Last night, our church finished a "Marriage Matters" Seminar which was conducted by Dr. Jerry and Lynn Jones of St. Louis, Missouri. This was a very good seminar. Let me tell you how good.
Jerry and Lynn bring to this seminar much knowledge, much experience, and a life spent walking with God. And, they have lived long enough to experience pain. One has experienced the death of a spouse after 35 years of marriage, and the other experienced divorce after 23 years of marriage. They have been married since 1995.
Jerry is a longtime minister and former chair of the Bible department for a Christian college. Lynn is an experienced psychotherapist who has worked with many, many people.
What so many in our church found refreshing was their authenticity. They spoke of the difficulties in their own lives. They freely confessed imperfection. They offered hope. They both spoke with a deep and abiding conviction that we are all broken people and that God is the one hope for us all.
The seminar schedule was interesting. They spoke for a total of six hours on Sunday. Each evening they spoke for two hours. "Did people really come?" Oh yes. Married. Single. Divorced. Young and old. People came, and many invited others to come with them. You might look at this from a distance and wonder how this happens. I really don’t think that people start out by saying, "I think I will spend thirteen hours over these four days listening to this couple." No, my sense was that people started out listening to them and felt very connected after a few hours. Many of the people at our church were there for the whole seminar.
You might enjoy looking at their website: "Marriage Matters."
The Jones were so real. And easy to follow. And fun to listen to. We did not get to be there the whole time due to illness and schedules that could not be altered. But every hour we were there we learned something significant. I can’t stop thinking about it. It truly was a blessing for us! I’m so grateful to all who worked to bring them here and who graciously took care of our kids!
Jim, I’m not a regular at your church, but I was there for the seminar on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. My wife and I thought it was excellent and I just wanted to thank you and the other leaders at your church for bringing Jerry and Lynn to Waco. The kind people at your church who volunteered to watch the children made our attendance possible (we have two under 4), so we are also grateful for their willingness to help in that way.
S.G.Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it and were blessed by it. I enjoyed it very much as well.
Mark,Thanks so much for your kind note. I am glad that you and your wife were a part of this. I too thought it was excellent. I will pass on your words to our child care workers.