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What You Should Do About Your Christian Son, Daughter, or Friend Who is Not Dating or Engaged “In The Lord”

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:47 — 8.7MB)

“A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 7:39

You’ve probably heard the old adage that the second most important decision you make in life is who you marry (the first being the decision to repent and place your faith in Christ for salvation).

Since who you marry is this important and since marriage is described as “till death do us part” and “two becoming one” and a picture of Christ being wedded to His church and God’s covenant relationship for humans to bear and raise children, then why do so many professing Christians date and marry unbelievers?  And why aren’t the Christians in their lives — parents, pastors, friends — falling on the tracks to warn them to not go forward and be unequally yoked in dating and marriage?

It seems today that the clear biblical prohibition of an unequal yoke in dating and marriage is being neglected.  This Saturday morning on The Christian Worldview, we’ll discuss why marrying “in the Lord” is not just a nice suggestion but a serious command and what parents and friends who see a person involved in an unequally yoked relationship can and should do about it.

Thriving in Relationship with Your Adult Children

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:48 — 8.7MB)

Guest: Jim Newheiser, author, You Never Stop Being a Parent

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Little kids, little problems; big kids, BIG problems.”  There are stacks of books written on parenting little ones (i.e. those under 18) but relatively little is said about being a parent to your big kids, those in their 20’s and 30’s.  What should you do about the young adult who is living at home and exhibiting very little motivation and direction in life?  Or how should you handle your adult son or daughter who is headed towards marrying someone you don’t approve of?  And what changes about being a parent when your kids transition from minors to adults?

With the big kids coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a good time to talk about how parents can best interact with them.  Jim Newheiser, author of “You Never Stop Being a Parent” and teaching elder at Grace Bible Church in CA joins us on The Christian Worldview this weekend to discuss how to thrive in relationship with your adult children.

David & Brodie’s Wedding Story and Photos

RE-POSTED OCTOBER 2011 FOR FamilyTalk INTERVIEW WITH DR. DOBSON

MON-TUE (Oct 10-11, 2011): Dr. James Dobson interviews David Wheaton on SINGLENESS and MARRIAGE

LISTEN TO PART 1 HERE and PART 2 HERE

Dr. James Dobson, host of the Family Talk Radio Program, recently interviewed David and his wife Brodie on the topic of “Longing for Marriage.”  The two-part interview covers issues such as finding contentment in singleness, marrying later in life, trusting in God’s sovereignty, and reflections on their own story.

The interview airs on Monday and Tuesday, October 10-11, 2011.  To find a station in your area click here or listen online at FamilyTalk.org

David wrote the following story for our wedding guests on June 20, 2009 about God’s divine intervention and blessing in our lives.

OUR STORY IS HIS SOVEREIGNTY

While neither of us remember the exact day, Brodie and I met each other at the ages of five and eight, respectively, when her family moved from Cincinnati to the Lake Minnetonka area of Minnesota.

The first contact between our families occurred on a winter day in 1978 when Brodie, her parents, and older brother, Josh, came for cross-country skiing lessons taught by my mother at what would turn out to be an appropriately named place – Lake Grace.

That initial meeting led to a friendship between our mothers and then subsequently our families. Shortly thereafter, my mother shared with Brodie’s mother the life- and eternity-changing message that one can be reconciled to God and have their sins forgiven through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Mrs. Hackney put her trust in this “good news”, and then later, Brodie and Josh did the same.

Life didn’t turn into happily-ever-after, though, as Brodie’s father eventually divorced Mrs. Hackney and left the family when Brodie was just thirteen.

Yet, God promises to be a father to the fatherless and He has been just that all these years, even providing another earthly father to fill that role in Brodie’s life. My own dad was that earthly father and explains why he is walking Brodie down the aisle today.

For most of my teens and twenties, Brodie was more “my good friend Josh’s younger sister” or like an adopted sister rather than a future life partner. I was busy playing tennis and traveling much of the time yet we were still friends and did things together in group settings like get-togethers with family or trips to the North Shore of Lake Superior.

