July 19, 2022 Show with Katie Garraway on “Courtship & Its Advantages Over Dating”

or listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is

Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this 19th day of July 2022.

Many of you likely heard an interview that I did recently, a fascinating interview that I conducted on July 1st with Vincent Sawyer, an old friend of mine dating back to the early 1990s.

Pastor Vinnie has been one of my closest friends who has remained a friend for all these years, and we remain in regular contact, not as frequently as I'd like, but we do at least several times a year have a conversation.

And I'd like to interview him more often as well. But we had, I think, a superb interview on what the

Bible teaches about marriage, a commitment to dedicate your home to Christ.

Well, after that interview was over, Vinnie strongly urged me to interview his daughter,

Katie, Katie Garraway, who is co -founder with her husband

Caleb of Renmin Ministries. And he strongly urged me to do so.

And because I have such a high regard for Vinnie and his discernment, and know that he would not be urging me to interview his daughter just because she is his daughter,

I took him up on that commendation of his daughter and his very strong recommendation for me to interview her, and especially since the subject is,

I think, very important. As I said, Katie is co -founder with her husband

Caleb of Renmin Ministries. And today we are addressing courtship and its advantages over dating.

And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Iron Trump and Zion Radio, Katie Garraway.

Thank you so much for having me. No pressure, you know, right? My dad gave me this big recommendation.

I have a lot to live up to, right? I will try to live up to his high recommendation of me.

I'm sure you will do just fine. And in fact, I will nearly guarantee the last time

I saw you, you were a tiny little girl. And it's amazing how time flies now that you are not only adult, but a married woman with children, and a married woman with children operating a

Christian ministry with your husband. And tell us about Renmin Ministries.

Well, my husband and I got married 12 years ago. And the year before that,

Caleb started traveling in evangelism. So if any listeners are listening and don't really know what the ministry of evangelism is, that is where we travel around the country, sometimes even around the world, but primarily in America.

And we travel most of the year ministering in churches for the purpose of seeking revival, stirring up the hearts of God's remnants, whether that be large or small, to stand for God, to stay strong in this dark, sinful day that we live in.

And just through music, that's a big part of our ministry. We sing together. I have written many songs.

We sell music books, and music CDs, and different things like that. And we sing in churches as we travel.

And then, of course, through preaching, Caleb preaching on topics of revival, holding lots of revival meetings.

We do things with young people, teenagers. We just came from a Christian camp last week.

The week before that, we were doing a youth conference in Texas. So we do a lot of meetings with the youth, trying to encourage them to live for God.

And we even do children things sometimes, like vacation Bible schools and things like that.

So Christian school, chapel services, and different things. So it's kind of a broad ministry, but we stay busy, and we enjoy.

It's a lot of fun. Well, praise God for that. And for any of our listeners who want to investigate that ministry further, the website is

RemnantMinistriesOnline .com, RemnantMinistriesOnline .com.

And we will be sure to repeat that later on in the program. In fact, to start the program off,

I'd like to play a song that you have recorded. I'm going to start with Faithful to the

Cross. Can you tell us about this song before I play it? Oh, yes. So we recorded that song a couple of years ago.

We do the recording in our home. We have a home studio. We do all of our singing there. But this was our first album to record live orchestration for.

So we went to Indiana. We had the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra play for this album. Wow. You'll hear beautiful orchestration.

It's a beautiful song. And actually, that's one of my favorite songs. And I still remember we recorded it just about a month before Caleb's dad passed away from pancreatic cancer.

Oh, wow. About three years ago now, three and a half years ago. And so as we were singing that song, recording it, editing, mixing, doing all of that work for it, you'll hear in the lyrics.

I mean, it felt like we were singing about Caleb's dad. And of course, it's our prayer that we would be faithful to the finish line as well, just like Caleb's dad was.

Anyway, it's a special song. Yeah, well, my mom also went home to be with the

Lord as a result of pancreatic cancer in 1995. And I'm almost certain your dad was present at the funeral since I was living in New York at the time.

And your dad at the time was pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Corona, Queens, New York.

By the way, I think I forgot to mention where your dad is currently pastoring,

Victory Baptist Church in Port Charlotte, Florida. And let me give the website for that church as well, because I think so highly of Vinny and want to promote that fine congregation.

Salvationvictory .com is the website for Pastor Vincent Sawyer's church, Victory Baptist Church in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Salvationvictory .com. And hopefully, I'll remember to repeat that also at the end of the program.

But before I play the song, how did you get in contact with, was it the

Indianapolis Symphony? I can't remember. How did you get in touch with them?

And how did you get them to agree to cooperate with you on the recording? OK, so we have friends who have recorded orchestrations for their ministry.

You've probably heard of Patch the Pirate. Have you heard of Majesty Music? Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Yes. OK, so they go to Indiana and record every year. Once or twice a year, they do various recordings and CDs with that orchestra.

They go to Airborne Studios in Indianapolis. And Airborne Studios rents the orchestra, brings in all the players.

And most of them are from the Indianapolis Symphony. So they are super professional, amazingly talented instrumentalists.

And so we are friends with the folks at Majesty Music, Ron and Shelly Hamilton. And she recommended, she said, instead of doing, because I used to do digital orchestration.

And I used to do it all myself. But now with four kids, homeschooling, traveling, life is a little crazy.

And so she said, you could have a live orchestra do it. And then that would save you a lot of time.

And so it's very expensive. But it was an investment we decided that we were willing to make.

And so, yeah, we go there to Indiana. And we go to Airborne Studios. And they record there. And we hire them to play for us.

Well, praise God. Well, folks, here it is, Faithful to the Cross. ["Faithful to the

Cross"] Some follow after fortune and fame.

So when they're gone, the world will remember their name.

But I am learning that what matters most can't be held in my hands.

And that riches aren't the measure of the worth of a man.

It's found in thee. Faithful to the cross, faithful to His call, laying down my life, surrendering my all, forgetting what's behind me, and counting it as one, faithful to the finish, faithful to the cross.

Run so I can finish my race.

I will stand for Christ and keep the faith.

And when at last I stand before the throne,

I want to hear Him say, my child, well done, that my heavenly

Father would be proud of this son.

So may my life be faithful to the cross, faithful to His call, laying down my life, surrendering my all, forgetting what's behind me, and counting it as one, faithful to the finish, faithful to the cross.

So let this be the legacy for those who follow after me.

We were faithful to the cross, faithful to His call, laying down our lives, surrendering our all, forgetting what's behind us, and counting it as one, faithful to the cross, faithful to the finish, faithful to the finish, faithful to the cross, faithful to the cross, faithful to the cross.

Hallelujah. That was breathtaking. In fact, I think I'll be too embarrassed to ever sing in public again.

And we'll start lip syncing at church during the hymn song. No. So I'm assuming that was

Caleb, who was, you were a part of it, but Caleb took the dominant role in that song, I'm assuming?

Yes. Yes, sir. Yep. Well, that was absolutely beautiful. Well, we have a custom here that every time we have a first -time guest on the program, we have that guest give a summary of their salvation testimony, so I would love to hear your story.

Sure. So I was privileged, as you know, to grow up in a Christian home and a pastor's home in New York my whole life, really, for 26 years.

And so we moved there when I was two, and so it's all I remember, you know, growing up. I grew up there in Queens.

And I was blessed to be able to hear the Bible stories of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and shedding

His blood for us and, you know, heaven and hell and just, you know, all the stories that we take for granted when we grow up with them, but some people have never even heard before.

And so I knew that Jesus died on the cross for sinners, but I had never made it personal for me and trusted

Him to be my Savior until I was the summer, July of 1991, and I was a little five -year -old girl.

And one night, it was a Saturday night, and I went to bed. I must have had a scary dream or something in the night because I woke up that next morning,

Sunday morning, very, very scared about going to hell. And I knew

I am a sinner. Without a Savior, I will need to pay for my sins in hell, and I don't want to have to go there.

And so I ran out of my room. I went and found my mom. She was getting things ready for my dad's message that morning.

He would write notes and take notes and study all week, and then she would type it all out for him on Sunday morning.

