“My Church will be served by me

…My wife will be loved by me.”

The Real Marriage Tour made it’s third stop in sunny San Diego, CA on February 24th and 25th and like the two previous stops it was a success. We do not measure our success by the number of tickets or books sold, but rather by the marriages that are impacted and the people who come to know Christ.

Over the weekend had 4 people accept Christ. Three women and 1 man courageously got up on stage and were led to faith by Pastor Mark. For us there is nothing more exciting than to see people receive Christ, we rejoice and praise the Lord for this blessing.

At every Real Marriage event we get tons of feedback from couples who have had their marriages strengthened, improved and healed.

Here are some comments that we have received:

“Just a note, my wife and I came to find a reason to not quit our 19 year marriage and you gave us some clear reasons to work things out and some easy ways to do it thank you so much.” Leon Pyatt

“What an amazing and refreshing time! So glad we attended and that we took so much away with us! I am excited to see how our marriage grows even stronger through these teachings and our stronger committment to God and his Word!” Sheila Pierce

“Wow, Mark just had all the men stand, look their spouse in the eye and vow to love them and lead their family in Christ and then pray over them. What a powerful moment to see a thousand men praying over their wives.” – Brenda Hagel

“What an awesome and powerful moment. To hear the whispers of the men praying over their wives was incredible” – Lisa Gardner

 

Real Marriage Community

What is really cool for us to see at Real Marriage events is the community of believers that come together for a common goal – glorifying Christ through life change. We love seeing people get excited about truth and their desire to learn and grow is contagious. At every event we see a wide range of people – singles, engaged, newlyweds, divorced, and even those that have been married for 35+ years showing us that it is never too early or too late to improve your relationship.

The RM team got to start the day off right with key staff team from The Rock Church at Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern. Just another 70 degree day in San Diego staring at the water, the boats and eating some awesome fish tacos. We could all get used to this.

Then it was off to the church to get everything set up. The team from the Creative/Media department, facilities, and events staff were simply amazing. It is truly a God thing how Pastor Miles McPherson and the members of The Rock have been such great stewards of the building. They reach over 13,000 people in 5 services every Sunday and there just isn’t a whole lot of parking. The people are clearly proving that if you will preach the Bible with passion and relevancy and committed to reaching people in your city, not just being a holy huddle, they will come.

Worship led by Dustin Kensrue

Praise God from whom all blessings flow… Praise him all creatures here below… The sound of thousands singing praise filled the church as Dustin Kensure and his band from Mars Hill Orange County led worship. Each night and each morning of every conference is started and sometimes closed with worship. This time reminds me of the passage in Ezekiel 37:4 where the Spirit of the Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the dry bones… “Then he said to me, “4 Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.” Often when we enter into the a time of worship we are as dry as these bones… our hearts are dead, we are not ready to hear the Word, but praise and worship brings us back to life and prepares us to receive truth. It is another sweet time to participate with a group of believers singing songs to our creator.


 

Carlos and Sonia Roacho Vow Renewal

Saturday we ended the event with a renewing of vows and God lead us to Carlos and Sonia Roacho. WOW – God’s grace, power, love and mercy was so evident in their lives. The power of prayer that Sonia expressed as she prayed for Carlos over many years and how God has redeemed their individual lives and their marriage, simply remarkable.

As expected, Pastor Mark delivered strong Biblical teaching filled with truth designed to greatly improve marriages and once again, the vow renewal was an amazing display of the power, grace, and redemptive love of God for his people and marriages. The couple’s story of starting as an extramarital affair and having a child out of wedlock and later accepting Christ and becoming a strong, godly family was very powerful.

The weekend was uplifting, positive, and a time of healing, reconciliation, and great growth. God was definitely glorified!

Carlos’ Letter

First of all I would want to thank our Lord Jesus Christ for my marriage.
It was put in our heart for us to celebrate our 10th anniversary at this marriage conference, we had the opportunity to go anywhere this weekend but we wanted to celebrate and give thanks for all God has done in our marriage and we wanted to start with HIM!

4 years ago I accepted the Lord inches before separation, the guilt was then gone and the scales in my eyes were removed, my marriage was restored and now I want to keep the flame lit in our marriage constantly pray and re-instate why we were created and that is to be no longer alone forever on this earth.

Carlos’ Vows

Sonia,
you are the greatest wife and partner.
During these 10 years we have endured the biggest storms life can give us, I love u and promise:
To respect you
To keep hearing you
To be faithful
To protect you at all times
To be an excellent husband
To make sure our household serves the Lord
To keep the flame lit to matter the circumstances
Because you are my partner for always till our Lord calls us to to his heavenly kingdom.

I Love u more than ever and always will.

Sonia’s Letter / Vows

Today 10 years ago and after going thru good times and bad, sickness and health today I promise in as God as my witness be always be with you in good and bad, honor you and respect you.

Now that I know you wellI accept you with your faults and virtudes, love you all the days that are left in my life, I promise to be your help and your partner in Life.
And I want you to know that you are a great man of God , I thought my awaited fairy tale had eneded when I married you but in reality it started when JESUS came in and joined part of our marriage.

Food for the Hungry

We are extremely thankful for our Sponsors at the Real Marriage Tour and we are so pleased at the number of Children that have been sponsored at each of these events. However, there are over 75 still out and if you have one of these packets please fill out the included registration card and return it in the envelope provided before February 29th. After the 29th, they will need to go online to sponsor a child. If you have any questions please call the number on the back of the packets and the office will be more than happy to help. Thanks for your support!

Logos Bible Software

At each of our Real Marriage events we have booths setup for our Sponsors and there is always a flurry of activity at the Logos Bible Software table where there are special package prices for this amazing Bible Study software. We love Logos and are so thankful for them in all they do to spread the Word, but they also help make our events fun by sponsoring our Kindle Fire give away. At each event we have attendees post their picture on the Real Marriage Facebook wall and on Saturday we pick a winner. This week our winner’s were “Over the Top for Marriage” – Mario and Steph Torresday. Congratulations to this blessed couple!

A Word of Thanks

The team of staff and volunteers at The Rock was an amazing group of servant leaders who excel at expressing Jesus’ love. Most of the volunteers were couples who participated in the event while they were not working. Rock staff members Courtney, Michelle, and Valerie are skilled pros at large events and made for a terrific experience for event staff and participants

.