You & Me Forever is less about marriage and more about spiritual purpose. Francis and Lisa Chan seek to live for God, and they demonstrate a commitment to living for God first in everything, including all human relationships.  The premise you will find in this book is wrapped up in an ideal: Put God first, then the rest will fall into place. Set your mind on eternity. I particularly appreciate the book’s emphasis on developing an intimate relationship with God.

With a mind set on eternity, decisions are easier to make. Loving and serving God in spiritual mission and earthly purpose will affect every decision, prayer, and motivation, causing a unity of mind and desire. The effect will determine the future of every aspect of any of life’s choices.

The authors maintain that marital and parent-to-child relationships improve and are unified through this process of loving God and serving him above serving ourselves and our human, earthly desires.

The author coined the term Theophostic Ministry. As a pastoral counselor Dr. Edward was discouraged with how little people changed or were freed from their emotional pain even after many sessions of counseling. Then he discovered an effective way to minister in his counseling. It was God-centered and God-directed. Yes. I recommend this book because I know it works. For me, this one is personal. Not too often do we have something major happen to us and then find out about it in another context. Usually we read about it first.

Many years ago I was healed and set free of emotional pain I had carried for two decades. A short time later I was visiting with a friend who is a Theophostic counselor for her church when she explained the process to me. She said that during their church’s Theophostic Ministry sessions, a couple of people will pray in a separate room while the counselor is praying with, and guiding, the person in need of healing. They ask God to reveal the source of the person’s emotional pain. The counselor acts more like a facilitator than a counselor. After my friend told me about this unusual way of counseling, where the counselor does not suggest what might have happened–instead, God becomes the source, my interest was piqued. I decided to buy this book because it intrigued me, and because I knew this was something important. Basically, I wanted to know more.

Like in the Theophostic approach, my healing came through seeking, prayer, heavenly therapy, then peace and thankfulness. I had prayed for healing a few weeks before but not knowing if it was possible. Then it came about while I was walking and praying in solitude. God ministered to my inner being in a profound way. A week or two later I noticed I no longer carried a weight of silent heaviness. Theo (God) + Phos – (Light) is a winning combination.  God reveals or shows the emotional damage sustained; He then ministers to the wound and identifies the lies the person has believed about self. This works well because God is the counselor and the healer. He knows more about the person than they do!