And so I found her at the computer typing, and I just said, Mommy, I need to get saved. I need to ask

Jesus to save me. And so she stopped what she was doing. She went with me to the couch in our living room, opened up her

Bible, shared with me the verses that were familiar to me that I had grown up hearing, like John 3, 16, that says,

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

And other verses, like from Romans, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And then, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And just verses that I had heard before, but I had never made personal for me and accepted in my heart.

And so I decided to trust in Jesus for my faith and trust in Jesus to be my personal

Savior that day. And I knelt down there by the side of that rough old plaid couch.

I still remember it clearly in my mind. And I just gave my life to the

Lord and I asked Him to save me. And I've never doubted it since. I know that I'm on my way to Heaven and when

I breathe my last breath, whether that's tomorrow or one day when I'm 70 or 80, and after a long, full life,

I know where I will go and I know where I'll spend eternity and I'm thankful for that. And so I was able to grow up as a pastor's daughter and serve the

Lord there in my dad's church and we went to a Christian camp when I was 11 and I surrendered my life to the

Lord for whatever He wanted me to do with my future and with my life. And so I'm just thankful for how

God has, of course, saved me and then how He's led me through my life. Praise God.

Now, how young were you at that time? How old was I when I got saved? Yes. I was five.

Wow! That is an extraordinary experience. I've heard about childhood conversions that young, but five is amazing because I can remember when

I was a kid, and I was probably even older than five, the only time I can remember praying to Jesus was, please don't let me strike out when we're playing baseball and make a fool of myself.

And please don't let me have any cavities when I go to the dentist. It took a lot more years of rebellion before the

Lord brought me to my knees. But I always praise God when I hear how He rescued and preserved some of His people at the youngest of ages to spare them from going through any kind of overtly and scandalously ugly periods in their life.

Now, talk about your high school years and the decisions you made regarding purity during that time. Yes. And so, as I got into high school, of course,

I was still living in a Christian home with my dad, the pastor, and helping in the church. And I was blessed to be able to be homeschooled, which that was a gift that God allowed my parents to be burdened to do for us kids, all four of us kids.

And so we were able to be spared from a lot of what goes on in just the public school realm and even in a lot of Christian schools and things like that.

So we were able to be homeschooled and be able to have more time for music and ministry and serving the

Lord. And we were busy, you know, as a pastor's family. But in high school, of course, you start thinking about, okay, you know, one day

I'm going to get married. Who will that be? How will I know who the right one is?

Am I going to date a lot of different guys and then hopefully end up with the right one?

How will that work? And I was very blessed, again, to receive a lot of teaching and preaching from my dad, my pastor, on courtship or what you could call biblical dating as opposed to the world version of dating.

And the way my dad always taught it from God's Word and from his wisdom was, you know, biblical dating or biblical courtship is with your parents' involvement.

It's a time where, you know, you don't just date around. You wait for the right one. You have your parents involved for the purpose of marriage.

And so I feel like that is a lost mindset, a lost concept, even in Christianity, but especially in the world today.

You know, I feel like the world looks at dating as it's just recreational. It's fun.

It's, you know, I just want to feel loved and so I need a boyfriend. And, you know, just things like that.

And there's so much impurity that comes with all of that. And so I learned at a young age, you know, to have the desire and God put the desire in my heart to stay pure and to just wait on God.

And so in high school, I started praying that God would not allow me to date anyone until it was the one he wanted me to marry.

And I know that's kind of an odd prayer to pray. But I just, I wanted God's will and I wanted

God's best. And I didn't want to settle for something that might have been good but not

God's best. And so I said, Lord, even if it means waiting a little bit longer,

I just want your will and I don't want to date anyone until it's the one you want for me.

And I told my parents. I had a close communication and relationship with my parents through those years.

And so they knew that I was praying that. And they were praying that for me as well and encouraging me in that. And that's so important for young people to have that accountability and then also that counsel, you know, the godly counselors in their life, whether that can be their parents or, you know, if they don't have godly

Christian parents, their pastor and their pastor's wife or someone like that could be that for them. But anyway, through my high school years,

I prayed that. And then as I got closer to my college years, I started to get a little nervous because I knew

God wanted me to go to Bible college and I was planning for that and excited about that. But, you know, as we were growing up, we always had in our minds, well, when you get to Bible college, you know, your future husband's probably there.

And so, you know, just get ready because that's where you're going to meet your husband and, you know, whatever. And I had that in my head.

So I started praying, Lord, you know, as I go to Bible college, I still only want to date one person and I want it to be the one that you have for me that you know that I'm going to marry one day.

So I furthered that prayer by praying, Lord, don't even let anyone be interested in me until it's the one that you want me to marry because I was afraid

I would get to college. And, you know, what if five different guys, godly guys, all want to date me at the same time?

How am I going to know which one to say yes to, you know? I could have that dilemma, you never know.

And so anyway, I prayed that and God really answered that prayer. It wasn't always easy, but God answered my prayers and I went through Bible college.

I got an associate's degree in Bible at a Bible college in Wisconsin and then a couple years later,

I ended up studying graphic design for three semesters down in Pensacola, Florida.

And during all those years of Bible college and all those years of when I kind of expected my future husband to enter my life, no one did.

And, you know, there were times when I would kind of look around or look in the mirror and be like, why did

I pray that? What is wrong with me? Why does no one want to date me?

Surely someone will, you know, come into my life and who will he be and where will

I meet him? But then I had to just keep reminding myself, you prayed this, God is just protecting you and answering your prayer and one day when you're on the other side of it, you can look back and see

His hand in all of it and be thankful for these years of waiting and know that God had it all under control, you know, even though sometimes it's hard and, you know, of course

I would doubt or whatever, but God spared me from, you know, the wrong relationships, just the heartache or the drama of dating around and just the breakups and all that comes with that and, you know,

I was able to just spend time with groups of friends, which I highly recommend to young people all the time if I'm teaching on purity or, you know, dating and courtship and things like that.

And I feel like with courtship, that's such a blessing to be able to just feel comfortable around guys, you know, and the guys in your life and do things in groups, hang out in groups,

I feel like you get to know guys better when you're in a group and not off alone on a date where, you know, the temptations or the chances for impurity would be higher and so anyway,

God really rewarded those prayers and it wasn't always easy but God answered those prayers so after all those years of college

God brought Caleb into my life and it's funny because he went to a different Bible college in Oklahoma and he traveled every summer on the men's tour group representing the college and they would travel and sing all summer long in churches all over America and his last summer he ended up having a meeting with our church in Queens, New York and he and the men's quartet came and sang at our church and our parents knew each other our parents had been friends for a few years and I had known who he was but I had never gotten to meet him in person and when

I met him in person I was just shocked, you know, that such an amazing man was still single and hadn't been taken already because he had already graduated that May and he was traveling one last summer there and this is going back now, this is 2008, so we're going back a ways but anyway, he sang with the men's tour group at our church for three days and I was very impressed with him, but I had met godly guys in the past and none of them had ever approached me or been interested in me or approached my dad, which is what we had always believed in regards to courtship, you know when the guy is interested he doesn't just ask the girl out on a date and they just go off into the sunset together he goes to her dad, that's biblical you know, and he goes to her dad and he expresses interest to her dad and then the dad is able, this is one of the blessings of courtship the dad is able to screen the young men for the daughter and so if the daughter is not interested she just has to say, dad, it's a no and then she avoids a lot of drama and, you know, awkwardness because then the dad can just tell the guy, no, sorry you know, she's not interested or whatever and so that was a blessing that I had so I had told my parents, this guy

Caleb Garraway, he's amazing you know, like, I could see myself I remember saying, I could see myself marrying someone like him, can you pray that someone like Caleb Garraway comes into my life one day, and so they were praying for me and with me through those years, and little did

I know, Caleb took an interest in me, although he didn't express it or let on that he was interested at all, and so he ended up leaving after the meeting and they went on to their next meeting that summer, and he called his parents and he said,

I think I met the one and his parents were like, what? Who? Who is she? You know and he said, remember the lawyers in New York City and they had known our family and they said, yes, of course you remember them and he said,

I think their daughter Katie is the one that God has for me, and so, anyway they continued to pray about it for a few months and meanwhile, you know,

I was trying to put him out of my mind because I said well, clearly he's not the one or something would have happened already, you know and so I'm trying to forget about him and meanwhile he's praying about me and so God just worked out all the details and I don't know how much detail you want right now, but God worked it all out and Caleb was my first boyfriend my first date my first, you know, saying

I love you to each other, all of that. Caleb was the one and only and is the one and only still to this day, so we've been married now for 12 years so God is good and God rewarded those prayers and really blessed me and I'm very thankful for that.

