“A fundamental presupposition of the Christian faith is that there will be growth out of sin into righteousness” (Jay E. Adams, Christian Living in the Home, 12).

“Well-crafted speeches are like good jazz music–variations on a rich theme. They relate all content and delivery to one major thesis. . . . Listeners deserve to know the main point of any presentation. Therefore, we speakers ought to ask ourselves, What’s the principle point of my speech? That point is the speech’s main idea or thesis” (Quentin Schultze, An Essential Guide to Public Speaking, 56-57).

“Expository preaching is text-centered and audience-focused” (eds. Keith Willhite and Scott M. Gibson, The Big Idea of Biblical Preaching: Connecting the Bible to People, 14).

“A truly Christian home is a place where active sinners live; but it is also a place where the members of that home admit the fact and understand the problem, know what to do about it, and as a result grow by grace” (Jay E. Adams, Christian Living in the Home, 11).

 All of redemptive history works toward the goal of glorifying God. As Paul says in Romans 11:36: For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. As the Westminster Divines stated in the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? 

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God,and to enjoy him forever.

From the Preface to the Second Edition of John Witte Jr.’s From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition.

Statistics tell the bald American story, which has parallels in other Western cultures. Since 1975, roughly one-quarter of all pregnancies were aborted. One-third of all children were born to single mothers. One-half of all marriages ended in divorce. Two-thirds of all African American children were raised without a father present. Children from broken homes proved two to three times more likely to have behavioral and learning problems than children from two-parent homes. Single mothers faced four times the rates of bankruptcy and eviction. More than two-thirds of juveniles and young adults convicted of major felonies came from single- or no-parent homes. So much is well known. Though these numbers have improved over the past decade, they bring little cheer. 

What is less well known, and what brings more cheer, is that the Western tradition has faced family crises on this scale before. And apocalyptic jeremiads about the end of civil society have been uttered many times before. What brings cheer is that the Western tradition of marriage has always found the resources to heal and reinvent itself, to strike new balances between orthodoxy and innovation, order and liberty, with regard to our enduring and evolving sexual, marital, and familial norms and habits.

“Is it [a Christian home] an idyllic place where peace and quiet, tranquility and joy continuously reign? Definitely not! The first and most important fact to remember about a truly Christian home is that sinners live there” (Jay E. Adams, Christian Living in the Home, 10).

“I do not believe that regeneration s a mystery spark, hidden down deep in our hearts. Rather, it is the result of God’s supernatural work, by which He restores nature” (Douglas Wilson, Against the Church, 36).

“[T]he first lesson of every disciple is joy” (Douglas Wilson, Against the Church, 32).

“After baptism has taken place, everything else is part of Christian discipleship — teaching the baptized to obey all that Christ commanded” (Douglas Wilson, Against the Church, 30).