Sometimes we need to hear the things that hurt.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
I feel sometimes that cat people have a better understanding of grace. We love our cats because they're there. There is some element of companionship, but really, cats don't do anything.
Cats will never save Timmy from the well, alert you to the barn fire, or accomplish any other ridiculous task to earn your love. Cats simply couldn't care less if you like them or not.
I love my cat because I want to express my love. Even when my cat refuses my love I will still love him. He doesn't give me kisses or fetch me the paper. He will never make an attempt at earning my love. He knows I love him. He understands that he doesn't have to earn it.
Cats will never save Timmy from the well, alert you to the barn fire, or accomplish any other ridiculous task to earn your love. Cats simply couldn't care less if you like them or not.
I love my cat because I want to express my love. Even when my cat refuses my love I will still love him. He doesn't give me kisses or fetch me the paper. He will never make an attempt at earning my love. He knows I love him. He understands that he doesn't have to earn it.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
I held a birthday dinner in my own honor. It was important to me to gather my friends together and celebrate my birth. My parents, of course, had to foot the bill. I invited six of my closest friends to the nicest steak restaurant in the area. I had made it quite clear that I would be paying (with my parent's credit card.) My friends, however, had missed that little detail. I declared that I would be eating the ribeye and asked my friends what they would be getting. Rachel wanted a salad, Ricky was going to get french fries, and Adam was going to order a water. I was so upset at them - I had told them to get whatever they wanted and explained that I would be paying for it. Maybe they hadn't believed me or maybe they didn't want to be a financial bother; but either way I had to explain that the dinner was my parent's gift to me. I had to elaborate on the point that I would be offended if they ordered anything less than steak.
Sometimes we fail to remember that Christ has paid the eternal price and that we have nothing to offer on our own. Too many Christians, failing to understand that God offers the steak of a lifetime, end up eating the french fries and water of their own efforts. I wonder if God is as offended as I was.
(We all enjoyed our steak!)
I had to sit through a two hour lecture on why mainline denominations such as the United Methodist Church were failing to uphold the gospel. I was so offended, not because the professor had dissed my denomenation, but because of his ignorance. The United Methodist Church daily holds up the gospel around the world. In my church in Toccoa, there is a woman who every week fills the communion bowl with water so that it is ready in case someone comes forward to be baptized. We are a church that upholds the gospel message and is ready and prepared at all times.
Sometimes we fail to remember that Christ has paid the eternal price and that we have nothing to offer on our own. Too many Christians, failing to understand that God offers the steak of a lifetime, end up eating the french fries and water of their own efforts. I wonder if God is as offended as I was.
(We all enjoyed our steak!)
I had to sit through a two hour lecture on why mainline denominations such as the United Methodist Church were failing to uphold the gospel. I was so offended, not because the professor had dissed my denomenation, but because of his ignorance. The United Methodist Church daily holds up the gospel around the world. In my church in Toccoa, there is a woman who every week fills the communion bowl with water so that it is ready in case someone comes forward to be baptized. We are a church that upholds the gospel message and is ready and prepared at all times.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Danny and I were talking, the other day, about getting in trouble at church. Danny grew up in the church, but he grew rebellious during his youth. Funny story. Danny had to apologize to the elders for chewing snuff during the living nativity scene.
Me: Well, were you someone important like Joseph?
Danny: No, I was a shepherd. I was just playing the part.
Me: A shepherd would have definitely chewed tobacco.
Danny: I know. We beat up the kid who told on us.
Me: Was he a skinny little punk?
Danny: Yeah. We cornered him.
I couldn’t agree more. A shepherd would have chewed and probably would have beat up any skinny, tattling punk.
Me: Well, were you someone important like Joseph?
Danny: No, I was a shepherd. I was just playing the part.
Me: A shepherd would have definitely chewed tobacco.
Danny: I know. We beat up the kid who told on us.
Me: Was he a skinny little punk?
Danny: Yeah. We cornered him.
I couldn’t agree more. A shepherd would have chewed and probably would have beat up any skinny, tattling punk.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Some days I want to rant.
Some days I want to cry.
Some days I want to flee.
Some days I want to rejoice.
Some days I do all of the above.
I want to say that Jesus spent a lot of time in bars. I want to say it, because I believe that the functional equivalent of that statement is true. Jesus Christ, friend of sinners. The Pharisees thought that Jesus was a drunkard because of the crowd he hung with.
I've wasted 20 precious years building a good reputation. I have one of the best. My good reputation proceeds me. I can't enter a bar without it being a big deal. Everyone was shocked that I went to play pool at the Buckhorn.
God, please allow me to play pool in bars with people who have never heard of you.
There's a part of me that wants to let go and let God. There's a part of me that wants to find myself at the end of a dark, scary alley; cold, yet at peace, knowing that God has guided me there and will see me through. There's a part of me that wants to grip onto every selfish thought I've ever had. It's easiest if I hold on to my comfortable life. Plush comfort, good reputation, nice church family.
God, please allow me to find myself in situations I never asked for, never expected, and could never dig out of on my own.
When I was in High School, until 10th grade, I only hung out with the Christian kids. We formed a clique and never strayed. At some point I left and began friendships with sinners (or at least those who openly acknowledged their sin.) My Christian friends were heart - and some feared I was no longer a Christian.