Amen, praise God. We're going to our first station break and if anybody would like to send in a question for Katie Garraway on courtship versus dating our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail dot com

C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N Z -E -N at gmail dot com please give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence and please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal or private matter and I can understand that this subject might compel some of our listeners to remain anonymous because some of the situations involved in courtship and dating might be intensely personal and may involve people with a broken heart, it may involve parents whose children or child is dating someone that they disapprove of, it could be a whole host of reasons why you would want to remain anonymous but if it's just a general question, please give us at least your first name your city and state and your country of residence if you live outside of the

USA so don't go away we're gonna be right back after these messages from our sponsors music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music

It seems like it is nearly impossible to find good curriculum out there today that is true to the

Word of God and is built upon sound doctrine. Much less, it's hard to find curriculum that will actually teach people how to study the

Bible. Hi there, my name is Jordan Too and I am the Executive Director of the Baptist Publishing House.

Our ministry is dedicated to providing local churches with sound Bible study resources.

Our quarterly curriculum is titled The Baptist Expositor and for good reason, we are

Baptist and we exegete the scriptures. If you want to have a curriculum that teaches your people how to study the

Word of God, I invite you to go to our website, download a free study, baptistpublishinghouse .com.

May God bless you. It's such a blessing to hear from Iron Sharpens Iron radio listeners from all over the world.

Here's Joe Reilly, a listener in Ireland who wants you to know about a guest on the show he really loves hearing interviewed,

Dr. Joe Moorcraft. I'm Joe Reilly, a faithful Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener here in Atai in County Kildare, Ireland.

Going back to 2005, one of my very favorite guests on Iron Sharpens Iron is

Dr. Joe Moorcraft. If you've been blessed by Iron Sharpens Iron radio, Dr. Moorcraft and Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia are largely to thank since they are one of the program's largest financial supporters.

Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming is in Forsyth County, a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Heritage is a thoroughly biblical church, unwaveringly committed to Westminster standards and Dr.

Joe Moorcraft is the author of an eight -volume commentary on the larger catechism. Heritage is a member of the

Hanover Presbytery built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, and tracing its roots and heritage back to the great

Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Heritage maintains and follows the biblical truth and principles proclaimed by the reformers, scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone,

Christ alone, and God's glory alone. Their primary goal is the worship of the triune God that continues in eternity.

For more details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit heritagepresbyterianchurch .com.

That's heritagepresbyterianchurch .com, or call 678 -954 -7831.

That's 678 -954 -7831. If you visit, tell them

Joe Reilly, an Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener from a tie in County Kildare, Ireland, sent you.

If you're near retirement or thinking about retiring, you probably have questions. How do you make your savings last?

How much should you take out and when? You're ready for retirement, but are your finances?

Art Amundsen, an Edward Jones financial advisor, can help you build a strategy to help make sure your finances keep up with your long -term needs.

Do what it takes to get there. Now it's time to make the most of retirement. Visit edwardjones .com.

That's edwardjones .com, or call 717 -258 -4688.

717 -258 -4688. We here at Iron Sharpens Iron radio are forever grateful for the generous financial support of Art Amundsen, Edward Jones financial advisor in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Call 717 -258 -4688 today. As a mother,

I was looking for a magazine that would include devotionals that I could quickly do before school and had theology and doctrine made very simple for children to understand that they could read themselves or I could walk them through.

There's tiered content so that you can go to the older group and learn more or go to a younger section and it's even more simple.

Join us on our journey in developing our magazine entitled Ignited by the

Word, which engages and ignites the hearts of our children and young people in their walk with God.

Order Ignited by the Word for your home today at ignitedbytheword .org.

Learn more information and subscribe now at ignitedbytheword .org and receive your first two issues free and put good literature in your children's hands.

When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the

NASB. This is Darrell Bernard Harrison, co -host of the Just Thinking Podcast, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Tom Buck at First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Kent Keller of Faith Bible Church in Sharpsburg, Georgia, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Andrew Rappaport, the founder and executive director at Striving for Eternity Ministries, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Mark Romaldi, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Greenbrier, Tennessee, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Christopher Cookston, pastor of Prineville Community Church in Prineville, Oregon, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Matt Tarr, pastor of High Point Baptist Church in Larksville, Pennsylvania, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?

Consider restocking your pews with the NASB, and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Go to nasbible .com, that's nasbible .com, to place your order.

Welcome back. This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and our guest today for the full program is

Katie Garraway, and she and her husband Caleb are co -founders of Remnant Ministries.

If you'd like to join us on the air, our email address is chrisarnzen at gmail .com,

C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -N at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence.

Only remain anonymous if your question is about a personal or private matter. Before I go to any listener questions, perhaps you could give a more thorough and detailed outline of what would be a definition of courtship, and a definition of dating, and how those two things are contrasted with one another.

Sure. So I feel like sometimes when you say the word courtship, people think, you know, betrothal or something way off in left field.

So it's not anything that crazy. Obviously the guy and the girl have a choice in the matter and have a say and, you know, make decisions and things like that.

But I feel like really what sets them apart is one will help you remain pure till marriage and one kind of helps let that impurity get in.

And so if you're a believer, if you're a Christian, a child of God, God has commanded different parts of the

Bible, but, you know, 1 Peter 1, 16, be holy, for I am holy, 1 Thessalonians 4, where, you know,

God says abstain from fornication, live in sanctification and honor, not in lust, not going to lust, don't defraud his brother,

God has not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness. So those are just a couple verses really quickly. But so as a child of God, our goal should be purity until marriage and save all of that for our future husband, in my case, or your future wife, if you're a gentleman listening.

And so for us, courtship is really, you could say it's dating with a purpose, it's dating with accountability, it's having your parents involved.

If you don't have parents or you don't have Christian parents that want to be involved, then

I would strongly suggest finding, you know, your pastor and his wife, or if you're a young person, maybe your youth pastor and your youth pastor's wife, find some godly counsel that can be that for you and help be that accountability for you.

So it's dating with a purpose, it's dating with accountability and your parents involved for the purpose of marriage.

And so I feel like young people today, you know, they don't go into, the world looks at dating with a very different mindset.

You know, just, it's fun, it's something fun to do on the weekends, or it gives me that fulfillment that I need,

I'm looking for love, and this boy says he loves me, so I'll date him, or whatever, you know.

And those types of relationships, first of all, they hardly ever will actually last until marriage.

Many of them will lead to impurity and impure decisions down the road, and that's something that we need to be careful of and try to avoid.

And so I feel like the world's version of dating is not for the purpose of marriage necessarily, and so that's a big difference between courtship or a biblical version of dating as opposed to the world's dating.

But those are some of the things that are different between how I was raised and the way my dad would preach and explain it to me and what

I believe is God's best. Like I said earlier, you know, there's good, but then there's best, and I wanted

God's best for my life, and I think every child of God wants that for their life, or should want that for their life.

Now, the only apprehension that I have towards the concept of courtship being an exclusive model, and perhaps you could respond to this, is that when

I think back, those many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many years when I was a new

Christian in my 20s, I would think that if I was under the understanding that the only way to meet a spouse was by courtship, and the definition that I have often heard, perhaps yours is modified, but you don't even pursue someone for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or a sporting event, or any kind of activity that people normally do when they go on dates.

You don't even approach them unless you have in your head already, this is the person I would like to pursue for marriage.

The thing that I am apprehensive about, and maybe you could clarify this and alleviate the apprehension, not that I'm involved in courting or dating now, but the idea that you see a person at church, at a

Bible conference, at a youth rally, and you say that's the person I want to marry.

I would think that that very often is going to involve more superficial reasons.

If it's the guy, isn't that girl gorgeous physically?

She should be a professional model or something, and you're going, and of course the girl might be going through the same kind of things.

Oh, that's the guy I want to marry. He is super cute, and all of that.

Whereas if you're dating people, and I'm not talking about allowing yourself to be involved in promiscuity or anything like that, but if you are taking a less serious attitude and getting to know the person of the opposite sex more, you might wind up wanting to marry the person that is not so picture perfect, whose personality is better, and whose commitment to Christ is deeper, and we could go on and on.

