Go to the following link to listen to Tim Conway's balanced message on this subject,"The Ungodly Practice of Dating - Fathers Protect Your Daughters"

http://playmp3.sa-media.com/media/61506205713/61506205713.mp3

Tim,in this message,cites numerous passages in the Scripture,for those who have asked for biblical references.

Rather than challenge what God has said so clearly and plainly in His Word,I'd challenge any to give an apologetic defense of the modern american dating concept.

Dating is but a novelty. A practice which has only become the popular norm shortly after the automoblie was invented and began to be perused for a couple to date.

A christian ought never adopt cultural norms because of their popularity.

Government schools are just another example of a cultural popular norm which many(85%) professing christian families have chosen to sacrifice their children to (Karl Marx and others of his mind surely would be pleased).

Will "The Israel of God" be ever in the ebb and flow of the tide which the world's winds blow her!

OH LORD,keep us from publishing our opinions!

His Spirit will lead and guide His children into all Truth.

Amen.

Someone has asked,I believe in sincerity,the below 2 questions:

"In courtship, do you keep your daughter home until she gets married, no matter how old she gets to be?

To the courtship and espousal people, do you allow your daughters to continue schooling (college) or work outside of the home, or do they just stay home until they have a suitor (someone committed to marrying them)?"

Gen 34:1,2 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

Genesis 34 is filled with one tragic event after another. Dinah is defiled and robbed of her virginity, Simeon and Levi murder countless men and take their possessions as plunder, and now Jacob’s entire family line is ruined, hated, and in danger of being completely destroyed. What could have possibly been the root of this mayhem and caused this distruction? The seemingly little act of Dinah, an unmarried young woman, leaving her father’s house, void of his protection, counsel, and leadership. Granted, Shechem is certainly to blame for sinning against Dinah; he was by no means a saint and was in dire need of self-control! Likewise, Simeon and Levi were to blame for the horrible ravaging they committed against Shechem and his land. However, it is highly unlikely that any of this would have occurred, had Dinah remained under the protection of her father, in the sphere God had so wisely and lovingly designed for her, rather than shunning it and going off on her own.

“Dinah was, for aught that appears, Jacob’s only daughter, and we may suppose her therefore the mother’s fondling and the darling of the family, and yet she proves neither a joy nor a credit to them; for those children seldom prove either the best or the happiest that are most indulged. She is reckoned now but fifteen or sixteen years of age when she here occasioned so much mischief. Observe, 1. Her vain curiosity, which exposed her. She went out, perhaps unknown to her father, but by the connivance of her mother, to see the daughters of the land (v. 1); probably it was at a ball, or on some public day. Being an only daughter, she thought herself solitary at home, having none of her own age and sex to converse with; and therefore she must needs go abroad to divert herself, to keep off melancholy, and to accomplish herself by conversation better than she could in her father’s tents. Note, It is a very good thing for children to love home; it is parents’ wisdom to make it easy to them, and children’s duty then to be easy in it. Her pretence was to see the daughters of the land, to see how they dressed, and how they danced, and what was fashionable among them. She went to see, yet that was not all, she went to be seen too; she went to see the daughters of the land, but, it may be, with some thoughts of the sons of the land too. Note, The pride and vanity of young people betray them into many snares. 2. The loss of her honour by this means (v. 2); Shechem, the prince of the country, but a slave to his own lusts, took her, and lay with her, it should seem, not so much by force as by surprise. Note, Great men think they may do any thing; and what more mischievous than untaught and ungoverned youth? See what came of Dinah’s gadding: young women must learn to be chaste, keepers at home; these properties are put together, Tit. 2:5, for those that are not keepers at home expose their chastity. Dinah went abroad to look about her; but, if she had looked about her as she ought, she would not have fallen into this snare. Note, The beginning of sin is as the letting forth of water. How great a matter does a little fire kindle!”

“Dinah, when she went to see the daughters of the land, lost her chastity. Those whose home is their prison, it is to be feared, feel that their chastity is their fetters.” (Matthew Henry)

Prevailing among Christendom today is the idea that the Bible speaks not to the issue of where unmarried young women should live. Others believe that if it does speak to this issue, it is simply by way of suggestion or the issuance of a good idea, or perhaps through some archaic, done-away-with command. However, this is clearly not the case. The Scriptures provide us with example after example of daughters being at home and no where else, as well as commands addressing the issue of where unmarried daughters are to live. In addition, we are provided with only one example of a daughter who forsook the protection of her father. If the Lord were indifferent as to where an unmarried woman lives, then He would have provided for us in His Word positive, heart-warming, good examples of unmarried daughters leaving their families and living on their own. However, this is simply not what we find in the Scriptures-and I believe we know precisely why this is!

