Alan R. Staples

The Christian Marriage Combination Alan R. Staples

Discover how to have a permanent marriage, where you and your spouse live your lives dedicated to God and to one another. As Christians, we should understand that God intends for us to marry once. God expects our marriages to be permanent and we need to marry correctly (hopefully the first time) in order to live our lives as he expects us to live them, until death separates us. The message in Malachi 2:16, is that God hates divorce. Based on known marriage statistics, most married couples either are not aware of this stern message or they chose to put their own needs ahead of their spouse and their marriage. In order to get married and stay married, couples should practice the spiritual disciplines together. Employing spiritual disciplines, while putting God first, your spouse second, and yourself third, will greatly increase your contentment and the longevity of your marriage. Discussion Questions Included for Bible Studies or Pre-Marriage Sessions Alan earned two degrees from Texas Tech University. His bachelor's degree is in Human Development and Family Studies - a Family Studies major with a minor in Chemical Dependency treatment. His master's degree is in Educational Psychology, with a Community Counseling focus and he is certified in William Glasser's Reality Therapy. He married his wife, Alison, in 1993 and they have three children. Alan began his career providing vocational rehabilitation counseling in a full-time role in the insurance services industry while also working in private practice as an individual and group counseling therapist as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Alan moved into management with his company and then became a health care and change management consultant. Today, Alan works in middle management in Corporate-America, leads a small group bible study, is the founder of GHD Ministries, and is a Christian author and speaker.