So just tell us about how you would react to what I just said. Yes. So now to kind of, instead of comparing and contrasting, just to show you what

I believe a courtship would kind of look like in a Christian family, in a

Christian environment. Obviously the world, someone who's not saved wouldn't really understand any of this, or probably agree with any of this.

It's very foreign to them, and that's fine. The Bible says the preaching to the world is foolishness, so they might look at the

Bible or what we believe as a little weird, and that's okay, but this is how I view it.

So if there was a young man that saw, let's say at their church or at a Bible conference or something, saw a young lady, first of all,

I don't think any good godly young man who's right with the Lord and has been praying his whole life for God to lead him to the right one would look at a really, really pretty girl and instantly say,

I think that's the one I'm going to marry. Sometimes people are like, oh, it was love at first sight, but I think, like you said, you definitely need to get to know them on deeper levels and get to know their character, their personality, what is their walk with God like?

Is this even a Christian? You know, she might be beautiful, but is she even saved? So yes, he would definitely need to get to know her.

So this is where the difference would be. Maybe someone who's more into dating and has never heard about courtship or biblical dating or whatever, maybe this young man would go up to her at the end of the church service and say, hi,

I'm so -and -so, do you want to go out to breakfast with me or whatever? And then they would just go on a date together.

The parents are not involved. Her dad is not contacted. His parents have no clue what's going on.

You know, it's two young people getting together for a meal or for an activity or whatever without their parents' involvement.

And I feel like that's skipping a step. I feel like it would be much more important and wise for this young man to get to know her in a group setting first.

And I think that families that really believe in courtship and have a heart for that, they would all agree that doing things as a group is the best way to get to know somebody for who they really are because when you're in a one -on -one situation at a restaurant or at an event, just you and this guy out on your date, you're going to be putting your best foot forward.

You may not really reveal all that's in your heart because you're like, oh, this guy,

I think he likes me. We're on our date, da, da, da, da, you know. And so you're not really going to see the honest, true person.

But in a group setting, you would more see that. And so the guy would observe her in a group setting, hang out as a group.

If he, after some time and praying, if he really thought, okay, you know, she's not only pretty, but she does seem to have a heart for God.

It does seem like our walk with God and our hearts are aligned in a lot of ways.

I think I'll pursue her. So instead of just going to her and saying, let's go have lunch or whatever, he would go to her dad or her spiritual authority if she doesn't have parents or whatever because biblically and what my dad raised us believing and what

I believe is the Bible is the girl is under the protection of her parents until she's married.

And then she's under the protection of her husband the rest of her life. And so that's, you know, God first and then parents and then children.

Or once you're married, God, then your husband, then you, then the family, you know, and the husband is the protector.

And so the young lady is under that umbrella of protection from her parents. And so the young man should go to the parents and say, you know,

I've been praying about your daughter. And this is how it happened like for us too. You know, I've been praying about your daughter.

She seems like a great girl. I've gotten to spend a little time, you know, we've done some things as a group through our church or our singles ministry or whatever the case may be.

Some people don't even live in the same state. So maybe they just get to know someone through, I mean, you have social media.

That's a way you could kind of get to know someone. Sometimes from a distance, long distance, it can be a lot harder. And we were long distance.

Caleb lived in Oklahoma and I was in New York. So God worked out all those details. And, you know, when it's the one,

God will work out everything. You don't have to worry about it. But anyway, so he would talk to her parents.

If they are in agreement, and a lot of times they will then talk to her, and she'll be like, oh, that's that guy that's been, you know, we've been doing a lot of stuff together, and yeah, he is a good guy, and I have noticed, you know, he loves the

Lord and whatever, blah, blah, blah. Then if she is in agreement, see, this is that screening time.

And that really can protect the girl's heart because if she is not interested, this is where, you know, you just say,

Dad, I really don't feel peace about that. And then the dad just tells the boy, and that's the end of that.

And that alleviates a lot of the heartache and the drama and the just broken hearts and things like that.

And so anyway, or maybe the girl is all googly -eyed over the boy and the parents see red flags.

This is the perfect opportunity for the parents to say, hey, you know, we better take this slow, we better pray hard about this, we just don't really feel peace about this young man.

And not that the parents would put their foot down and never let her see him again type of thing, but if they had red flags, you know, when you go through the courtship and you have your parents involved, it really helps for our heart, young ladies, our hearts can be so deceitful and we can be so blinded by, you know, his good looks or his charming personality that we might not see that red flag.

And so we're able to be protected that way too. And then if our parents agree with everything and we're all in agreement, then we pursue with maybe going on some dates or doing things more in a closer setting, maybe not in a full group, but maybe he comes to visit or the parents, you know, you all go out on a date together.

And people have different, you know, Caleb and I had times where he would take me to a restaurant or we would do something special together and our parents weren't always right there in the room or right there at our table, you know, breathing down our backs.

You know, we had time to talk, just the two of us and things like that, but it really helps when you have your parents involved or chaperones nearby, accountability there, you know, for purity during that time, especially as you get closer to marriage, those temptations will grow stronger.

So anyway, and hopefully that helped you out there. Yes, and we have to go to our midway break right now.

Please be patient with us, folks, because the midway break is always longer than the other breaks in the show because Grace Life Radio in Lake City, Florida, requires of us a longer break in the middle because the

FCC requires of Grace Life Radio to localize this program and all of their programming geographically to Lake City, Florida, and they do so with their own public service announcements and other local things that they air, and we simultaneously are airing our commercials that are heard globally.

So please use this time wisely. Write down as much of the information as you can that is provided by our advertisers so that you can more frequently and successfully respond to our advertisers.

And when you cannot purchase their products, use their services, support their parachurch organizations, or visit their churches, we're asking you please, at the very least, respond to our advertisers and thank them for advertising on Iron Sharp and Zion Radio because if you love the show, the only way we exist is through the financial support of our advertisers.

We also exist through donations, but the advertisers provide the bulk of the finances that we require to remain on the air.

So if you love the show, thank our advertisers. And also send in your questions to Katie Garraway to chrisarnson at gmail .com.

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Don't go away. We're going to be right back with Katie Garraway right after these messages.

Attention all men in ministry leadership. You're all invited to my friend Chris Arnson's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastors Luncheon, Thursday, September 22nd, 11 a .m.

to 2 p .m. at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville, Pennsylvania, featuring me,

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries, your keynote speaker. Not only will you enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship with your colleagues in ministry over a delicious meal, but you'll also receive dozens of free brand new books donated by Christian publishers all over the

United States and the United Kingdom, personally selected by Chris Arnson, host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

So if you're a pastor, an elder, a deacon, a parachurch leader, or any other man in ministry leadership, please register for the

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastors Luncheon today by calling 631 -291 -7002.

631 -291 -7002 or by visiting ironsharpensironradio .com.

ironsharpensironradio .com This is James White of Alpha Omega Ministries hoping to see you

Thursday, September 22nd, 11 a .m. to 2 p .m. at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville, Pennsylvania for Chris Arnson's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastors Luncheon.

I'm Dr. Joseph Piper, President Emeritus and Professor of Systematic and Applied Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Every Christian who's serious about the Deformed Faith and the Westminster Standards should have and use the eight -volume commentary on the theology and ethics of the

Westminster Larger Catechism titled Authentic Christianity by Dr. Joseph Morecraft.

It is much more than an exposition of the Larger Catechism. It is a thoroughly researched work that utilizes biblical exegesis as well as historical and systematic theology.

Dr. Morecraft is Pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia and I urge everyone looking for a biblically faithful church in that area to visit that fine congregation.

For details on the eight -volume commentary, go to westminstercommentary .com westminstercommentary .com

For details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia visit heritagepresbyterianchurch .com

heritagepresbyterianchurch .com Please tell Dr. Morecraft and the Saints at Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia that Dr.

Joseph Piper of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary sent you. Anchored in Truth Ministries is the mission arm of Grace Life Church of the

Shoals. Based in Alabama, it supports missionaries in over 13 countries around the world.

Anchored in Truth is in partnership with 36 church plants as well as radio stations, theological seminaries and various programs for unreached people groups.

With an aim to glorify God and reach the nations with the gospel it is a blessing to see how

God has used Anchored in Truth in so many different contexts globally as well as locally.

