Wir sind bettler. Hoc est verum.

What if you gained the whole world and lost your soul? Would it be worth it? Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.” Is this you? Do you desire a good name (good reputation) over riches? Are you willing to sacrifice a little of your name to “make it”? What is your buy out?

I was reading an Article on Perez Hilton in Entertainment Magazine. Sorry I do not have it in front of me so I will not “Quote” from it. While reading it a couple things came to mind. First it seems no one really likes Perez Hilton, yet he doesn’t seem to care. He said something about not caring if people liked him, only if people went to his blog. Then the article said he took home $70K something a week or month (I forget) from just advertising on his blog. I guess to Mr. Hilton $70k a month is better than a good name.

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Having sat under many different college teachers I have come to realize that my teaching philosophy is much different than most of them. So I decided to write down some of my philosophies for you to consider. Please note this is for teaching adults not children.

1. My job is to bring to my students new ideas they have never heard about, or bring old ideas into new light. Now this part is pretty much in line with most teachers out there.

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It seems to me that we are one of these 3 figures, the prodigal son, the father, and the older son, at some point in our Christian lives.

I think we all start out as the prodigal, we are blatant sinners, destitute and in need of a loving Father and His forgiveness. We know we don’t deserve it, but our Father gives it to us anyways. We ran from Him at one time, and our own brokenness brought us back to Him.

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*disclaimer* this is not meant to be a legal study of how much particular we should give or not give, but an article to challenge our thinking and attitudes.

Now a quick word before I get to my main point. With out getting in a huge word/verse study in the Bible, I would argue that we Christians are first called to give both of our time and money to the Church, and second that it should come from our heart and desire not from the law.

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I have come to what I think is the secret of a happy life and especially marriage. It first starts with our view of God. God, namely the person Jesus must become to us our everything. All our hopes and fears throughout the years must first find their anchor in our God. What in this world is worth fearing but our righteous, Holy God alone? What in this world is worth hoping in (trusting) except our God and Savior?

Every fear except God is the fear of something insignificant and temporal. To fear God is to fear the one who directs your life, the good and the bad, and hold your eternal destiny in His hands. This is not to say you don’t hold any responsibility for your actions and thoughts, but that ultimately God is in Control, He is Holy, you are not, you deserve Hell and your only hope is the blood of Christ. This alone should cause you to fear God, not to mention the fact that He is the creator God and is all powerful and amazing.

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I just came up with another thought on this subject. Sometimes it seems to me that we need to wait for the right time and circumstances to marry, sometimes those are internal, and sometimes external. I see no problem waiting for a girl for a few years for one or both of you to get ready (what ever that means for your circumstances), as long as you guys have self control. I have no problem with someone working 7 years (or 14) before they get to marry someone. There is something said about being patient and waiting for the right time.

Also i think people need to consider their desires. If someone desires to get married in the Spring, and its fall, and they can wait and be patient, why can’t they wait? What if they want to wait 3 more years before they finish school, whats the harm in that if they have patience and self control?

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So does anyone else see the problem in this commonly held belief?

“I’m going to teach my kids that Santa is real, don’t you or your kids tell my kids the truth, I want them believing a lie, its betters their childhood. Besides everyone else is doing it, my parents did it and I turned out fine, see it’s ok to lie to your kids, it makes them happier.”

Anyone?

So I have heard of people using a birth control method called the faith method. Basically it is: “If God wants us to have children, then He will give us children”. My thoughts on this are two fold. First, if you are ready and willing to have children, well this is a great method to facilitate that. However, if you are using the method and desire to not have children, don’t be disappointed or surprised when you do.

In fact if you do not want to have children, you probably shouldn’t get married. Even more so, you probably shouldn’t get married until you are ready to have children. This is a new idea I just heard from one of my friends and I think its actually a good point. If you aren’t ready to have children, then you aren’t ready to be married.

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First I would say a great way to start would to be to read 1 Cor 7. Also Matthew Henry is helpful on the subject namely 1 Cor 7: http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID=4&contentID=1741&commInfo=5&topic=1%20Corinthians

I’ll list some verse here:
1 Cor 7:7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.
1 Cor 7:8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.
1 Cor 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn {with passion.}
1 Cor 7:27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
1 Cor 7:28 But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

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