The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Pastor Brian Gold Flin Flon Pentecostal Assembly One important subject in pre-marital counselling is that of communication. People are informed that there are five levels: cliches (the weather, etc.), reporting facts (I heard), ideas and opinions (I think...), feelings and emotions (I feel...), and lastly, peak communication (body language). This fifth level involves areas such as sexuality, tragedy, and crisis. Words are not necessary and we tend not to stay at this level for very long. It is a peak. Yet our society is pushing the door of sexuality in an extreme manner. People in some movies barely have the first name of someone, know nothing of the partner's family or interests, and are engaging in sex like animals out of control. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. At what point does Canadian law step in and mandate an age that one can have sexual relations? Seems that the age of consent or protection is going up to age 16, from the present age of 14. Yet, in the middle of it all, what does our Creator have to say about the situation? It is said about the generation that is presently retiring that they heard the abstinence message regularly from three sources: parents, school teachers, and clergy. Today, unfortunately, this message can go missing from a young person's radar all too often. A Toronto Star article from June 27 reasons that the increased age of consent will help protect our young people from internet exploitation and other adults who would prey on them. Nobody mentions all the baggage that teens will carry by becoming sexually active, all the hurts that will haunt them for the rest of their lives, the risks they take including unwanted pregnancy, STDs (including HPV), true guilt, versus the innocent fun that could have been theirs. Consent at age 16 is better than 14, to be sure. But why don't we communicate our dreams and ambitions to others, see if they are on the same wave length as us, and then make a life decision to commit to that individual or go our separate ways. God designed sex for a husband and wife to enjoy each other with intimacy, not something that is to be made cheap and common. After all, society itself mandates we cannot drive a car until we've had proper instructions and have a license, cannot vote or drink until age 18. Why not wait until you have the right catch, someone who will share your dreams and ambitions, someone that will not compromise his or her own standards. Learn to communicate well on the first four levels. Sure enough, people are waiting until later in life to find a mate. It takes patience but it is worth the wait!
