Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Living Together Before Marriage

I have always been against couples living together prior to marriage. My problem with it is three fold. First, it is against the teaching of Jesus and other places in scripture. Second, there are many practical reasons why it is a bad idea (allows the guy not to make a true, lasting commitment, it puts too much emphasis on performance, and it makes the relationship based on condition rather than unconditional love, just to name three). Third, all fo the studies show that couples who live together first have more and deeper conflict, have worse sex lives, and have a higher divorce rate compared to couples who marry first.
Recently the New York Times featured an interesting article on the topic. Now I never thought I would encourage people to read the NYT, and I don't agree with everything the author says, but she makes some good points that are worth reading. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday/the-downside-of-cohabiting-before-marriage.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&ref=general&src=me


Blessings,
Dr. Paul

Thursday, April 5, 2012

A Mother's Decision

Here is a mother's true story that involved a decision of life and death.

Pam and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. They made a pledge to God that if they were given a son, they would name him Timothy and raise him to be a preacher.

Pam then contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite from contaminated food or drink. After going into a coma, she was treated with strong antibiotics … before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. Despite nearly losing her baby four different times, Pam refused an abortion, citing her Christian faith as the source of her hope that her son would be born without the predicted devastating disabilities.

Pam spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed before giving birth to a healthy baby boy on August 14, 1987. Pam's youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines. He also plays a little football. You may have heard of Pam and Bob's son: Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

Blessings,

Dr. Paul