Pete Lackey, MBC’s Director of Preparing for Marriage, has some good news to share regarding the Fall session of Preparing For Marriage:

It is a pleasure to serve with such a dedicated staff at a church where God in His sovereignty has chosen to place His touch.

God has provided an amazing “Bench” of Marriage Coaches committed to Preparing for Marriage, and for that I am grateful. I spent the summer updating all of the course materials with a stronger focus on comparing and contrasting the Christian worldview of Marriage with the Secular Humanistic worldview marriage (what we ALL get in college and the media) to show that Christianity is true. Then the material is presented and moved to application through the amazing couples that serve as Marriage Coaches. Ah, and then from here this serves as a truth bridge that asks “if Christianity is true regarding the most important relationship with another human being, does it not make sense that Christianity is true regarding the most significant relationship of all–with God Himself!” This is where we step though a 45 minute “from Creation to Christ” gospel presentation in week 10. As you all know this is critical! God is not a Sunday only God but a Sunday – Saturday God who wants all of YOU and not just an hour a week. This is one participant’s thoughts regarding a Biblical surprise:

“The program has indeed helped me grow spiritually in that it answered a lot of the questions I had about God, and about my own faith. The bible verses used in the course were also very helpful because they showed me God’s stance on things that I never thought would be in the bible (debt, for example).”

- The Lord continues to send non-believers to this class through their friends who have taken the class–Praise Jesus they feel welcomed! This class crossed three generations of people ranging from the mid-twenties to the mid-sixties! During this Fall session we had 4 people accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! Two of them were a couple in their 60′s! One of the four was a guy who had his fiancé’s whole family praying for him because they were concerned about their daughter being unequally yoked. What is great about them coming to Christ during PFM is that the Marriage Coach’s are there to disciple them along. One of his coach’s said that “during the gospel presentation a lot of his science questions were answered and challenged so when the opportunity came he was in.”

- We also had 16 people recommit their life to Christ and commit to developing a Christian Worldview. One of them who wandered from the faith in his teens wrote: “Thank you so much for your guidance. I’ve had a long story, but I am ready to start over. I am so excited. Thank you!”

A few additional notes from the surveys and the response cards:

• “This class has been incredible and has really changed our relationship and my life…”
• “I got great wisdom and Christian deposits for my life as an example for others and my future wife!”
• “Your words have opened my eyes and my heart to so many new things. my fiancé and I have gained such valuable information that will help us in the future.”
• “Truly foundational information shared”
• “Intelligent design discussion was eye opening”
• “It’s made us talk about topics we hadn’t talked about either because we hadn’t thought about it or were pushing them off as “not important right now.”
• “I am a believer and the science information provided on 10/21 was excellent!”
• “This class was such a blessing for us individually and as a couple.”

And finally I like how one couple called PFM an “Investment”

“Once you are engaged, I would tell people that they have made the second most important decision of their life (only to their commitment to God/salvation). This is literally the most important human relationship you have, and it requires investment. The PFM class is just that – an investment. But, it is just a start to get you talking about the things you need to talk about. It is a critical component of the engagement process. We as people seek advice from others in so many ways (investment, when buying a car, etc), but for some reason, we have a tendency to not want advice when it comes to relationships. The PFM class was worth its weight in gold – and it is an absolute must for anyone who is serious about guarding their marriage and establishing the right foundation.”

Please pray for this Spring class that is usually our largest!