Relationships By Faith!

What qualifies us to write and speak about relationships?

• We have had the pleasure of “successfully” raising 3 teenagers.
• We have homeschooled our kids for a little more than 6 years – providing 100’s of hours for character development, nurturing and instruction.
• This August 2017, we will be married for 23 years – Praise God!
• As a Pastor and pastor’s wife, we have had the privilege of counselling with many couples and even performed the marriage ceremony for a few
• We have read dozens of books on Marriage, Parenting, Relationships and more….
• We have read through the Bible many times seeking for answers related to Marriage Building, Successful Parenting etc.
• For years, friends and family have sought us out for counsel or guidance on these matters – after observing our home.
• Our home has not been free of trial, struggle and trouble. And yet, we have found God’s Grace and Word sufficient to deal with all things.

During the past 20 years, we have had the pleasure of seeing many marriages strengthened, but sadly, some very close friends are now separated or divorced.

What is Relationships by faith?

Why Relationship by Faith? – Marriage, Parenting, Courtship and More… – Be Biblical, Be Practical and Be Well-informed!

After much discussion, bouncing ideas off of friends and searches online, we wanted a site name that encompasses many of the relationships we are passionate about now or find ourselves involved with today. Marriage and Parenting have always been an area of passion. But now that we have 3 young adults (19 – 22) years old), more of our attention is being directed toward “Dating” and Courtship.

During the Christmas holiday of 2013, our oldest daughter who is now in college expressed that a guy in college has expressed interest in her. As a father, this is the last thing I wanted to hear because I didn’t believe we spent enough time in the earlier years discussing pitfalls to avoid. So we decided to take a few books out of my library dealing with the subject of Dating and Courtship:

• What He Must Be …. If he wants to marry my daughter – Voddie Baucham Jr.
• Courtship & Dating: So what’s the difference? – Dennis Gunderson (Grace and Truth Books – Some of the best books avail online).

I also made a commitment to purchase a few other books on the subject.

As we read I realize that there is much that I/we have taken for granted. And then my wife and I began to discuss all the other couples and families that can benefit from this information.

We have been reading the two books together as a family and making changes in our thoughts as we go. This led my wife and me to the conclusion that the blog and podcast we were looking to produce, must go beyond Marriage and Parenting. Many parents have questions about Dating, Finances, Courtship, Health etc. And all of these relate to relationships?

But why the title: Relationships by Faith?

To be honest, as we discussed the topics we wanted to focus on and search for available domain names, nothing that made sense was available. I was listening to a broadcast and heard a phrase that gave me the idea for the name – Relationships by faith!

Every Christian relationship requires faith because often those we interact with don’t understand, appreciate or have a desire to submit themselves to the Word of God. Example, someone hurts my feelings, sins against or offends me. I don’t feel like reconciling or having a relationship with them. Yet Jesus says, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” – Mat. 6:15

A Christian must do 1 thing with this verse. Obey it or disobey. It takes faith in God and his Word/Promises to move against feelings and or trust him to deal with the person who many not feels the same way about offending me. We will set out to make the point that it takes Faith to build good relationships!