Clearly, as in the examples given in Leviticus 22:13 and Genesis 38:11, daughters not only remained with their families until marriage, but they also returned to their family’s dwelling after the death of their husbands. At no time were they out on their own, independent from the protection, oversight, and provision of their parents.

We are now reaping the harvest of the lies which were planted into the minds of the unwary by the enemy.

May His people be renewed in the spirit of their mind that they not be taken captive by the devil, as was Eve.

When the devil assaults you with, "Hath God said", answer, YES! God hath said! It is written! Thus saith the LORD!

Search the Scriptures!

Note: Listen to Tim Conway's message at the link in my previous post. It is a compelling argument saturated with Scripture.

The stronghold of americanism prevails in this and many other practices among those who have taken to themselves the christian name.

Do you believe young Christian ladies over the age of 21 might be called by the Lord to leave their families in obedience to the Holy Spirit for a life of service?

What do you think about Jackie Pullinger who as a young Christian lady in Britain, was led by the Holy Spirit to go to Hong Kong where she was used mightily by the Lord to minister to Heroin addicts? Many, many of them were set free by the power of the Holy Ghost working through her. So much so, that many did not even go through withdrawal.

You can check her out here.
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=117

Also, do the parents pick out the husbands or wives (as the case may be)?

Question:

"Do you believe young Christian ladies over the age of 21 might be called by the Lord to leave their families in obedience to the Holy Spirit for a life of service?"

Answer:

YES!

But I am not sure the question nor the answer stops there.

The fact that an age is placed in the question causes me to think that maybe there's more being implied.

Why, at an earlier(say 12-16)age they should join the youth group eh!

Why,at 16 they should get their license too!

And of course they ought to prepare for their career and look for a college to go to right!

Is a higher education to be found at college only!

The answers to all these questions are all one and the same if the mind has been conformed to this world,rather than renewed by the Spirit's transforming power.

If one be led by the Holy Spirit,one's worldview will be shaped,not by the world's standards or norms,but rather by the Holy Spirit inspired Word. Sheep hear the Shepherd's voice and follow Him. Those who have inherited the promises do not attempt to change the will. His will is stamped upon their hearts, as their persons have been engraved upon the palms of His hands(Isa. 49:16).

Sarah's daughters are yielded to the the Holy Spirit in the Holy Spirit's inspired Word. It is there that they look and find His perfect will and direction. The Spirit and the Word say the exact same thing.If not, then one is hearing another Spirit,another's word.

Why tempt ye the LORD?
Why mimic the adversary by saying,"Hath God said?".

Sarah's daughters obey,even as it is written in Numbers 30.

If there be exceptions to the the rule of that measure by which we measure all things,then we do best and leave it to God to determine who, and what, those exceptions may be.
Rom. 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth: and he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand.

God has used numerous persons to accomplish His purposes.
Obedient ones as well as disobedient ones. God is God.
But we have His Word and are without excuse.

We might name other women who were used by God and attempt to persuade the young of their independence,but only the foolish venture to do so. The will of God is not determined by the successes or failures of others,but by His Spirit and His Word. We are not our own lords,but have been purchased by His blood.If our LORD wills, we will do thus and so,or go here or there.

We do not approach God in prayer or in His Word as pragmatists but servants. We pray,"not my will but thine",and His Word is our command.

Isa. 8:20 To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them!

Re: the question of picking out wives or husbands;

Never do we find a woman on the aggresive and taking a husband, as we find the men doing.

What we do find are women being given to be the wife of this one or that one. Search the Scriptures and see that this is always the case. Tim Conway's message which I provided a link to in my first post on this thread mentions many verses to bring this out. To think otherwise is simply un-biblical. We're to take every thought captive,as well as philosophies. We're to examine everything,and hold fast that which is good. We're to cast down imaginations(speculations)and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

The father,mother,and daughter are to be in prayer and in His Word,seeking Him alone,and He will bring it to pass as He sees fit. If the father be a man of God,he it is who primarily would have the last word as to the giving of his daughter in marriage. One who is a daughter of Sarah would not kick against such God-appointed authority,but would gladly submit.

Neither would a father who is a man of God force his daughter to marry a man she totally objected to.

Proverbs 14:33 Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known.


"Independence Day is an american Holy-Day"

I am really glad you brought this up because this gives me the chance to show the other side of this subject.

The "Biblical Patriarchy", "Biblical Manhood/Womanhood" movements have a dark side to them called Spiritual Abuse.

So, I will take this opportunity to post some links.

Offering gentle encouragement for women while addressing emotional and spiritual abuse within authoritarian families. http://www.quiveringdaughters.com/

Jen's Gems
http://jensgems.wordpress.com/