Worth the Wait

Physical intimacy before marriage is the popular (and easy) thing to do, but is it worth the guilt and dishonor? In this sex-obsessed generation, it is practically impossible to live without having some kind of regret relating to physical intimacy. Here are a few of Cary Schmidt's "20 Reasons to Avoid Premarital Sex:"


-It presents huge physical risk—diseases and illness are rampant among those who engage in this lifestyle.


-It is disappointing at the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels—the only physical intimacy that exceeds expectations is that founded on long-term commitment and marital growth.


-It creates a spiritual/emotional bond without commitment—this only breeds resentment, bitterness, and the feeling of being used. It says something like this, “I don’t love you enough to commit to you, but I love me enough to use you.”


To read the full blog post, click here. I plead with you, don't wait to agree with this counsel until you know it's true through experience. Take it from Bro. Schmidt when he writes, "A life of wonderful, married intimacy is well worth the wait!"

3 Myths About Marriage

I bet you all are thinking, "What is that topic doing on this blog?" Well, I just thought it'd be good to erase any false assumptions my younger readers have about marriage before they get in a serious relationship. Whether or not we want it this way, we are influenced by the world's viewpoint of love and relationships every day. High expectations fill our minds, and when we start assuming a guy can make us happy and feel secure, bad things happen.

Come read this short and simple post, "3 Myths About Marriage," by Paul Chappell. The counsel given is valuable for now and later, no matter what stage of a relationship you are in. Whether your relationship status is "single," "engaged, " "married," or "it's complicated," take this practical advice from a man of God. Click here to read the blog post.

180

I recently watched the pro-life documentary "180" and my summation of it is "WOW!" Ray Comfort talks various people through the horrors of the Holocaust and correlates it to abortion today. Is his reasoning enough to change their minds about abortion? Watch 180 to find out!

Just to warn you, there are graphic images on this video, but to be honest, they're not as bad as I expected. There is footage of the Holocaust at the beginning, and a clip of a doctor wrapping something up in paper (an aborted baby, though it doesn't actually show the body).

The logical arguments Ray Comfort proposes are both blunt and respectful. Did you know that, like abortion, the atrocities of the Holocaust were legal and government funded? Which is worse, killing a child in the womb or after they've been born? Finish the sentence: "It is okay to kill a baby in the womb when ___________." When does a "fetus" become a human being? All these are hard but necessary questions we must face when dealing with the hot topic of abortion.

If you are pro-choice, prepare to think about this "women's right" from a different perspective. If you are pro-life, get this into as many hands as you can. The Roe vs. Wade tide just might be turning. Go to http://180movie.com/ as soon you have a half hour to spare and watch this "shocking, award-winning documentary!"

Diary of An Unborn Child

I discovered this just today and even though I'm not even a mom yet it brought tears to my eyes.  I hope no heart is too hard that will not be touched by this repeatedly true story:

September 19:

Today my life began. My parents do not know it yet, but it is I already. And I am to be a girl. I shall have blond hair and blue eyes. Just about everything is settled though, even the fact that I shall love flowers.

October 3:

Some say that I am not a real person yet, that only my mother exists. But I am a real person, just as a small crumb of bread is yet truly bread. My mother is. And I am.

October 7:

My mouth is just beginning to open now. Just think, in a year or so I shall be laughing and later talking. I know what my first word will be: MAMA.

October 9:

My heart began to beat today all by itself. From now on it shall gently beat for the rest of my life without ever stopping to rest! And after many years it will tire. It will stop, and then I shall die.

October 17:

I am growing a bit every day. My arms and legs are beginning to take shape. But I have to wait a long time yet before those little legs will raise me to my mother's arms, before those little arms will be able to gather flowers and embrace my father.

October 27:

Tiny fingers are beginning to form on my hands. Funny how small they are! I'll be able to stroke my mother's hair with them.

