covenant, and a conjugal bond, and it is both of the glory of God, and to the glory of God.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe church has recognized three great purposes of marriage throughout history.\u00a0 The first of these is the procreation and the nurture of children.\u00a0 If God should grant children to the marriage. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis purpose is dishonored by many, but it is honored among believers and the Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Children are to be welcomed as gifts to the institution of marriage, transforming husband and wife into father and mother.\u00a0 In our anti-natalist age some see children as impositions or worse.\u00a0 The denial of a procreative orientation for marriage, every marriage genuinely open to the gift of children is a denial of the biblical vision of marriage itself.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tA second great purpose of marriage as the ancient language expresses it is this:\u00a0 \u201cIt is as a remedy against sin and to avoid fornication, the believers might marry and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ\u2019s body.\u00a0 Marriage a remedy for sin?\u00a0 What a very interesting notion, a biblical notion.\u00a0 This purpose is ridiculed among many but it is honored among Christ\u2019s disciples.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis is exactly what the apostle Paul took as his concern in writing to the church at Corinth.\u00a0 Confused and seduced by sexual sin, that church had compromised its own ability to represent Christ.\u00a0 Paul pointed to marriage as a means of channeling sexual desire into its proper context, lest believers burn with passion and sin against God.\u00a0 Our culture, we might notice, turned burning into passion as an art form and an industry. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe third great end of marriage is companionship throughout life, through good and bad, comfort and loss, sickness and health, until death parts husband and wife.\u00a0 The mystery of completeness is expressed in this statement:\u00a0 \u201cThat two shall become one when a man and woman exchange marriage vows they become one solitary unit after the exchange of these vows we no longer speak of the husband without the wife or of the wife without the husband.\u00a0 They have become one both in the physical union of the marital act, and in the metaphysical union of the marital bond as a married couple, husband and wife they will live to the glory of God with each other for each other and to each other.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHow does marriage glorify God?\u00a0 As Tertullian says, \u201cHow beautiful then the marriage of two Christians.\u00a0 Two who are one in home, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice, nothing divides them.\u00a0 Either in flesh or in spirit, they pray together, they worship together, they fast together, instructing one another encouraging one another, strengthening one another.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cSide-by-side they visit God\u2019s church and partake God\u2019s banquet.\u00a0 Side-by-side, they face difficulties and persecution, share their consolations.\u00a0 They have no secrets from one another, they never shun each other\u2019s company, they never bring sorrow to each other\u2019s hearts.\u00a0 Seeing this Christ rejoices, to such as these he gives peace.\u00a0 Where there are two together, there also He is present.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSecond, let us be agreed that marriage is now a central question for our civilization.\u00a0 In a sense to say civilization requires us to save marriage.\u00a0 One of the most important things we can affirm as we\u2019re together at this occasion is that there can be no civilization without the proper understanding of recognition of and granted status to marriage.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs Pitirim Sorokin the founder of the department of sociology at Harvard University pointed out: \u201cCivilization is possible only when marriage is normative and when all other sexual behaviors and relationships are censored.\u00a0 Marriage requires men to channel their energies and commitments toward the care of their offspring.\u00a0 Marriage offers protection to both the husband and the wife, not only the sexual protection of the conjugal bond and it\u2019s monogamous purity, but also protection against all of the whims of the world and its evils.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWill and Ariel Durant talking about their review of the history of civilization as amateur historians said that \u201cSex is a river of fire that must be banked and cooled by a hundred restraints; marriage being the most important of those restraints.\u00a0 And we are unbanking the river.\u201d\u00a0 The regulation of sex is a part of every society.\u00a0 There is no society that does not regulate sex.\u00a0 The question is how is sex to be regulated, and who will do the regulation and what relationships are going to be considered legitimate and licit.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tEvery society has regulated reproduction and procreation.\u00a0 Every society has regulated in some way, not only child bearing, but child rearing.\u00a0 The institution of marriage has been the central means whereby civilizations have begun the task of civilizing.\u00a0 It is indeed the civilizational DNA of our social genetic structure.\u00a0 Law, custom, the habits of the heart, all of these come into a proper alignment only if there is the institution of marriage rightly recognized at the very center of a culture\u2019s civilization life and essence.