The Plight of Young Women

Today, I woke up and turned on Fox News. I do this every morning. I like to know what is going on in the world. I was told that Brittney Spears had a meltdown during an interview for OK magazine. Fox news stated that Ms. Spears used thousand dollar dresses to pick up her dogs droppings and to wipe her face and hands during a fried dinner lunch. The magazine said that if they published the pictures they took, it would ruin her career.

Yesterday, I woke up and turned on Fox news. As I said before, I do this every morning. I like to know what is going on. I was told that Lindsey Lohan was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. She also had a felony amount of cocaine in her possession. she did this just a few weeks after being released from her second rehab stint.

During the late 1990's, a small group of young women exploded on the entertainment community. Disney produced several of these girls, but they were not the only creators. Paris Hilton was created by her parents. The Olsen twins were given to us by ABC television. Nicole Richey was a creation of the her father. All of these girls are young, beautiful, and sexy; and they influence young females to be the same.

When you look at the list of young female stars, and what has become of them, you are almost shocked. However, nothing is shocking anymore. It seems that our young female stars are all messed up. They either have eating disorders, or they are involved in drugs and alcohol. What may be the most shocking is that if you would have told me 5 years ago that Christian Aguilera would be the good one out of this group, I would have called you a liar.

Trend setting has become a major problem in our country. Young women and teenage girls are convinced that they need to act and behave like their favorite performers. I am so thankful that some trends change over time. Over the last few years, the trend in girl's clothing is to show less skin. Just a few years ago, the trend was the more skin the better. Young women felt pressured to show off their bodies. Many parents would all their teenage daughters to dress like street walkers. The fashioned industry told girls that they were not popular unless they wore short dresses, stomach exposing shirts, and low riding pants. American parents were more concerned with their girl's popularity than they were with their girl's morality. Thankfully, this trend is turning, but showing off the body is still very popular.

Christian parents must reject what our culture teaches our girls, and hold fast to the traditional understandings of womanhood. For years, girls were raised with the concept that it was their job to subdue their man. A young lady was to have high standards. Those high standards would cause a young man to pursue the same high standards. Simply put, women are the standard keepers of our culture. Men are going to rise up to what women expect of them. That being said, many of today's young women do not have high standards. Thus, men do not see the need to commit.

From a Pastoral perspective, it is difficult for me to teach young men to have high moral standards when their counterparts do not keep them. Young ladies cause young men to sin by showing off their bodies and tempting them mentally. Christian single women and teens need to keep in mind their duty to not tempt their suitors. They need to stand for high moral principles. They need to shun what is bad in our culture and embrace what is good. Our culture tells us that "Girls Gone Wild" is an acceptable activity for girls looking to have a good time. God tells us that our behavior and actions will be judged.

The plight of young women is a difficult thing in today's culture. They are told to act like young men. However, this behavior allows young men to sink deeper into their depravity. If a young girl wants to marry a man that is virtuous and strong. She then must decide that her personal integrity is more important than her popularity.

Where Is The Real Church?

I just love Pope Benedict XVI. I like him a whole lot more than I liked Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI is much more orthodox, and is much more concerned about the Church's historical stands. Recently the Pope made a definitive statement about Hell. He proclaimed that the Church believes in Hell. He has also held fast to other historical teachings.

The latest Papal statement declares that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church, and all other Churches cannot be called churches in the proper since. He declared that all churches outside of the Roman Catholic Church have terrible flaws. He believes that Jesus set forth one Church with one Apostolic authority. Any Church that does not recognize the Pope as the Apostolic head of the Church is flawed. You would have never heard this type of statement from John Paul II.

The Roman Church has lost a lot of its relevance since the Vatican II. The Second Vatican Council began in 1962. This council changed the Church dramatically. For centuries, the Church did all of its worship in Latin. Vatican II allowed worship to be done in any language. Vatican II also decided to call non-Catholics "Separated brethren". This was a huge departure from calling us heretics. Most conservative bishops struggled with the change. This change has continued to grow to the point where many Catholics see very little difference between their Church and other churches.

Pope Benedict has decided to draw a line in the sand. It is obvious that the slide away from Catholic primacy has got him agitated. He obviously believes it is his duty to draw the church back home.

I applaud Pope Benedict's stand. I am glad he has drawn this line, and I hope he continues to fight against Protestants and others alike. For his statement is one that is important for us to know. The truth is, either he is right or we are right. We both cannot be right. I am willing to take up the fight for the true Church. I think it is high time we have a good old fashioned debate on what is the Church. This would educate the masses, and allow for truth to get out.

Just to let you know, the Pope is right about one thing. The true Church has one Apostolic authority. The problem between the Pope and I is recognizing where that authority lies. He believes it lies within the confines of the Roman Church. He believes the Pope is the key to Apostolic authority. I believe that the Apostolic Authority is found in the Bible. It is our final authority. That by looking for true Biblical churches, we will find the true Church.

I look forward to seeing where this debate goes.

Why Wait?

At the time of this post, congress may not pass financial support for an abstinence policy the President supports. Every religious website I have been to today has decided to run a blurb asking us to call or email our senators to move on this important legislation. I hope that many people respond. Our government supports millions of things that make evangelicals squirm. We should remind them to support some thing that we agree with.

I am a firm believer in abstinence. As a matter of fact, I believe we could wipe out every STD in one generation if everyone did things according to the Bible. The only sure way to not get pregnant is not to have sex. The only sure way not to catch a terrible STD is not to have sex. Christians, for the most part, have preached, taught, and promoted this fairly well. However, there is something that Christians should start promoting to help with sexual purity. That something is marrying younger.

There is a trend in our country to wait to marry until a person is settled. It is normal for men to wait until they are in their 30's to marry. Young men want to have a car and a home before they think about marriage. They do not want the struggle of creating a home and a family at the same time. This concept has jumped into the Christian community as well. Christians are marrying much later in years.

Now the truth is that I have a hard time writing this article. I waited until I was 29 to marry. However, I did not wait for the same reasons that most people wait. Simply put, it took me that long to find a girl that wanted to marry me. If I built a relationship with my current wife 10 years earlier, I would have married younger.

The truth is that men waiting to marry until there settled has created a culture of acceptable sin within our church. Sexual habits such as self-gratification and pornography have become prevalent within our younger men. Many of our young Christian men find no shame in having sex before they are married. The temptation is great, and waiting until marriage seems all most unthinkable in today's culture.

It is my belief that if we are going to teach abstinence in the Church, then we have to also teach appropriate marriage. I believe they go hand in hand.

Now some would say that people in their early 20's are not mature enough to be married. I believe that maturity doesn't start at 28. There are many people who are old and still immature. The truth is that if a young couple follows Biblical principles they will be successful. Parents must begin to promote the Biblical principles in the relationships of their children.

Biblical marriage will work at age 22 the same as it does 32. I believe that this should be reminded to our children at the same time as abstinence is taught. Waiting to marry is creating a culture of sinful behavior. I believe supporting this culture because it makes things easier is not acceptable for the Church. Marriage is a wonderful thing if done right. For a couple in their early 20's, there is nothing better than building a long life with someone who you truly love.