To find out more about this vital work worldwide visit anchoredintruth .org

Why can't we see God? How do we know we picked the right

Bible? Why do we go to church on Sunday? Parents, if your kids have questions about God's Word and His creation they would love to read our new reformed magazine called

Ignited by the Word. This magazine is packed full of devotionals,

Bible stories, church history, poems, activities and more to encourage you and kids of all ages in their walk with God.

Created by a team of teachers, ministers, mothers, fathers and more we know how important it is to have

Christian literature in our homes. Order Ignited by the Word for your home today at ignitedbytheword .org

Learn more information and subscribe now at ignitedbytheword .org and receive your first two issues free.

As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations.

A church I've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey, pastored by Alan Dunn.

Grace Covenant Baptist Church believes it's God's prerogative to determine how He shall be worshipped and how

He shall be represented in the world. They believe churches need to turn to the Bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship

God in spirit and truth. Grace Covenant Baptist Church endeavors to maintain a

God -centered focus. Reading, preaching and hearing the Word of God, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, baptism and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship performed with faith, joy and sobriety.

Discover more about Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey at gcbcnj .squarespace

.com That's gcbcnj .squarespace .com

Or call them at 908 -996 -7654 That's 908 -996 -7654

Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

If you love Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, one of the best ways you can help keep the show on the air is by supporting our advertisers.

One such faithful advertiser who really believes in what Chris Arnton is doing is

Daniel P. Patafuoco, serious injury lawyer and Christian apologist.

Dan is the president and founder of the Historical Bible Society. Their mission?

To foster belief in the credibility of Scripture as the written Word of God. They go to various churches, schools and institutions to publicly display a rare collection of biblical texts along with a fascinating presentation by Mr.

Patafuoco demonstrating the reliability of Scripture. To advance the cause of the

Gospel, they created a beautiful, perfect facsimile of the genealogy of Jesus Christ from the original engravings contained in a 1st edition 1611

King James Bible. This 17th century hand -engraved chart shows the family tree of Jesus Christ going back to Adam and Eve.

This book is complete with gorgeous full -size illustrations of Noah's Ark and the

Tower of Babel and an explanation of why the genealogy of Jesus is so important for His claims to the throne of the universe.

Originals of this work are in museums and nobody has ever made it accessible to the public in a large book form before.

You can have your own copy of this 44 -page genealogy book for a donation of $35 or more.

Visit historicalbiblesociety .org That's historicalbiblesociety .org

Thanks for helping to keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the

NASB. I'm Dr. Joseph Piper, President and Professor of Systematic and Homiletical Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck White of the

First Trinity Lutheran Church in Tonawanda, New York and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

I'm Pastor Anthony Methenia of Christ Church in Radford, Virginia and the NASB is my

Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jesse Miller of Damascus Road Christian Church in Gardnerville, Nevada and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Bruce Bennett of Word of Truth Church in Farmerville, Long Island, New York and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Rodney Brown of Metro Bible Church in South Lake, Texas and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jim Harrison of Red Mills Baptist Church in Mayapac Falls, New York and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?

Consider restocking your pews with the NASB and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Go to nasbible .com, that's nasbible .com to place your order.

Oh hail the power of Jesus' name.

This is Pastor Bill Sousa of Grace Church at Franklin here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio financially. Grace Church at Franklin is an independent, autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in scripture through the person and work of our

Lord Jesus Christ. And of course the end for which we strive is the glory of God.

If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe 10 minutes or you are visiting this area or you have friends and loved ones nearby we hope you will join us some

Lord's Day in worshiping our God and Savior. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin.

Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org. That's gracechurchatfranklin .org.

This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our sovereign

Lord, God, Savior, and King Jesus Christ today and always.

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here. If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough, you know

I have a great love for getting Bibles and other documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity.

And besides that, they feel so good. I'm so delighted I discovered Post Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding.

No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently, but I'll give it a shot. Jeffrey Rice of Post Tenebrous Lux is a remarkably gifted craftsman and artisan.

All his work is done by hand from the cutting to the pleating of corners to the perimeter stitching.

Jeffrey uses the finest in buttery soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors like the turquoise goatskin tanned in Italy used for my

Nestle All in 28th edition with a navy blue goatskin inside liner and the electric blue goatskin from a

French tannery used to rebind a Reformation study Bible I used as a gift. The silver gilding he added on the page edges has a stunning mirror finish resembling highly polished chrome.

Jeffrey will customize your rebinding to your specifications and even emboss your logo into the leather making whatever he rebinds a one -of -a -kind work of art.

For more details on Post Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding, go to ptlbiblerebinding .com.

That's ptlbiblerebinding .com. I'm Dr.

Tony Costa, Professor of Apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary. I'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where I've been invited to speak and have grown to love,

Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham, Long Island, New York, pastored by Rich Jensen and Christopher McDowell.

It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God like the dear saints at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham who have an intensely passionate desire to continue digging deeper and deeper into the unfathomable riches of Christ in His Holy Word and to enthusiastically proclaim

Christ Jesus the King and His doctrines of sovereign grace in Suffolk County, Long Island and beyond.

I hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love as I have.

For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.

That's hopereformedli .net. Or call 631 -696 -5711.

That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island, New York that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, Give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read.

He who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own.

You need to read. Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the

Prince of Preachers to heart. The mission of Solid Ground Christian Books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.

Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered,

Christ -exalting books for all ages. We invite you to go treasure hunting at Solid -Ground -Books .com.

That's Solid -Ground -Books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you can unearth from Solid Ground.

Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. And please folks, never forget to make

Solid -Ground -Books .com your very first stop for all your gift -giving needs.

Go to Solid -Ground -Books .com, purchase frequently and purchase generously, and always mention that you heard about them from Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

That's Solid -Ground -Books .com. Before I return to our interview with Katie Garraway, who is co -founder with her husband

Caleb of Remnant Ministries, and our discussion of courtship and its advantages over dating,

I just have a couple of important announcements to make. Folks, if you love this show and you don't want it to disappear from the airwaves,

I'm urging you please to go to IronSharpensIronRadio .com, click support, then click click to donate now.

You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion. If you prefer snail mail, mailing in a physical check to a physical address, well, there will also be a physical address that appears on your screen when you click support at IronSharpensIronRadio .com,

where you can mail your checks made payable to IronSharpensIronRadio. If you want to advertise with us, please send me an email to ChrisArnzen at gmail .com

and put advertising in the subject line. As long as whatever it is you desire to promote is compatible with what

I believe, I would love to help you launch an ad campaign because we are in urgent need of advertising dollars as well to remain broadcasting.

You don't have to believe identically with me, but you need to at the very least be promoting something that is compatible with what

I believe. I try to remind my listeners every day that I never want any of you cutting into the finances that are dedicated to what you are accustomed to giving to your local church where you are a member every week.

Please never give your own church less money in order to bless IronSharpensIronRadio with some money.

Never do that, please. One of the main reasons I founded this program was to be a friend, a platform, an extension, and a helping hand to the faithful local pastor and the faithful local church.

I never want to do anything that harms the local pastor and local church, including financially.

So please never give your own church less money in order to give us a financial gift. Also, if you're really struggling to survive,

I don't want to be the cause of people skipping bills or having food taken off of their dinner tables in order for IronSharpensIronRadio to continue to exist.

So please, if you're financially struggling in a serious way, please wait until you're back on your feet and more capable of giving us a financial gift.

Those two things are commands of God in Scripture, providing for church and family. Providing for my radio show is obviously not a command of God.

But if you do love this show, you don't want it to disappear, and you are financially blessed above and beyond your ability to provide for your church and family, you have extra money in the bank collecting interest, you have extra money for recreational and frivolous purchases, well, please, use some of that money to help us remain on the air.

And if indeed you do love the show and don't want it to go away, go to IronSharpensIronRadio .com, click

Support, then click Click to Donate Now. And last but not least, if you are not a member of a doctrinally solid, theologically sound,

Christ -honoring church, no matter where you live on the planet Earth, I have lists of churches spanning the globe that are faithful to the

Bible and to God, and I may be able to help find you a church as well, no matter where you live.

If you are in that category or someone that you love is in that category, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com,

chrisarnson at gmail .com, and put I need a church in the subject line.

