So I was having a conversation with a friend a few months back, and we ended up in heated debate, which isn't unusual for us.

The debate: She claimed that marriage was a christian institution and that people HAD to get married in a church, and this was the fault of us Christians due to our relentless propaganda which had stormed the western world

NOW. I don't know if you think this is true or not, BUT I for one do not think it is true in any way.

I don't feel that marriage is a Christian institution for a few reasons...so here they go:

1. Marriage Existed before Christianity
If we stick all of history on a time line, you will EASILY discover that marriage came before christianity.

2. Other Religions ALSO have marriage (duh!)
If you look at other religions, they too have marriage ceremonies, and although you MIGHT be able to claim that Christianity had influenced some of those religions, other religions (such as Judaism obviously) existed before Christ even walked the earth.

NOW!
I`m sure there are many other reason why marriage is not an exclusively Christian institution, but....I`m tired, and will give this more thought after my Spanish exam tmrw =)

So I'm in the middle of exams now...and it suuuucks.

but anyways, update on something cool I discovered when reading Exodus
SOOO! we all know the story of the golden calf so I thought I was in for a pretty easy read during my devos the other day (as in...straightforward =P) and the READING was, but God revealed something to me about blaming people (it happens a lot, don't lie, you do it toooo!! =P)

SOOO! when Moses comes down he asks Aaron about this WONDERFUL calf he had made (and he did make it, see verse 4) in verse 22 : He  [Moses] said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?"

and the FIRST thing Aaron says is: Do not be angry my lord...you know how prone these people are to evil.....
so he blamed OTHERS instead of taking responsibility!
(now, how often have I done that?)

and THEN! Aaron says: they gave me the gold, I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!
hahaha whatever Aaron, just like that huh? throw it in and POOF out it came?!
please.....
(oh...I think I've done that too =S boo me)

So, we all know the 'no sex until marriage rule' but...purity is SO much more than just "no sex" (or I believe so anyways....)

so I guess my question is where do you draw the line?

my boyfriend and I are always redrawing the line...'cause we find out how much we can do within our boundaries that aren't pure....

like, it started with "clothes stay on" (which was suggested by my dad, and is a GENERAL rule...like when we go swimming, his shirt comes off (duh!) and I'm in a bathing suit...so within REASON =P) and now we have more specific boundaries to specific situations

i've read 'i've kissed dating goodbye" and 'boy meets girl" and while i can see what harris is SAYING and what he means, i'm not sure if i agree with all of it, or if i think the lengths that he goes to are necessary, or even possible in my situation

the boy and i just had a talk and redrew some more lines which is why im thinking of this...