RFPA Blog News

"It will not only help your children...it will also challenge you in your own marriage"

Preparing for Dating and Marriage by Cory Griess. Reviewed by Dr. Sacha Walicord, pastor of Walker United Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, visiting Professor Akademie fuer Reformatorische Theologie (Reformed Theological Seminary), Giessen, Germany.

Many Christian parents have lost countless nights’ sleep over their child’s unwise dating or marriage decisions. Much heartache has been caused by covenant children who entered the “dating game” or even marriage in an unprepared way. Much of this heartache and many tears could have been avoided if parents just had had a tool that helped them teach their children how to look for a godly spouse. Cory Griess’ very readable devotional seeks to fill exactly this gap as it is not only written from a sound biblical perspective but also in a warm and easy-to-understand tone. This is not your classical self-help book, but it is written for an audience 7th grade and up to be used as a family devotional guide in thirty-one brief and straightforward lessons.

Now available! Preparing for Dating and Marriage: A 31-Day Family Devotional

Now available! Preparing for Dating and Marriage: A 31-Day Family Devotional by new author, Rev. Cory Griess Cory Griess is a pastor in the Protestant Reformed Churches of America. He and his wife, Lael, live in Grand Rapids, MI where he currently pastors the First Protestant Reformed Church. The Lord has given him and his wife six children, all born in Northwest Iowa where he pastored for nine years before moving to Michigan in 2018.     Each meditation in this book...

Coming soon! Preparing for Dating and Marriage: A 31-Day Family Devotional

Coming mid-August! Preparing for Dating and Marriage: A 31-Day Family Devotional by new author, Rev. Cory Griess  Cory Griess is a pastor in the Protestant Reformed Churches of America. He and his wife, Lael, live in Grand Rapids, MI where he currently pastors the First Protestant Reformed Church. The Lord has given him and his wife six children, all born in Northwest Iowa where he pastored for nine years before moving to Michigan in 2018.   Each meditation in this...

Books for your Valentine

It’s Valentine’s Day! It’s the day to buy your wife or girlfriend (or mom!) flowers and chocolates and a nice dinner, and…a book?

Hey, why not? Valentine’s Day is supposed to be all about love, and we’ve got books that speak about love from a biblical perspective.

And you don’t have to limit your gift to your significant other. Consider getting these titles for your teenage children. Help them to start their romantic relationships off on the right foot.

A book on marriage for “laypersons and preachers alike”

Marriage: The Mystery of Christ and the Church is a Reformed pastor’s instruction and exhortation to married couples, especially young married couples, with the purpose that they glorify God in their marriages and enjoy the bliss of this blessed communion of life.

Biblical, practical, God-focused, and Reformed

January 15, 2020 Standard Bearer preview article

Marital communication—The sweetest words

Let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice.—Song of Solomon 2:14

There are many interpretations on the Song of Solomon, yet most would agree it contains lovely communication between a bridegroom and his bride. The two sing one another’s praise. They speak with love and respect. Their speech involves sharing personal thoughts, including inmost longings, in safety. There is mutual trust. This level of communication is a giving of oneself, a way of saying, “I want to know you and I want you to know me.” There are no substitutes for heart to heart talks in marriage.

"Radically different in that it seeks the glory of God in our dating relationships"

The world in which we live continues under the lie, the lie with which Satan tempted Eve and the lie which the heart of the natural man continues to indulge. This lie says that man is as God and can know all things, good and evil—even about dating.

And what if we don’t know?

Just do what everybody else is doing. Or at least Google it.

Dating Differently, subtitled A Guide to Reformed Dating, is radically different from what is above described.

It's here!

October 15, 2019 Standard Bearer preview article

In a world that has perverted and idolized sex, we need to have a proper attitude toward sex. God has made each of us a sexual being, either male or female, and each of us will either use or abuse the gift of sex.

Only the Scriptures can give us a proper perspective on human sexuality. God created us with this gift, and God knows our sinful inclinations with regard to sex. The Scriptures speak plainly and purely about sex, powerfully warning us against the dangers of its abuse, as well as extolling its blessedness when used as God in­tends.

Because there is not a word in Scripture that can be harmful to the believer, and because Scripture speaks openly about sex, we must also discuss this subject openly and biblically with our children. If we do not do this, then they will inevitably learn the wrong lessons about sex from peers and culture.

Arriving in one week!

Announcing a new book for teens on Christian dating!

  DATING DIFFERENTLY: A Guide to Reformed Dating by Joshua Engelsma Coming October 2019! We’re bombarded with antichristian messages everywhere in life, and from casual hookups to casual sex, our culture’s messages on dating are no different.But Christians don’t have to follow these norms. The Bible gives us a better way.It’s a way of chastity and wisdom. A way that understands that marriage—the end goal of dating—is for life. The person you marry will shape who you become spiritually. And that...

Dating Differently chapter preview: Who's the One?

In many ways this chapter gets right to the heart of Christian dating. What I write here is devoted to helping answer the question, “Whom should I be dating? What do I look for in a boyfriend or girlfriend?” Once you’ve answered the questions raised in the previous chapter—Why do you want to date? Are you ready to date?—then you’re ready to ask yourself the next question: “Who’s the one?”

I’m not sure it’s possible to overstate the importance of this question and its answer. What makes marriage the most important decision you might ever make is that you are going to be living with that person for the rest of your life. You’d better be quite sure before you enter into the lifelong bond of marriage that you know exactly the kind of person you are marrying.

Christian Marriage