On secularisation of marriage in the church.

i recall when i was younger reading demographics stating that the average marriage age was 27 and 25 years old for men and women respectively*. In the years since, these values have incremented to 28 and 27. These values follow our current culture view on how we should go about our lives. Ideally, one will attend college for a 4 year degree before settling down and then dating around.

This view, however, conflicts with a Christian world view. i make an argument in regards to sex. Those that wait until their late twenties to marry obviously don't wait until then to become sexually active. Most will be active in their teen years, if not by their first years in college. Moreso, this secular stance gives little reason to marry. Why would one marry into responsibility when all that is good is available without?

As Christians, why would we deny our sexual needs by waiting until the cultural norm that doesn't agree with us, to marry? We set ourself up for failure in fidelity while holding ourselves back from what we were meant for. There is no good reason to wait until such an age to marry. One will always have bills to pay, whether for school or mortgage. One will always be busy, whether with studies or their career. Maturity does come with time, but what is mature enough for marriage? One mustn't forget that marriage is a pursuit of Christ, and with that a great deal of maturity will be had in a more rapid manner than otherwise, provided that it is Biblical.

Our bodies are ready for a marriage relationship at a relatively young age, in our young teens. i wouldn't think that a good time to marry, but late teens to very early twenties would, when maturity is set in place. Again, why wait until fifteen years after one's body is mature for sexual relations when we obviously don't want to. The society around us is drinking deep of premarital sex, we are exposed to it's lies day in and day out. We are fools to allow this to tempt us, to wait without reason.

There is also the aspect of child bearing. A woman's body is most able to birth when young, the older the more prone her children will be to disease. Conception will be easier at a young age, as will be parenting. Imagine having children at age 30+.
That leaves one with a 10 year old child at 40+. 10 yearolds are still able to cause a good deal of trouble, as are teens. It would be ideal to be able to keep up with your children, not panting trying to climb the stairs.

i find it very frustrating that leaders in the church push for couples to wait to marry. There is no good reason. There are all kinds of silly walls one can build for oneself, but that doesn't mean they are valid objects stopping them. If there is a will, there is a way - it may not be easy, but it will be good. And would marriage be any easier at age 30 over age 20? No.

They will find and kill you

This morning i woke with a feeling of guilt, as though i had done something terribly wrong. Questions, many of them, ran through my head as i thought about what i had witnessed, and what implications were imposed by this.

i was, i assume, a Nazi soldier. i could have been a Russian soldier, they had their share of indescribable war crimes. People don't like to blame the Russians for hating haters. Hating hate is a beautiful thing to many.

Along with a group of soldiers, i was playing a sick and twisted game. Many of my comrades were lined up, across from me. Between these two lines was a "playing field". Guns where given to the players, children many of them, to run about the field. It appeared as though they were playing a game of broom ball, running about with various arms, firing blindly at us, as we picked them off from "their game". Being on the opposite side of the field as my comrades fired in my direction was interesting, but i managed. After taking one out, with a small side arm, a pistol, i stood. A young boy spun about with an assault rifle, firing past me. i froze, and somehow was not injured. Lifting the pistol i aimed at the child, and fired, hoping to retrieve the AK-47 for myself. The shot went off, and the child kept moving, i missed him. i watched him as he walked a few more steps and spun one last time, falling onto the ground, becoming another body to litter the field. He looked as though he was barely old enough to walk as he fell. i had not missed.

i ran over, picked up the rifle, and ran back to where i had been. Upon returning i heard voices in a snow bank.

(i must have asked who was in the bank.)

A girl, in her mid to late teens popped half of her head through the snow. Oh my, she seems to have managed to have hidden, along with maybe one or two others, avoiding death i could only hope.

"God is close to us here," she said. It was apparent that she had stayed at the base of the bluff, maybe being 5-6 feet high at most; overnight while it snowed they had stay here.

"They will find and kill you," i said to her. She flinched a bit at my words. i was not going to reveal their position. If they could stay here, hiding, and live, would be a wonderful thing.
"Pray to GOD and ..." i trailed off. There was so much i wanted to say, and no time to say it. If i were caught talking to this girl in the snow, i would more than likely be killed myself, and my talking to her would show that someone else was here besides myself. "i'm an American," i began telling her, "from the state of Minnesota." i was not proud of what i was doing, i did not want to do what i was doing: killing people. It seemed to be hard on both of us, and was very emotional. She kissed my chin several times as i continued, "i have a family, four, a mother, father, sister...". i looked back to see men on the other side of the field, looking around, and told her to get down further.

The dream ended somewhere around here. i will admit, i think it's a bit awkard, but at the same time really cool. Awkward being the kissing, though it was meant for comfort and careing. Cool because it didn't make sense from a world perspective. She had every reason to hate me, to want me dead, to spit on me and drive her nails into me. Or, from her position in the snow bank, covered spare her face, to stare coldly at me with her eyes. But she received me, she felt for me, even though i was killing what where probably her family and friends.

And so, you might see why i had many questions upon waking. How loveing would she had to have been to act in the way she was acting? How was it that she seemed to be at such peace? Could have i have risked my life in attempt to save hers? What does this mean for me? How can i be more loving? Do i really reflect the qualitys of Christ, and if not, what do i need to work on?