USA- A Baptist pastor has praised Justin Bieber for reading and promoting Christian author Tim Keller’s book. As everyone knows, the singer will soon marry model Hailey Baldwin. TMZ released video of the pop star leaving Baldwin’s New York City apartment on Wednesday night, where she briefly stopped to chat with fans before getting into a car. Bieber was holding Keller’s 2011 book, The Meaning of Marriage, and even held it up for the camera, saying: “You have good days and bad days. It’s not real if it doesn’t have bad days.”
Murray Campbell, senior pastor of Mentone Baptist Church in Melbourne, explained to The Gospel Coalition last Friday why the book is important, and being promoted by the world-famous pop star who professes to be a Christian.
Campbell said some in the media consider the book controversial for its defense of monogamy and for telling men and women to refrain from sex before marriage, as well as suggesting that wives should submit to their husbands.
“Yes, all of these things are unpopular today, but none of them are controversial in most contexts,” Campbell wrote. They are, and have been, shared by Christians (and many others) throughout the world for millennia. These are aspects of a marriage that are taught and encouraged in the Bible. However, what the Kellers achieve (following the Bible) is frame marriage relationships in a consistent and attractive way that helps to understand why marriage should be monogamous and why there are complementary gender roles in marriage.
The pastor, who says he uses Keller’s book regularly for both premarital and marriage counseling at his church, warned that too often people “parody and caricature ideas we don’t like or can’t understand, instead of taking the most difficult and a more honest approach, which is to understand the concepts on their own terms.
“In reading the book, we found that the Kellers are acutely aware of how marriage is being recast in Western cultures, and by criticizing these trends, they are also not returning readers to the conservative 1950s,” he added.
“That’s why the book is worth reading: it will surprise you. Tim and Kathy Keller do not reflect the unsatisfying views of sex and relationships that surface on Netflix and Amazon, nor do they reproduce unhelpful marital myths from previous generations.”
Campbell admitted that she’s “using these Justin Bieber photos” to promote a book she really likes, because she thinks The Meaning of Marriage “is a great book for marriage.”
“It certainly sounds like this young engaged couple thinks it’s worth a read as well,” he added, referring to Bieber and Baldwin.
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The couple’s engagement was revealed in July, though the couple have not opened up to the media about the details.
Stephen Baldwin, an actor and devout Christian, he is the model’s father, posted a congratulatory tweet on Twitter at the time, which has since been deleted.
“Sweet smile on my face! My wife and I (Kennya) pray always. He is moving into the hearts of JB & HB. Let us all pray that his will be done… ».
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