That's also the email address where you can send in a question to Katie Garroway, co -founder with her husband

Caleb of Remnant Ministries, on the subject of courtship and its advantages over dating. That's chrisarnson at gmail .com,

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Katie, before we return to our discussion,

I want to play another song that you and your husband have recorded.

Tell us about God Can and He Will. Oh, well, that's such a powerful song.

We love that song, and sometimes even our kids join in with us singing that in churches as we travel.

But that is such an encouraging song for no matter what you're going through,

I feel like no matter what you're facing in life, you might need that little boost of encouragement, whether it's a sickness that you are going through, whether it's an unsaved family member you're praying for, whether it's the state of our nation or the state of our world, and wanting to see revival,

God can. Nothing is impossible with God. And so we sang that a lot in 2020 when it was just a lot of political things going on and a lot going on that year, and it was just a big encouragement to a lot of churches.

And so we really love that song. Great. Well, here it is, brothers and sisters. God Can and He Will.

I can't heal the sick or cause the blinded eyes to see

A lost and dying soul I cannot save I am nothing more than what

God's grace has done for me And by His word alone

I boldly say God can and He will

He can move the mountains tall and speak the water still

If you believe you will see That everything impossible will soon be possible

God can and He will

Humbled in your presence, Lord, I fall down on my knees

Knowing you will carry me along I receive your love and mercy undeservedly

In my every weakness you are strong God can and He will

He can move the mountains tall and speak the water still

If you believe you will see That everything impossible will soon be possible

God can and He will

No matter the task, no matter the hour

He will supply He knows I need

He can do anything for me Reigns on high

God can and He will He can move the mountains tall and speak the water still

If you believe you will see

That everything impossible will soon be possible

God can and He will

Wow, hallelujah, that was absolutely breathtaking And we have another song in store for you folks during the last break, so keep that in mind

And let me go to a couple of listener questions We have an anonymous listener who says,

I know that the Bible commands that we honor our father and mother but what if someone falls in love with another person of the opposite gender and they can see no serious flaw in the person's life other than the fact that we are all sinners the person seems to be faithful to Christ regularly attending the church where he is a member and also very actively involved in Christian activities but the parents or one of the parents forbids that son or daughter from pursuing that person in any fashion whether it be for courtship or dating and the individual who is the child sees that it could be the sin of the parent or parents that is making them not see this other individual clearly it could be that they are not

Christians or even if they are Christians they may have a remnant of sin that they continue to battle like racism if the person is of another skin color or ethnic group at the same time being fully committed to Christ when is it right for someone to disobey their parents in a matter such as this?

Alright, I know of people who have had situations like this where their parents just kind of stepped in and put their foot down and said no about a decision the young person a lady,

I'm thinking of a friend of mine a young lady wanted to make and it was very difficult for her but she realized that my first priority is to obey my parents and her parents are saved and so she had that blessing to be able to know that they're just trying to follow

God and if they feel like God is leading her from making this decision even though she does not agree with it or understand it her first priority is to obey her parents and if we will obey

God and obey, honor our parents God will work it all out in the end and sometimes it just takes time in a lot of prayer on a young lady's heart for God to work and maybe soften their parents in the situation now in the person who emailed in I don't know if their parents maybe are not saved or not walking with the

Lord it sounds like and so that makes it a lot more difficult and in that case

I would go to my pastor and his wife and seek counsel in that area if your parents are willing to go with you seek counsel in that area and sometimes having someone else talk with them when the child is trying to argue their way and be adamant about their decision sometimes that just hardens the parents' hearts even more and so to get a godly someone that you all respect and look up to to be able to come in and maybe pray with them or talk with them on your behalf that could help obviously if the parents are not saved or are not living for God and don't have your best interest in mind that's something that you're just going to have to pray about long and hard and eventually you may need to make a decision that goes astray from something that your parents really feel is right if they're not really right with God because sometimes parents are not saved or they're not right with God and they're not in tune with what the

Lord wants and so that's hard and that situation is difficult but like with my friend she just stayed surrendered to the

Lord and realized that as long as I'm single I am under my parents' umbrella of protection and even though I don't understand even though I don't always agree

I need to obey them in this and God will bless me for that and now it's been a while and she sees

God's hand all over it and God led her through her parents even though she didn't agree and she didn't understand so God could be using your parents to this young lady

God may be using your parents maybe they're not even fully right with the Lord but God could use them to help you keep from a decision that he knows is not best for you so just definitely bathe it in prayer seek godly counsel and advice and wait for the peace of God and the green light from your godly authorities if you don't have that in your parents and wouldn't you agree that this is also a time for any parents listening to really prayerfully examine their minds and hearts if they are one of the parents or two of the parents involved in trying to prevent a courtship from happening with their child and a particular individual that they have to really be open and honest with God and with themselves that it is something about the person's faith and commitment to Christ that is the issue and not a secondary tertiary issue or even an issue that they have no business as Christians using as a litmus test as the listener even said that if racism is an issue

I think that a parent is in deep deep sin if they would prefer that their daughter court or date a person of their same skin color or ethnicity whose faith is lacking over a person of a different skin color or ethnicity who is very strong in their relationship with the

Lord wouldn't you agree? Oh yes, I definitely agree and I just that's definitely something now that I'm a mom you know

I'm starting to see it from the other perspective and it is a big responsibility for these parents and so it's definitely not something to just treat lightly or say like oh when they're 18

I'll think about it or I'll start praying about it when they grow up like be praying for your children spouses now and be like you said be checking your heart and your walk with the

Lord that you don't make a choice that could affect wrongly affect your child one day because you're not right with God or you know making a biblical choice you're making maybe more of a fleshly or personal opinion choice so it's tough

I'm sure Amen We have B .B. in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania who says what are some warning signs that you would counsel our listeners about in regard to when a courtship or dating relationship begins that you should call off whatever that relationship is because there is a serious problem regarding that person's commitment to Christ I know that some of the obvious things would be if the person is not regularly attending a worship service but what would be some of the more subtle things

I always like to counsel young ladies to talk their standards over with the young man and if you can have your parents there too that's of course the best to all be on the same page when it comes to your standards so you know are we going to hold hands are we going to hug are we going to be off alone together ever where are we going to draw our lines and you know obviously it's a little different for every person

I believe you should set your standards high you know you will never regret setting your standards high one day when you're married and you know ok we made it we're pure and now you know now it's all all bets are off you know everything is allowed now we're married but you know before marriage you want to set those standards high think of them as guardrails you know when you're riding in a car on the edge of a mountain and you're on that road and those guardrails are there we're not trying to get our vehicle as close to the guardrail to just see how close we can get there without falling over or getting into an accident you know no we're staying away we're thankful for those guardrails we don't look at them as those annoying guardrails why'd they put them there you know we're thankful for them they're there to protect us and so you know whether even if you're not courting anybody talk over standards with your parents be on the same page with them so that when that guy comes in to the relationship we can discuss it with him and make sure he's on the same page so after you've discussed these standards

I would be very leery of a young man that is not obeying the standards that you've all already agreed to in other words trying the person is trying to pressure the one that he or she is dating or courting to be romantically active beyond what would be biblically appropriate yes

I think definitely and so you know if he's trying to you know get you in situations where it's dark or you're alone or whatever you know like those are big red flags you want someone that's going to be pure and upright and you know if you've set standards hold to those you know and I just think that shows good character my dad has said before lust can't wait you know lust it's hard for lust to wait for marriage but true love can wait true love will wait for marriage and so you know you want to watch out for lust in the young man or the young lady or whatever so yeah definitely things like that I don't know just maybe listen to him pray pray together a lot and just sometimes you can tell the depth of his walk with God by just how he talks to God and sometimes that can be you know if he just kind of stops off you know and it doesn't seem like he really has a deep walk with God sometimes that can be a telltale sign just even in how they're praying although sometimes you can fake it you know and sound very eloquent and still not have a deep walk with God but those are just a couple things that come to the top of my mind but yeah

I like to see how they are around children if they're good with kids because he's going to be the daddy of your children someday and so that was something

I remember noticing in Caleb you know he loves kids he's good around kids he has a heart for them he loves ministry doing ministry with children and vacation

Bible schools and different things and you know he just he's not like oh it's a child stay away from me type of thing because you know you don't want that in your husband you want your husband to be a good daddy someday so I don't know

