Hebrews 13:4 exhorts us that “marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled.”
God has been greatly blessing the Marriage Conference Seminar. This is not surprising to me, given the amount of time devoted by God the Holy Spirit to marriage and family in Scripture. I have found that satan keys in on destroying God’s teaching on marriage and family for two primary reasons: first, it rocks the foundation of the church and second, there are many, many word pictures and analogies in the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God where marriage and family are used in descriptions of salvation. Thus, it is a double coup for satan if he gains victory over marriage and family.
Russia is no exception to this. In Russia today, over 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Living together is commonplace. Russia has languished since 1917 in a virtual moral vacuum, with the godless nihilism and pragmatism of an evolutionist world view holding sway. Orthodox, pentecostal and charismatic churches all turn a blind eye to what has become a fatalistic view of sexual immorality and living together before marriage. These churches all say that “if we speak strongly, they will leave” and, as a result, choose not to take a stand. They take, instead, an “ignorance is bliss” position on the moral behavior of their congregations. It is my conviction to not do pre-marital counseling with a couple who are living together or sexually active before marriage. There must be a pledge of fidelity before beginning the pre-marriage process. Unfortunately, in many Orthodox, pentecostal and charismatic churches this question is never asked—or, if it is, the response is to continue with pre-marital counseling for fear the couple may not get married. In addition, in Russia there are many mixed marriages - as couples who are living together or married come into moral conflict - as one or the other spouse comes to Christ (especially when there are children involved.)
In this moral vacuum, it is no wonder that the Marriage Covenant Seminar is such a success when put on by a Christ-centered pastor and church. I praise God for Pastor Ravil and his biblical stance on marriage and child-raising. Pastor Ravil is very upfront with couples who come for pre-marriage counseling. He requires a pledge of biblical purity and abstinence. Unlike so many pastors, he will not “fix” a relationship between couples who are living together in sin but have problems. He views the “fix” to be repentance, conformity to Scripture, to receive Christ, abstain from sin, grow in Christ and then get married – if that is God’s will for the couple.
One positive thing about ministering in Russia is that I am not faced with the metro-sexual confusion now so common in Europe and America. Here, men are men and women are women. Men wear their hair short and want to project a definite masculine image. Women wear their hair long and stylish. Women go out in public dressed like women and come to church dressed professionally. Men come to church dressed professionally as well and look like the heads of their family. Teaching on the husband as head of the home, submission of the wife and the need for children to respect and obey their parents is readily accepted. In fact, biblical reinforcement of these areas is one of the drawing points of the seminar.
The Marriage Covenant Seminar has had an impact here at the Reformed Church of Tyumen in several ways.
First: The members of the church have begun to grow more in other areas. When a marriage is bad, it is very difficult to apply the Word of God to areas outside of marriage. When a marriage is biblically grounded and begins to improve, then couples may turn more easily to other areas of discipleship and outreach.
Second: The changed life of the Christian spouse in a mixed marriage begins a redemptive process in the lost spouse and the children. There are a number of non-Christian husbands and wives who have come to Christ, begun to come to church as seekers, or ended their animosity towards their spouse and children going to church because the Christian spouse has begun to live as a disciple of Christ in the home.
Third: Many, if not most, young Russian couples are desperate for an alternative to the unhappiness they saw growing up and now see being reproduced in their own marriages. The testimonies of the happy Christian marriages in the church are a great public outreach to family, friends and co-workers. It is one of the clearest evidences of the power of Christ to change lives.
This is why many come to the Marriage Covenant Seminar. The members of the church, having attended in the past and gone to work on their own marriages, have a platform from which to invite others. Others, both Christian and non-Christian, are desperate for an alternative. Last Sunday we had over 50 attendees and are expecting more this Sunday. They will begin arriving at the post-service fellowship meal and then stay for the full four hours of the seminar. Couples who would never come to the church meeting are blessed by the love and acceptance of the members and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God and are open to attending a Sunday service and receiving home evangelistic visits.
Please continue to pray for this important ministry of the church here in Tyumen. Pray especially for the power of the Word of God to both save and sanctify those who hear.
As always, I keep in mind the plea from Paul in Ephesians 6:19 in asking others to “pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”
By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Grace Community Int. – Tyumen, Russia
Older
Top