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThus, when marriage is subverted, civilization itself is subverted.\u00a0 Marriage must be the great narrative that frames adult experience and expectation.\u00a0 It must be the great narrative that displays the notion of the good life.\u00a0 It must be the great narrative that explains the expectations of responsibility and moral probity.\u00a0 It must be both for those who are married, and for those who are not married, the central symbol of adulthood.\u00a0 Thus when marriage is subverted, all of these things are lost, the essential bonds are weakened, the great central institutions of society beyond marriage are subverted when marriage is subverted.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cSame-sex marriage\u201d is not marriage.\u00a0 It is a repudiation of marriage.\u00a0 It is the deliberate subversion of our central civilizational institution.\u00a0 It is the direct and deliberate rejection of the gift of God to His human creatures.\u00a0 The character and essence of marriage as the conjugal bond between one man and one woman for life cannot be replicated in any other institutional form, and it cannot be defended when marriage itself is subverted.\u00a0 The subversion of marriage is both, we should note, an effect and the goal of those who are pushing the agenda.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMarriage allows the proper human connection in time and in place, in space and in history.\u00a0 It looks back to our ancestors as we are commanded to honor our fathers and our mothers and looks forward to our progeny.\u00a0 Known and yet unknown to generations yet to come.\u00a0 And, the dissolution and subversion of marriage threatens to turn asunder the central bond, not only that holds the human family together, but it also establishes ancestry and descendants and family.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, why would it be so?\u00a0 Why would there be such a central assault upon marriage?\u00a0 It must be because marriage is identified as an instrument of oppression.\u00a0 That is exactly the ideological subversion that we witness.\u00a0 The feminists suggest that it is an institution of patriarchy and they can certainly ransack the history of humanity and come up with any number of arguments concerning patriarchy.\u00a0 But, their central argument, at least for those of the radical feminist wing will suggest that marriage is an irretrievably patriarchal institution and thus it must be eliminated for women to be liberated.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut it\u2019s not just feminism and its ideological acids.\u00a0 It is also the concomitant strains of individual autonomy and personal fulfillment.\u00a0 All of these things have subverted marriage by pointing us away from the things that we are called to, and indeed even determined for, created for, and instead to an endless voyage of self-discovery and self-expression, in which we now claim to be the lords of our own destiny, and we will be the inventors of our own selves, sexual and otherwise and of course now in terms of gender as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBecause the very existence of marriage declares an objective truth.\u00a0 The very existence of marriage is a moral witness to the fact that there is one normative relationship.\u00a0 The very fact of marriage reveals that in law and in custom, in habits and etiquette, in language and in cultural forms and cultural narratives, this one thing continuously cries out that it and it alone deserves this place.\u00a0 That it and it alone deserves these protections, that it and it alone deserves this status, what we have here are forces that together see advantage, mutual advantage in the dissolution of marriage, in the de-centering of marriage in the subversion of marriage, each group to its own ends.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Well, we have been listening to part one of a message from Dr. Al Mohler on the nobility of the marriage relationship.\u00a0 And, you know I was sitting here thinking, Dennis, if the purpose of life is me and my self-fulfillment and my desires being met, then I\u2019d be on the side of saying \u201cRedefine marriage however you want, as long as those goals are kept in mind.\u201d\u00a0 But if you have a biblical worldview, you say the purpose of marriage is not ultimately me, my self-fulfillment and my own desires being met.\u00a0 It\u2019s God and others and with that in mind, you\u2019ve got to keep marriage the way it\u2019s intended to be.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>It\u2019s two people learning the art of self-denial, and learning how to love and passing that message on to future generations.\u00a0 What Dr. Mohler has shared today is that there is an assault taking place on marriage and its definition.\u00a0 He also talks about how there is an assault on the Christian community and the failure of its marriages to live up to the standard we espouse.\u00a0 So what\u2019s happening here, the Christian community is attempting to stand up and raise the standard but the non-Christian community is going, \u201cYou\u2019re hypocrites.\u00a0 Your marriages are shredded by divorce.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo in reality I want to turn at this point to our audience to say, the reason I played part one of this message here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> was first of all to make you aware of what\u2019s at stake.\u00a0 I think there\u2019s a lot of minimizing of what\u2019s taking place Bob.