Laughs In The Ministry

To be perfectly honest there are some things to be laughed about in the ministry. Pastor Brothers we have to look at the ministry sometimes with a smile. I imagine that there are some hilarious issues that you could share. One in my book is marital counseling. Though rewarding sometimes, I personally dread performing weddings. Right now all of this is fresh in my mind as I am in the midst of counseling a couple that wants to get married very soon. I mean very soon, like a couple of months. Have you noticed that generally the woman is the one who calls the pastor and the one to set up the actual marriage date; which is ridiculous to me to set up a date before the counseling hardly begins? It is such a high priority for the woman, but I wonder sometimes if the young man feels the same way. This is a sad case to me!
The first thing I want to know when I meet with the couple is whether or not both, one or none are saved. I will say this about marital counseling it is a great way to present the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the first question that I want answered and will not continue until I know both are saved and seeking obedience in Christ. Marriage was created by God for Christian people. The next thing I want to know is whether or not the couple is living together. If they are, they need to separate until they are married. This is the big-time maker or breaker. I hope all the ministers reading this will agree that if a couple is living together they are living in sin. They are living in sin because they are doing something the Bible says not to do. I had one man tell me that just because a couple is living together does not mean that they are having sexual relations; to that I say bologna. Living together is wrong because it is not the plan of God. There are other things that I want to know in the first session of marital counseling, but I shared only two of them.
As I close, I hope you have been challenged with me not to let your standards down on marriage. Marriage is a sacred union between a husband and wife. God is glorified when men and women are obedient to Him before marriage. Brothers, the pulpit is a place where sin is preached against every week. Why should it be any different in the marital counseling session? Yet people want the minister to lower his standards and not speak harshly against pre-marital sins. I wish people could understand if sin is preached against in the pulpit it must be preached against behind closed doors in a session. You may not be asked to preside over many marriages if you address pre-marital sins, but that is alright. Who would you rather please man or God? Keep preaching/teaching the full counsel of the Word of God.