50 Years of Marriage and Ministry: Greg and Cathe Laurie on a Strong Marriage in the Face of Tragedy

surveys show something that's just so Stark that hopelessness is pervasive today especially among today's youth who are tossing out the idea of relationship and marriage first of all can we address the cause what's causing that damaged view of relationship in marriage and how do we confront it how do we show and model as Christians the beauty of marriage the culture is effectively declared war on the family for decades now you know if you know back when I was a kid John we used to watch shows like Leave it to Beaver Father Knows Best The Donna Reed Show and all these television shows there was nintek family there was a mom and a dad and then as time passes you know we go from Father Knows Best to what Three's Company or this that's even The Simpsons or whatever and father is now a buffoon you know and you know you can almost Trace every social Lil in America today to the breakdown of the family and specifically to the absence of fathers so War has been declared on the family and and it's been happening for a long time and the and it's been said that a family can survive without a nation but a nation cannot survive without the family and so this is something that a good marriage doesn't happen by accident it's a lot of work but at the same time it's a continuing commitment one good definition I heard of the Christian Life is lung obedience in the same direction and nowadays oh well she's no longer as attractive as she wants to us or he's no longer the guy I want to be married to or having conflict let's move on trade him in for the new model I suggest to you that instead of trading them in for the new model is turn it into a classic you know and uh and so just keep doing the right thing and and maintain that commitment wedlock should be a padlock I think that marriage today is kind of ruled out but because they have not seen good models of it they have not been often raised in intact families I think rampant individualism and me first has is very destructive in any kind of relationship there has to be a willingness to yield and to hold together and as the Bible says you leave your father and mother you cleave unto your wife that there's this Union that is a a promise a commitment that goes beyond emotion because the emotions come and go Greg and I broke up three times in our courtship and there were pretty big breakups we got it out of our system ahead we still have very strong opinions we are not I disagree with that yeah there you go right there but um we have found a way in which we have been able to listen to one another come to a consensus yield give up our rights at times I give in and other times he gives in but that holding together and for the God God has designed the human heart and the human being according to his plan and his greatest design is for Human Relationships to thrive within the context of a family for two individuals they will do better when they are together than when they are alone two are better than one long term I mean you extrapolate an individual who says I'm not going to even have a dog because it's too much it asks too much of me think of that person in their 20s and 30s at the age of 60 70 or 80 years old who was there to nurture them to care for them two are better than one and then the raising and nurture of children in the security and blessing of a home that unconditional love that requires commitment and hard work and sacrifice but in the end we can tell you after 50 years every little sacrifice is well worth the huge dividends and the The Reaping of a blessing that you have no idea but it does come at a price but is worth the price yes marriage it is definitely let that be a lesson to you young people don't be afraid I think so many young people are afraid to make that commitment today because they have seen so many marriages and in unfortunately in divorce yeah and Pastor Greg I don't even know what my question's gonna end up looking like but I just want to ask you you know in the in the movie Jesus Revolution it shows your life and and how your family was was broken and the hardships that came with that and um it is so beautiful the Lord has blessed you just um with a beautiful 50-year marriage is insane what how has God just redeemed um I guess redeemed your your story redeemed what you saw growing up well my mother was married in divorced seven times and she had a bunch of boyfriends in between and she was a raging alcoholic and so I saw the emptiness of my mother's life and even as a young boy now here's a scene from my childhood it was one Christmas morning we had one of those fake artificial white Christmas trees with that little churning light you know with some funky little song playing and and my mother was passed out from a night of drinking the house smelled of stay oil smoke and I'm sitting there as a young boy on a day when you're supposed to be happy and I'm looking around and I thought it's got to get better than this and so I was on a search very early in life and and I thought when I find that right girl I wanted to be a marriage that will last for a lifetime so it was almost like a reverse Rebellion instead of rebelling against you know the Traditional Values I was rebelling against the heated value hedonistic values that ugly life of emptiness that I wanted nothing to do with and so I went in a different direction but I you know I didn't know how to find it or where to find it and when I came to Christ now everything came into focus and now I knew I needed to find a Godly girl you know and that a pretty one too both important that's not a requirement you're a happy marriage because in this case so you know but um so that's it I mean it's the Lord is intervened in so I'm glad that I can take the story of my life and use it to bring hope to other