Customer Reviews

A Marriage After God's Own Heart

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The basic premise of this book is that the spiritual bond between a man and wife is very important, and Clarke ends up giving some very practical tips that will help you build this bond. He also intersperses some helpful examples from his experience as a marriage counselor.

I am rating the book a three, but it could very well be a four for me. I down-graded the book because it took a long time to get to the meat. Examples are great for supporting a case, but sometimes they dilute the content when there are too many, and I felt like there was some dilution in this case. If I had rated the book after three chapters, it would have been a two, but I really thought that the advice and insight in the later parts of the book were helpful.

One of the helpful things that Clarke talks about are how to build a good prayer life together, and he addresses four different stages of spiritual vitality that a couple may be at. He does not presume that you are either an on-fire Christian or an outright spiritual rebel, and he strives to give advice for wherever you might be.

Clarke also spends chapters on sex and communication that I found helpful because he spoke from both the perspective of the wife and the husband, and addressed key issues for each. The advice most helpful to me, as a guy, was to be pro-active in developing communication with my wife. This is something that does not always come naturally to me, so I appreciated his insight.

The chapters are very short, which I think is a good thing because you can soak in smaller chunks of information at a time. I would recommend this book to Christian couples, with my advice being to skim the first few chapters and to take good notes throughout the rest of the book.

This is one of the best marriage books available. I highly recommend it. It is very practical. The book doesn't just tell you problems but shows you how to have a great marriage.

As christians we know that a marraige built around God is the key to building lasting true happiness with our spouse. This book is practical, and explanatory on how to achieve this ever so important goal. Highly recommended for all who desire to reach new peaks in marrital and personal intimacy with christ.

This book is a wonderful guide to getting a Christian marriage on track, and getting to a passionate, fulfilling relationship. The author writes with humor and uses funny examples from his own marriage to show how he went from an average relationship to an incredible one. I highly recommend this book.

This is an excellent book to give as a wedding gift.

Encourage the newly married who invited God to their wedding to also invite Him into their marriage!

Kim Parker,
Richmond, Virginia

I have read many books on building a strong marriage or repairing a damaged one. Many of them are very good, others, not so much. Without question, this book, A MARRIAGE AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART by David Clarke, presents the married couple with the absolute best advice to building a marriage that reaches levels rarely found in marriages. I would even go so far as to say, if a couple follows what Clarke outlines here, adheres to it with vigilance, you absolutely cannot fail in your marriage. I know that is a very strong statement to make, but I truly believe it.

As the title clearly states, this book is about using your marital relationship to strengthen your relationship with God, and in doing so, having the kind of blissful relationship in marriage that God intended you to have. If you do not feel the need to have God in your life, or to ask for God's guidance in your marriage, then by all means, do not buy this book, but if you know your relationship will be enhanced a thousand-fold with God's guidance and inclusion in your lives, this book gives clear, concise direction in how to make it happen for you.

Clarke covers every aspect and angle of building a spiritual bond with your mate. No only does he educate readers on the importance of spiritual bonding, but gives step by step detailed instructions on things such as how to broach the subject with a reluctant mate and becoming prayer partners.

There are those who will shallowly conclude that only God-focused Christians will have a successful marriage. That may be true if you consider fifty years of living together in misery a success. What David Clarke is focusing on here transcends the short-sighted success of longevity and strives instead for a lifetime of blissful happiness between a man and woman. Is that to say there will be strife or turmoil? Certainly not. But with God guiding your way, strife and turmoil become hurdles rather than roadblocks.

Pastor Monty Rainey

Excellent book for men and woman. I loved it as a woman because a man wrote it and gave me ways I can positively influence my husband. I don't have to have a mediocre marriage! With God at the center of my life and influencing my husband to put God at the center of our marriage, marriage can be as amazing as God intended! Don't settle for a mediocre marriage!!!! Skip to the part in the book where it shows how the interested spouse can influence the non-interested one! God is a God of miracles and he does his best work in our hearts and our relationships! Thank you to God for the insights, direction and encouragement this book provides! P.S. Boundaries in Marriage, Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage, [...] (EXCELLENT all about sex), Love and Respect,[...] (radio programs and more), Bible books of James and Ephesians (and all the rest), books on codependence, [...] and [...] (how parents affect us), The Five Love Languages, Chistian/like-minded friends and couples (of paramount importance), Pure Desire, Forever, Sacred Marriage, When Sinners Say I Do, Sheet Music, Intended for Pleasure, Changes that Heal, "12 Christian Beliefs that Can Drive you Crazy, Doug Weiss resources, Dr. Leman books and Dannah Gresh books are other must resources for marriage and family! God bless you and your marriage.

David Clarke writes on the premise that there are 3 aspects in a Christian marriage:
Physical Bonding
Emotional Bonding and
Spiritual Bonding
He informs us how to become Spiritual bonded and how when we do that as a couple it improves our marriage and increases the other 2 aspects of bonding in a marriage.

The first part of the book is a little repetitive as he is writing about why we need the be spiritually bonded to our spouse, but the second part of the book gets to the meat of the matter and gives really good applicable advice on how to be spiritually bonded and ways this can truly happen. Great book - that I recommend for all Christian couples - by the way don't just read it - apply it!

this book is not about marriage but about evangelizing: So praying together makes everything OK? and non-christians can not possibly have a happy marriage? Talk about mind control!