I looked for that but hopefully those are a few little ideas there I remember hearing years ago and I've heard it a number of times since that a girl should watch the way a love interest for lack of a better term treats his mother because very often the way a man treats his mother will wind up being the way he treats his someday wife and would you agree with that even though it's not clearly a biblical principle

I think there's a lot of wisdom to that oh yes for sure and same with the girl to her dad for young men they need to watch the girl's relationship to her dad does she honor him does she respect him because that's very likely how she will treat her husband someday and then of course yes the young man with his mom does he is he loving does he care for her is he chivalrous is he a gentleman my husband will say sometimes it's easy to be a

Christian male but are you a man when he's teaching young boys and teenage men he's like anyone can be a male but are you a man so just to have that way of chivalry which is really hard to find nowadays but yes look at how he treats his mom that's a good point we have

R .J. in White Plains, New York who asks when it comes to the prohibition of being unevenly yoked

I know that a person should never date or marry a non -Christian if indeed they are themselves a true

Christian but how much difference between their theological and doctrinal views should be accepted even amongst fundamentalist

Baptists there are quite a variety of differences so what is your counsel on that well

I would say that definitely if someone's going to bend it should probably be the girl if the young man has a higher standard in something than she does

I know that was true for us me and Caleb as we got to know each other during that year and a half or so before when we started courting and until we got married we were able to talk through a lot of things biblical doctrinal type stuff which on the main things we were very much aligned but then there were side things regarding modesty music some of those side issues that we had kind of grown up a little bit different in and different ways but I always say whoever has the higher standard it's probably better for the person with the lower standard to go higher and not to try to pull the person with the higher standard down lower but definitely the girl needs to go higher and the guy needs to go higher and the guy needs to go lower and the guy needs to go higher and the guy needs to go lower and the guy needs to go higher and the guy needs to go lower and the guy needs to go higher and the guy needs to go lower and the guy needs to go higher the guy needs to go lower and the higher and the guy to lower and the guy needs to go higher and the guy needs to go lower and guy needs to go higher and the guy needs go lower than to higher and with They sing with us.

We're recording a new album this fall, and they'll be singing a lot more on there as they get older.

We're just getting them involved more and more. So we sing, we teach children, we do revivals. My husband is very burdened about...

He loves doing history and God and country meetings, and so especially around the

Fourth of July, he'll do a lot of... He calls them, you know, God and country meetings or God and country bibles, where he just encourages churches to know where our country came from, how we were founded on Judeo Christian principles and on the

Word of God, and how far we've strayed. And through that teaching, you know, it can encourage churches to, you know, hey, it's not too late.

God can do... God can still bring a work and do a work in our country and, you know, bring us back to the way we were back then with our founding fathers and stuff like that.

And so that's things that he enjoys doing. We write books. We have all of our items on our website, remnantministriesonline .com,

and we have an online store there. So we have our albums, our books. We've written books for young people on these topics, purity, dating, modesty, different things like that.

Caleb wrote one for teen boys on just being a young man that is pure, and he kind of tells our story, how

God led us together and encourages young men. And yeah, all different kinds of things. And then another ministry that God has opened the door, just swung open wide the last couple years, is the

Gospel Film. And that's something you can watch on YouTube, it's on Facebook, the

Gospel Film. And that's a 14 -minute video that Caleb filmed in the spring of 2020.

When everything was shut down, he said, you know what, I have a little extra time on my hands. I've always wanted to make a clear, succinct presentation of the

Gospel on a video format. You know, we see Gospel tracks, or we hear the

Gospel maybe in audio, but a good, clear video presentation, well made.

And so he had the burden for that. My dad was kind of the Oscar behind him, Caleb, when are you going to make a

Gospel video? You know, because Caleb's done a lot of video work through the years as well. And so you can see all of his videos on our

YouTube channel, The Garaways. But anyway, side note, but my dad said, you make all these videos, these good

Christian short films and stuff like that on YouTube, make something with the Gospel on it. And so Caleb finally was able to do that in the spring of 2020.

And it has been boosted, you know, through Facebook and social media, it's been boosted worldwide.

And over, I'm trying to think now, the fact that over 50 million,

I think it's over 60 million impressions have seen this video.

So that means it has come across the feed. Wow. Oh, over 65 million people across the world.

It's in over 50 languages with subtitling. And Caleb's goal is to get overdub audio so that the person would not even read subtitles, they would just hear it in their language in 50 different languages.

Very expensive to do that. So he's doing it one language at a time, but we have about 10 languages done there.

And you'll see that on our website as well. But yeah, over 37 ,000 views. That means the person actually clicked on the video and watched it for a period of time.

And then they have a way to contact us and email saying they trusted

Christ through watching the video. And over 3 ,000 people have emailed us. Maybe there's even more that have trusted

Christ through the video, but at least 3 ,700 have emailed saying they need a

Bible or they need to find a church and they've trusted Christ and they want to be disciples. And so Caleb is in contact with mission boards that have missionaries all over the world that he gives these contacts to, and they find missionaries to reach out to them and disciple them and stuff like that.

So the gospel film, it's an amazing ministry that God just basically threw in our lap, so we're very thankful for that.

And all of that, I'm assuming, can be found at remnantministriesonline .com,

correct? Yes, yes. Yeah, 37 million views.

Did I say thousand? I meant million. No, you did say million. Okay, good, good.

Caleb, my husband had given me a few stats written out, and so I'm trying to read them and make sure I don't mess up here.

But anyway, we're just so thankful. And yes, you can find it on Facebook. That's where we're mainly boosting it, so we have some people in churches that support the

Gospel Film Project, and it's a nonprofit now organization where they can support it, and with their finances, we're able to boost it and pay to boost, like you would boost an ad on Facebook or something like that, but we're boosting the video, so that video is able to go just around the world and be boosted there.

We did a big boost in Ukraine when the war broke out there a couple months ago now, and a third of the population of Ukraine came across this video on social media.

Caleb's able to keep track of every person that it comes across the feed of and then how many people actually click on it to watch it, and a third of their population, it came across their feed during that boost.

They boosted it for a couple weeks during that time, and many, many, many were saved, so they have missionaries working with them there now, but it's exciting.

Wow. Well, I wonder if one of our Ukrainian listeners is listening today from Kyiv.

Mykola Leliovsky is somebody on the faculty at Grace Bible Seminary in Kyiv, and I've interviewed him, and he does listen to the program, and I hope he's listening so he could get in contact with you and that website.

We have to go to our final break right now. It's going to be a lot more brief than the other breaks. If you have a question, please send it in fairly quickly because we're rapidly running out of time.

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence.

Don't go away. We'll be right back with Katie Garraway right after these messages. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here, excited to announce that my longtime friend

Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio and I are heading to Washington, D .C.

for the G3 Ministries regional conference on the theme, Just Thinking About the Bible. The conference will be held

Thursday, September 15th through Saturday, September 17th, and I'll be speaking along with Stephen Lawson, Josh Weiss, founder of G3 Ministries, and Daryl Bernard Harrison and Virgil Walker, co -hosts of the

Just Thinking podcast. To register, visit g3min .org, that's g3min .org,

and click on events. Your registration will include a ticket to the Museum of the Bible nearby the conference venue in Washington, D .C.

So join me and Chris Arnzen September 15th through the 17th in Washington, D .C.

for the G3 Ministries regional conference. Register now before they run out of seats at g3min .org,

that's g3min .org. Stop by the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio exhibitor booth and say hi to Chris Arnzen while you're there.

Have you noticed the gap that exists between the Sunday morning sermon and the Sunday school classroom or the small group study?

So often we experience great preaching from the pulpit, but when it comes time to study God's word in those smaller settings, well, let's be honest, it leaves a lot to be desired.

It seems like it is nearly impossible to find good curriculum out there today that is true to the word of God and is built upon sound doctrine, much less it's hard to find curriculum that will actually teach people how to study the

Bible. Hi there, my name is Jordan Too, and I am the executive director of the Baptist Publishing House.

Our ministry is dedicated to providing local churches with sound Bible study resources.

Our quarterly curriculum is titled the Baptist Expositor, and for good reason, we are

Baptist and we exegete the scriptures. If you want to have a curriculum that teaches your people how to study the word of God, I invite you go to our website, download a free study, baptistpublishinghouse .com.