people because there might be a young person watching Jesus Revolution who's living in a miserable setting and they're thinking there's no hope for me maybe I shouldn't even keep living it's like no you can get through this and God can bring Beauty out of ashes and a a message out of a mess and a testimony out of a test so just hang in there and look to God that's it and he can get you through whatever you're going through and he can redeem it yeah I just want to thank you both for being so authentic and vulnerable because I think what happens is a lot of times people will look at this couple that's been married nearly 50 years and say oh they're perfect but everyone has baggage everyone has a history and just really appreciate you guys sharing my baggage like when we travel my suitcase is bigger than hers that's interesting before you ask this last question I just um there's one more I just feel like um the Lord is just stirring in my heart to ask you all um I know as you just mentioned your life has not been perfect and sadly I know that that includes losing a son um and that's that's an event that one can can really rock people's faith it can turn them away from the Lord but break up a marriage yeah it has and what um how have how have you all gotten through that together what has God shown you and what advice would you have for other parents who've lived through that well when I heard the news that my son died in an automobile accident it was the worst moment of my life but I'll also say this I went and I fell on my face and I just prayed God help me I couldn't believe I was hearing what I was hearing and God was there and if God had not been there trust me when I tell you I would have given up preaching but he was there and he was there in such a significant way for me and so you know it's it's not something you get over because you never get over the loss of a child but you know you get through it at first hour by hour then maybe day by day and week by week and we still desperately miss our son and long to see him but we know he's a part of our future not just a part of our past but we leaned heavily into the our faith and into the Lord and and you know trusted him and trust him and there I and I do know families that have fallen apart when a child has died and Kathy what are your thoughts I would say that um never fear the things that might happen right now pursue the Lord and study his word read the scriptures because you will find within those scriptures all kinds of people who have lived through all kinds of hardship and tragedy and I will tell you that on that day when the Lord called Christopher home every story and every tragedy that I had read and I especially the story of Ruth and Naomi Ruth lost her husband and her two children Naomi lost her husband and I saw that through that the providential hand of God would move in tremendous ways bringing even even Beauty out of ashes and brought us a redeemer and through the line of Boaz and Ruth who God brought into her life as her Kinsmen Redeemer she was able to be the great great grandmother of David and David in the line of Christ so even in the hardships I would say that if if you will study the scriptures which is scriptures don't promise an easy Road it's not all Blue Skies and Rainbows there are many who have suffered in scripture we're not alone we live in a fallen world tragedies will happen if we live long enough either we will bereave someone else or we will be bereaved those are the only two options if you live long enough you're going to see a lot of people you love go but if you don't you'll be bereaving someone else so just accept the reality that you know sooner or later unless the Lord comes first we're all going to say goodbye to loved ones or loved ones are going to say goodbye to us however in the midst of all of that Jesus is present he is with us he has a plan he has a purpose and through the death of our son although we will always call that a horrible day it was a horrific day I will never look at that day and say that day was good I will say God has brought incredible bless passing into our lives nothing less than giving us our own son Jonathan who was living a wayward life he brought him back to himself through the death of his brother and so you know there have been beautiful things we've had incredible Ministry to to moms and dads who have lost children we can walk into that pain without fear and say you can make it Jesus is with you lean on him he will take you day by day through this and so um I would just say hold tight read the word their promises all throughout scripture that he will redeem even the hard things in our life amen such a powerful word and I can't think of a better place actually to end so thank you for sharing that story of pain but also Redemption you know one of the things I know all of us have experienced loss and one of the things in in my recent loss is I'm just experiencing God's loving kindness affection so thank you for sharing and you know when we lose the loved one we don't lose them you don't lose some think when you know where it is so the Christian doesn't say goodbye as much as we say to a fellow Christian who's Gone to Heaven see you later so that's very important that's our faith is uh as There's Hope because we know life on Earth is not all there is there's an afterlife and we'll see our loved ones again Jesus said I'm the resurrection of the life he that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live whoever lives and Believes In Me shall never die amen well Greg and Kathy Laurie thank you so much for joining us for this very special edition again thank you for your authenticity and time thank you

Channel: CBN News

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Id: hKoEj3bPsjw

Length: 12min 49sec (769 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 02 2023