November 4:

It wasn't until today that the doctor told mom that I am living here under her heart. Oh, how happy she must be! Are you happy, mom?

November 9:

My mom and dad are probably thinking about a name for me. But they don't even know that I am a little girl. I want to be called Kathy. I am getting so big already.

November 24:

My hair is growing. It is smooth and bright and shiny. I wonder what kind of hair mom has?

November 27:

I am just about able to see. It is dark around me. When mom brings me into the World it will be full of sunshine and flowers. But what I want more than anything is to see my mom. How do you look, mom!

December 8:

I wonder if mom hears the whispering of my heart? Some children come into the World a little sick. But my heart is strong and healthy. It beats so evenly: tup-tup, tup-tup. You'll have a healthy little daughter, mom!

December 12:

Today my mother killed me.

A Life Lesson from Kids

I did nursery for the Graduation Preaching Conference at Heartland Baptist Bible College and got to see some cute kids!!  One of them, who we'll call Mark, found great pleasure in constantly trying to escape the "Walkers' Room" and explore bigger and better places.  We couldn't turn our backs for more than five seconds, or he would be gone!  I started thinking about how adults are the same way, but on a much larger scale.


Mark thought his greatest sense of fulfillment could be found "out there."  He disregarded the many toys and friends within the walls and focused all of his time and energy on somehow getting "out there."  He wanted to be free.  There was so much to see and do if he could only escape.  What he didn't know about the great beyond, however, was that there was uncovered outlets, hard floors, and dangerous objects laying around that could harm him if swallowed.


Does this sound familiar?  So many young people are obsessed with pushing the limits, climbing the fence, and living on the edge, but don't realize that what lies beyond will hurt them.  Looking outside his small room, Mark saw a huge playroom with lots of space to roll around.  Being a nursery worker, I saw more than that -- I looked past the fun and saw a floor he could easily trip and break a tooth on and a nail that Maintenance had accidentally dropped on the floor, which any two year old would swallow without giving it a second thought.  As an adult, I saw many dangers Mark didn't... but he didn't seem to appreciate my forethought and wisdom.


As a young person, you will discover boundaries set around you that you might not completely understand.  You might wonder why your youth pastor advises against dating in high school or why your mom won't let you drive around with friends past midnight.  Like Mark, you might be peeking through the door thinking, "But it looks like so much fun!" and fighting to be free.  You might grow aggravated when your authorities keep pulling you back into your "cage" and not telling you why you can't go out there.  You become convinced that your greatest sense of fulfillment is outside of these boundaries.


Just a word of advice: don't go out there.  There are things in the typical young person's world that your parents, pastor and youth pastor don't want you to have to experience in order to know about.  To let Mark eat a nail to teach him how much pain it would inflict upon him would have been ludicrous; instead I kept him as far away from it as possible.  That is exactly what your authorities are doing for you by putting up boundaries.  Like Mark, you might not understand why you're not allowed to do certain things, but someday you will, and you will be grateful for authorities who protected you from being hurt.


Your greatest sense of fulfillment is not found in sneaking out late at night to go to a party, stealing the keys to the car to visit a "friend," or putting junk music on a CD and labeling it "Bro. Jones' Preaching."  It looks like so much fun... until your friends pressure you into doing something dumb, your "friend" turns out to be a jerk, and you accidentally leave your CD in the player the day mom uses the car.  These are uncovered outlets and sharp objects that older folks know about through experience, and would do anything to spare you this kind of pain and regret.


Next time you venture to ask your parent another "border line" question and once again you run into a wall, pause before you show any sign of disappointment.  Think, "Enough of me assuming they're just trying to make my life miserable... What could be the REAL reason they're saying no?"  It just might be to protect you, and for that you could at least smile and say, "OK."  Your greatest sense of fulfillment is found smack dab in the middle of God's will, deep within all the boundaries that have already been set up for you.  If you accept these rules with a cheerful heart, you will be the happiest you've ever been in your whole life.