May God bless you. As a mother, I was looking for a magazine that would include devotionals that I could quickly do before school and had theology and doctrine made very simple for children to understand that they could read themselves or I could walk them through.

There's tiered content so that you can go to the older group and learn more or go to a younger section and it's even more simple.

Join us on our journey in developing our magazine entitled Ignited by the Word, which engages and ignites the hearts of our children and young people in their walk with God.

Order Ignited by the Word for your home today at ignitedbytheword .org.

Learn more information and subscribe now at ignitedbytheword .org and receive your first two issues free and put good literature in your children's hands.

Getting a driver's license, running a cash register, flipping burgers, passing sixth grade.

Do you know what they all have in common? They all require training, assessments, and certifications.

But do you know what requires no training at all? Becoming a parent. My name is

A .M. Brewster. I'm the president of Truth, Love, Parent and host of its award -winning podcast. I've been a biblical family counselor since the early 2000s and what

I've discovered is that the majority of Christian parents have never been biblically equipped to do the work of the ministry in their homes.

That's why Truth, Love, Parent exists. We serve God by equipping dads and moms to be the ambassador parents

God called and created them to be. We produce free parenting resources, train church leaders, and offer biblical counseling so that the next generation of dads and moms can use the scriptures to parent their children for life and godliness.

Please visit us at truthloveparent .com. Every day at thousands of community centers, high schools, middle schools, juvenile institutions, coffee shops, and local hangouts,

Long Island Youth for Christ staff and volunteers meet with young people who need Jesus. We are rural and urban and we are always about the message of Jesus.

Our mission is to have a noticeable spiritual impact on Long Island, New York by engaging young people in the lifelong journey of following Christ.

Long Island Youth for Christ has been a stalwart bedrock ministry since 1959. We have a world -class staff and a proven track record of bringing consistent love and encouragement to youths in need all over the country and around the world.

Help honor our history by becoming a part of our future. Volunteer, donate, pray, or all of the above.

For details call Long Island Youth for Christ at 631 -385 -8333.

That's 631 -385 -8333. Or visit liyfc .org.

That's liyfc .org. Lindbrook Baptist Church on 225

Earl Avenue in Lindbrook, Long Island, is teaching God's timeless truths in the 21st century. Our church is far more than a

Sunday worship service. It's a place of learning where the scriptures are studied and the preaching of the gospel is clear and relevant.

It's like a gym where one can exercise their faith through community involvement. It's like a hospital for wounded souls where one can find compassionate people in healing.

We're a diverse family of all ages enthusiastically serving our Lord Jesus Christ in fellowship, play, and together.

Hi, I'm Pastor Bob Walderman and I invite you to come and join us here at Lindbrook Baptist Church and see all that a church can be.

Call Lindbrook Baptist at 516 -599 -9402. That's 516 -599 -9402.

Or visit lindbrookbaptist .org. That's lindbrookbaptist .org. When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the NASB.

I'm author Gary DeMar, president of American Vision, and the NASB is my

Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Dan Labenick of West Hills Baptist Church in Huntington Station, New York, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Justin Peters of Justin Peters Ministries, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Reverend Buzz Taylor, author of God's Lawson, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Dr. William Webster, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Battleground, Washington, founder of the ministry

Christian Resources, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

I'm Pastor Ryan Galan of Central Islet Community Church in Central Islet, New York, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Brandon Smith of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in Jackson, Georgia, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew bibles tattered and falling apart?

Consider restocking your pews with the NASB, and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Go to nasbible .com, that's nasbible .com to place your order.

Hi, this is John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona.

Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnzen and the Iron Sharpens Iron podcast. I consider

Chris a true friend and man of high integrity. He's a skilled interviewer who's not afraid to ask the big penetrating questions, while always defending the key doctrines of the

Christian faith. I've always been happy to point people to this podcast, knowing it's one of the very few safe places on the internet where folk won't be led astray.

I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide. This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised

Chris up for just such a time, and knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry in prayer and in finances.

I'm pleased to do so, and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting

Iron Sharpens Iron financially. Would you consider sending either a one -time gift or even becoming a regular monthly partner with this ministry?

I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris if you would. All the details can be found at ironsharpensironradio .com

where you can click support. That's ironsharpensironradio .com. Welcome back,

Katie. Before we conclude our conversation, I would like to play one of your songs again,

Jesus Saves. Tell us about this song. Well, that's a song that we heard a long time ago and we just fell in love with.

We actually do a big Christmas show at our church. It's called the Live Animal Christmas Show, and we bring live animals into the building.

We do a big show, a big production. It's kind of like the Baptist Church version of Fightin' Sound, you could say.

But people come from all over, and we have thousands of people that come see it every year. But we put this song at the end of our

Christmas show one year, and we just fell in love with it, and we decided to put it on one of our albums.

Yeah, my church where I'm a member does the same thing, but we only use dogs, cats, and vermin. I'm only kidding.

Oh, boy. We're in the country. We're out in Iowa, you know, so we can get away with cows and horses and sheep and that kind of stuff.

But I'm looking forward to hearing this song. I love that phrase, Jesus Saves, and I remember how disappointed

I was all my life when I lived on Long Island, traveling up and down Route 110 in the

Farmingdale -Melville area. There was a church, Little White Church, that had a sign that was there for decades that said,

Jesus Saves. And I remember how much it meant to me every time I saw that sign, and even thinking of the people who have been traveling, especially since that road is highly traveled, seeing that sign for years.

And I was so disappointed when a messianic congregation took over that church and took down that sign.

I was heartbroken. But here it is, ladies and gentlemen, that beautiful phrase in song,

Jesus Saves. And the hush of mercy breathing,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Hear the host of angels sing, glory to the new -born

King, and the sounding joy repeating,

Jesus saves. See the humblest hearts adore

Him, Jesus saves, Jesus saves.

And the wisest bow before Him, Jesus saves,

Jesus saves. See the sky alight with praise, melting darkness in its place.

There is light forevermore in Jesus saves.

He will live our sorrows sharing, Jesus saves,

Jesus saves. He will die our burden,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves. It is done, we'll shout the cross.

Christ has paid redemption's cost, while the empty tombs declaring,

Jesus saves. Freedom's calling, his hands are falling, hope is dawning, bright and true.

Day is breaking, night is quaking, God is making all things new.

Freedom's calling, chains are falling, hope is dawning, bright and true.

Day is breaking, night is quaking,

God is making all things new. Jesus saves,

Jesus saves. It's a great adventure,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves. All the saints we shout together,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Rising up so vast and strong, lifting up salvation's song.

The redeemed will sing forever, Jesus saves.

Rising up so vast and strong, lifting up salvation's song.

The redeemed will sing forever, Jesus saves,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves,

Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Hallelujah.

Yes, Jesus saves. He doesn't try to, he saves. And if you could give us about a minute of summary of what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners today.

Well, definitely for anyone that is listening that doesn't have Jesus as their

Savior, I hope that you have realized through what we've talked about today that Jesus loves you, that he shed his blood for your sins, he wants to save you, he wants to give you eternal life with him in heaven someday, and so go watch the

Gospel film, that will make it clear to you. If you have any questions or don't fully understand the

Gospel, but then also for believers, I hope that I've been able to maybe be a little encouragement in purity and in waiting on the right one that God has for you.

For those of you who are single out there, for those of you who are parents, pray, make it a big matter of prayer as you raise your children to stay pure and to be the right godly example as you help them navigate those years of finding the right one that the

Lord has for them to marry, and so hopefully it was able to be an encouragement. I know my parents were able to listen today, they're in Missouri visiting my sister, and they have my nieces

Emma, Charlotte, and Julia listening with them, and so they have enjoyed getting to hear our broadcast today as well.

Oh, praise God, and let me remind our listeners of Pastor Vinny Sawyer's church website, that's the website for Victory Baptist Church in Port Charlotte, Florida, SalvationVictory .com,

SalvationVictory .com, and of course, don't forget about the Remnant Ministries website, RemnantMinistriesOnline .com,

RemnantMinistriesOnline .com. Thank you so much, Katie, for being an extraordinary guest today. I want to thank everybody who listened, especially those who took the time to write, and I want everybody to remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater