NOTE: I have invited the contributions of Stu Reimer to write in this space on the issues of marriage and family. If you follow CRC at all you will know Stu to be my frequent substitute in the pulpit and I am looking forward to his work as my substitute from time to time in this space. Expect his blogs to appear every 6 weeks or so.
Stu is no expert on the things on which I have asked him to write (Just ask his wife and children), but he is a committed reformed Christian and a committed husband and father. His opinions are his own, but I trust that reading his blogs will bring much wisdom and offer much practical value as we try to maintain biblical faithfulness in our families while navigating a strange and contrary world.
Now, on to Stu.

If you are reading this, I am led to a make a few assumptions. Either it passed by your
notice that this is not from the hands of Pastor Jared or if you are aware of the change in writer, you are intrigued enough to check it out, if nothing else to see if I can put together a coherent paragraph.
Instead of diving into any specific issue, I felt it more appropriate to begin with some
introductory groundwork so you know what can be expected. First confession, I am not a natural writer. This is in fact my first opportunity to write for public reading.
Second confession as it pertains to the issues of marriage and family that I have been
asked to write on, let me be clear I am not a licensed marriage and family counselor. The remainder of this blog will explain why that may not be such a bad thing as I tackle these issues as a theologian and not a psychologist. My belief is the field of secular counseling has no business or authority to speak over this issue. Let me now defend such a bold statement.
First, we must realize that the field of counseling and psychology is at its root
philosophical. One’s worldview will automatically determine how they will address any matter. We must never buy the myth of neutrality - God cannot be set aside when dealing with the family. Everyone is religious, the question is not whether but which. I would love to defend the belief that only a Christian worldview can fully comprehend the function of marriage but I’ll defer that for another time.
Beginning with the presupposition that Scripture is the only source of truth, we must
accept marriage must be addressed perspective. Why? Since God is the creator of marriage and the family He has full authority over it. If my GMC truck breaks down, naturally I look to a GMC manual to fix it. In this case, we have been blessed to be given the Maker’s manual on marriage: God’s Infallible Word.
This has possibly overstepped the bounds of an informal introduction but has hopefully
established that the opinions I share are drawn from Scripture and are less my own. This will not be a blog offering self-help for family issues. There are thousands of resources available offering tips on how to practically apply relationship advice to enrich the joy of living together. While things like learning each other’s love languages may not necessarily be a bad thing, if that is where we start, our marriages and families will always fall short of finding true fulfillment in our homes.
If marriage is theological because it is a God created institution, our best hope of success is to build upon strong theological foundations before we proceed to the more practical. You may be surprised that the theological might just end up being the most practically beneficial. I will continue on this idea next time.