About ten years ago, Brodie and I dated for the first time after my father encouraged me to consider her as a potential wife. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a strong desire to be married at that time and I was about to make a career transition as well. Brodie asked me where things were going after a year of dating to which I couldn’t give a definitive answer. We stopped dating, yet something interesting happened – our relationship began to grow from good friends to best friends over the next several years.

Knowing that we had so many of the fundamentals of a strong life partnership such as the same faith, values, interests, and background, we dated again a few years ago but this time going from best friends to husband and wife seemed a difficult divide to cross. A second break-up left Brodie thinking marriage to me would never happen (or to anyone else, she tells me now) and my wondering if I was actually meant to be married. And yet remarkably, what could have driven us apart for good, resulted in an even deeper friendship in due time.

Earlier this year, I began to think and pray about marriage again. As I read passages from the Bible and a Christian book on marriage, I began to more fully understand the purposes for marriage such as companionship, co-laboring, pro-creation, and the pre-eminence of Christ. I began to have a growing affirmation in my soul and spirit that Brodie was truly the right one and now was finally the right time.

After inviting Brodie to stop by on her way home from a political event one snowy night in early March, I told her I’d like to get together to discuss the following question: What has hindered us from going from dating to marriage in the past and what would need to change for it to work going forward?

Brodie was surprised that I would bring this up again but agreed to think and pray about it and get together. Two, in-depth, honest, and productive talks later – with several phone calls and emails in between – convinced us (separately) that God had brought us to a new and different point in our lives. I told Brodie I’d “get back to her” with what I thought should be the next step.

As we went for a walk with our dogs along Lake Minnetonka on an overcast, calm day on Saturday, April 4th, I did get back to her … with a proposal of marriage and an engagement ring! Rather than a third attempt at dating, I sensed God wanted me to take a small step of faith, and Brodie responded with a shocked look but an affirmative answer.

So now we’re here, eleven weeks from that day of engagement, to enter into a life-long covenant of marriage before God and men. We’re so thankful you are here to share in our joy. We’re especially thankful for our families and their love and support. And we’re most thankful to God. Far from inevitability, our story is about His sovereignty, His timing, and His continuing work in our lives.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Below are some photos from our wedding in Minnesota and then our honeymoon in England and Scotland.

For best viewing, click on a thumbnail image.  Once the slideshow opens you will note “next” and “previous” under each photo.  Simply click on these to proceed through the slideshows.

WEDDING & HONEYMOON ALBUMS – Many thanks to my brother, Josh Hackney, for taking the wedding photos.

WEDDING GALLERY

HONEYMOON – First stop, Wimbledon

HONEYMOON – Then, Scotland

Paterno, Tebow, and a Culture in Confusion

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:48 — 8.7MB)

Guest:  Gordon Thiessen, Dir. of Training and Resources, Fellowship of Christian Athletes

“A good name is to be more desired than great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22:1).

Every so often a sports story makes front page news and that was the case this week when a grand jury investigation found that Penn State’s football program and its legendary coach, 84-year-old Joe Paterno, had tolerated a serial child rapist in their midst named Jerry Sandusky, a long-time assistant coach.  When the decision was made on Wednesday to fire Paterno, students on campus rioted.

This explosive story at Penn State is the only thing that has been able to overshadow the incredible amount of fan and media attention devoted to Denver Broncos quarterback and committed Christian Tim Tebow.  Although Tebow has only started three games for a team with a losing record, the most hotly debated topic of the NFL season continues to be: “Can Tim Tebow play quarterback in the NFL?”  What do the polarized and irrational responses say about our culture?

Gordon Thiessen, director of training and resources for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, will join us this weekend to discuss these stories and what they represent culturally and spiritually.

Need to Read: Why the Heck Do We Hate Tim Tebow? (Jen Floyd Engel)

Is There Jewish Christianity Today?