\u00a0 But then secondly\u2014and I think frankly this may be the most important of all\u2014secondly I wanted to talk to husbands and wives, parents, grandparents and single people to say, you need to have a firm conviction about what the Bible teaches about male and female sexuality, about marriage, you need to know what you believe the scripture teaches, and you need to pass it on to the next generation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBecause\u2014I\u2019m going to tell you something\u2014the Christian home is powerful.\u00a0 It is the most powerful grass roots movement in the world.\u00a0 I fear, Bob, we\u2019re allowing the assault to kind of take away our sword, which is the scriptures and the absolute truth of the Bible, and we\u2019re kind of cowering in the cave like Saul\u2019s army was doing while the Philistines were walking up and down the valley cursing God and saying that our standards don\u2019t really matter.\u00a0 Well, you know what, they do.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tChristians need to stand up and that\u2019s why we\u2019d encourage folks to go take a look at the website for the Manhattan Declaration, read it over, take a look at it, Barbara and I decided to sign that declaration and put our names in that declaration saying, \u201cYou know what, we stand for the beliefs represented here.\u00a0 We want our names associated with that.\u201d\u00a0 For individuals to do the same thing as they think about what they believe.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>You can sign onto that document online. Right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>That\u2019s correct.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>All you have to do is go to FamilyLifeToday.com, there\u2019s a link there that will take you to the Manhattan Declaration website, and you can read it over and decide whether you want to sign on as well.\u00a0 Again our website is FamilyLifeToday.com, find the link to the Manhattan Declaration, look it over and see what you and your family might want to do in terms of adding your signature to that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me also mention that on our website, there\u2019s a link to a document that we have online called \u201cThe Family Manifesto.\u201d\u00a0 It defines for individuals or for churches what the Bible has to say about things like, the role of the husband, the role of the wife what a mom and dad have been created by God to do.\u00a0 It really looks at what the Bible teaches about marriage, and family.\u00a0 So, look for the link to \u201cThe Family Manifesto\u201d when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me also mention that Dr. Mohler is going to be speaking next month at the Orphan Summit in Minneapolis that FamilyLife is helping to support through our Hope For Orphans\u00ae outreach.\u00a0 This takes place in Minneapolis April 29<sup>th<\/sup> through the 30<sup>th<\/sup> and along with Dr. Mohler, John Piper is going to be speaking, Mary Beth Chapman\u2019s going to speak, Steven Curtis Chapman is going to be providing music.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you are involved in your local church with orphan care or adoption, this is a great event for you to attend to help you better network with and understand what\u2019s available to churches so that the needs of the orphan can be met by churches from around the world.\u00a0 Find out more when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com, and click on the link that will take you to the Christian Alliance for Orphans website where you can find out all you need to find out about Summit Six coming up in Minneapolis.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain our website FamilyLifeToday.com, if it\u2019s easier for you to get in touch with us by phone, toll free number is 1-800-FLTODAY, 1-800-358-6329.\u00a0 That\u2019s 1-800 F as in \u201cfamily\u201d L as in \u201clife\u201d and then the word TODAY.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBy the way that is the same number you would use if you wanted to call and make a donation to help support the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 We are listener supported and if you make a donation of any amount to help support <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, we would love to send you as a thank you gift a copy of the new movie, <em>Magdalena<\/em>, which tells the story of the life of Jesus through the eyes of Mary Magdalene.\u00a0 All you have to do is call 1-800-FLTODAY, make a donation and ask for the DVD and we\u2019ll send it out to you.\u00a0 Again it\u2019s our way of saying thanks for helping support the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf it\u2019s easier to donate online, you can do that as well.\u00a0 Go to FamilyLifeToday.com, make your donation and just type \u201cMAGDVD\u201d in the online donation key code box, and we\u2019ll be sure to send you a copy of his DVD that you can watch together with your family, and then pass along to others as well.\u00a0 Again, let me just say thanks for your financial support of this ministry.\u00a0 We appreciate those who partner with us, and make the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> possible.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, we want to invite you back tomorrow when we\u2019re going to hear part two of Dr. Al Mohler\u2019s message on marriage.\u00a0 I hope you can join us for that.\u00a0 I want to thank our engineer today Keith Lynch and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back tomorrow for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today <\/em>is a production of Familylife of Little Rock, Arkansas. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/301999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301999"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=301999"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=301999"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=301999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}