S. Lewis Johnson Message of the Week

Is There Jewish Christianity Today?
Dr. S. Lewis Johnson introduces a series on Paul’s writings concerning the fulfillment of God’s promises made in the Old Testament. Dr. Johnson gives an exposition of Paul’s explanation of how Jews after Christ’s ministry participate in the promises.

Scripture Reference: Romans 11:1-6

Click here to listen: Is There Jewish Christianity Today?

Transcript Excerpt:

Our subject for our next few sessions together is “The Apostle Paul and the Purpose of the Ages.”  And we’re turning to Romans chapter 11 and looking at this marvelous chapter in a series of our studies here in this particular radio class.  The subject for today as we look at Romans chapter 11, and verse 1 through verse 6, is “Is There Jewish Christianity Today?”

The question of Israel’s place in the divine purpose has rarely been as relevant to life on this planet as it is today.  Standing at the critical center of the political and military uncertainties and anxieties of the nations is the Nation Israel.  Theologians of different persuasions recognize this fact.  Professor G. C. Berkouwer, one of the really notable Christian theologians of the twentieth century, in his book “The Return of Christ,” although denying in it that Israel the nation has an ethnic future, yet feels it necessary to explain why he must devote a chapter to the nation in his work.  He finds justification for discussing Israel and the future in two things, the renewed attention given to Israel on account of the tragic outbursts of anti-Semitism in our age and the rise of the Jewish state in the land of Palestine.

The issue of Israel rises constantly in our newspapers as they seek to report the life of the globe.  When President Reagan visits an un-denazified German cemetery in a state that is not now the state of Hitler, Hitlerism abounds in our world by another name, communism, the issue of Israel is again highlighted before the Western world as we reflect upon the demonic evil of the holocaust.

For the study of the divine purpose in Israel in the New Testament revelation, one must first and foremost consider Paul’s great chapters in his Epistle to the Romans.  It is in this letter alone that the apostle discusses thematically the future of Israel.  The discussion is found in Romans 9 through 11, and the reason for it is found in the subject matter of Romans 1 through 8.  While the entire epistle is an exposition of the gospel, chapters 1 through 8 form the doctrinal heart of the soteriology of Paul.

Read the full transcript here…

Should A Biblical Christian Vote For A Mormon (Or Any Other Unsaved Candidate)?

Podcast: Download (Duration: 49:49 — 8.6MB)

“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, people groan” (Proverbs 29:2).

Many biblical Christians do not like the policies that our professing Christian president, Democrat Barack Obama, has implemented such as government-run health care and the expansion of abortion rights and the homosexual agenda, to name a few.

One year from now, biblical Christians will have the privilege of going to the polls to cast their vote for president.  With his place near the top of the polls, large financial holdings, and lack of scandal, it is quite likely that the Republican nominee will be Mitt Romney.  By most accounts, Romney is a family man and an intelligent and capable business and civic leader.

Mitt Romney is also a committed Mormon.  And that is where the rub comes for many biblical Christians.  The thought of voting for someone immersed in a false religion, that some call a cult, has divided biblical Christians.  Some say they could never vote for a Mormon and will either vote for a 3rd party candidate or not at all.  Others say they’d rather have a more conservative person be president, even if he is a Mormon, than a liberal professing Christian.

So what’s a biblical Christian to do when it comes to the possibility of voting for a Mormon?  Tune in this weekend to The Christian Worldview as we discuss this topic and take your phone calls.

Program follow-up: Just to restate, in case you didn’t hear the whole program, neither David Wheaton nor The Christian Worldview are endorsing Mitt Romney for president nor saying he is the best Republican candidate nor even assuming he will be the Republican presidential nominee in 2012.

The point of today’s program is this: while it would be ideal to always have the option to vote for a viable born-again Christian candidate, based on our understanding of Scripture, a true Christian would not be sinning against God in voting for an unsaved candidate (Mormon or otherwise) but that a Christian also shouldn’t vote for any candidate if it causes him/her to violate their conscience (Romans 14).