God, please remind me to look outside of the church for friendship.
I've gotten back in the Christian crowd - and I'm unhappy. My family isn't happy that I could ruin my reputation ... but I'm so damn tired of the choir boy routine. Most days I don't give a damn about the poor: some days I care less.
God, please forgive me for my transgressions. I have not loved with my whole heart - or even the biggest part.
This break reminded me of the need to "go into all the world." That starts right here. In dark alleys, in filthy houses, in smoke filled bars. The invitations I'm handing out are addressed to people the world would scorn. Christ has come for this!
God, forgive me for craving comfort more than I have ever craved you.
Amen.
Some days I want to cry.
Some days I want to flee.
Some days I want to rejoice.
Some days I do all of the above.
I want to say that Jesus spent a lot of time in bars. I want to say it, because I believe that the functional equivalent of that statement is true. Jesus Christ, friend of sinners. The Pharisees thought that Jesus was a drunkard because of the crowd he hung with.
I've wasted 20 precious years building a good reputation. I have one of the best. My good reputation proceeds me. I can't enter a bar without it being a big deal. Everyone was shocked that I went to play pool at the Buckhorn.
God, please allow me to play pool in bars with people who have never heard of you.
There's a part of me that wants to let go and let God. There's a part of me that wants to find myself at the end of a dark, scary alley; cold, yet at peace, knowing that God has guided me there and will see me through. There's a part of me that wants to grip onto every selfish thought I've ever had. It's easiest if I hold on to my comfortable life. Plush comfort, good reputation, nice church family.
God, please allow me to find myself in situations I never asked for, never expected, and could never dig out of on my own.
When I was in High School, until 10th grade, I only hung out with the Christian kids. We formed a clique and never strayed. At some point I left and began friendships with sinners (or at least those who openly acknowledged their sin.) My Christian friends were heart - and some feared I was no longer a Christian.
God, please remind me to look outside of the church for friendship.
I've gotten back in the Christian crowd - and I'm unhappy. My family isn't happy that I could ruin my reputation ... but I'm so damn tired of the choir boy routine. Most days I don't give a damn about the poor: some days I care less.
God, please forgive me for my transgressions. I have not loved with my whole heart - or even the biggest part.
This break reminded me of the need to "go into all the world." That starts right here. In dark alleys, in filthy houses, in smoke filled bars. The invitations I'm handing out are addressed to people the world would scorn. Christ has come for this!
God, forgive me for craving comfort more than I have ever craved you.
Amen.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas in the Empire. - Bishop William H. Willimon.
It's strange to hear a prophetic voice in this day and age.
It's strange to hear a prophetic voice in this day and age.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
I recently had a doctor's appointment in the same building as an obesity clinic. The obesity section had a large bulletin board with "before and after" pictures of people who had recieved major surgery to lose weight. My mom pointed out the most interesting thing about the pictures; those who were happy in the "before" picture were happy in the "after" picture. Those who were unhappy in the "before" picture were unhappy in the "after" picture. Losing half of their body weight did nothing to improve their level of joy.
I see a lot of Christians every day who struggle with a multitude of sins. I hear Christians say "if only" they could get over that one particular sin habit. Masturbation, pornography, homosexuality, lust, gluttony, cursing, smoking, etc. The list goes on. (I don't think all of those things mentioned in the list are sin - yet that is the list) That "if only" they could overcome that one addictive sin behavior that they could ... could what? I never quite hear the rest of the sentence. Be happy, I suppose, or be righteous, or get right with Christ.
I weigh in at a portly 285. I'm not garguntuam, but I am a bigger person. I realized a number of years ago that if I couldn't be happy with who I was as a fat person, that I could never be happy with who I was at any size. It was a revelation, really. I stopped hating myself. I still don't want to see any photos of my body at pool parties, but I can be happy with who I am.
I think the same principle applies in both situations. Not that we should be happy with our sinful old selfs, but that we should be able to rejoice in what Christ has already done in us. If we can't celebrate the fact that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins while we are yet sinners, how can we pretend that we would celebrate that fact if we were without sin?
I think the old "love the sinner hate the sin" slogan applies first and foremost to ourselves. Christ has counted each and every one of us as worthy of salvation - now why should we hate ourselves for our sin? A friend who struggles with homosexuality recently said that if people found out his secret he would kill himself. This simply breaks my heart. 1.) That we as the church have created a culture that elevates one sin above all others that a person can't even openly struggle against sin without being persecuted. 2.) That a person could hate the sinner (even unto death) even when the sinner is looking him back in the mirror, and 3.)That the church has so blatantly missed the mark and has no plan to revise its current stance, even knowing that it has caused much harm.
This Christmas, take a break from loving family and friends and be selfish. Love yourself. Love the sinner that you look at every day in the mirror. Show grace, mercy, and forgiveness to yourself. Celebrate that Christ died for you knowing that you would continually mess up - even after salvation. Celebrate the new life that Christ has given to you- knowing that you aren't perfect - and celebrate the victorious limp knowing that Christ's love is sufficient even in the face of your "secret little sin."
I see a lot of Christians every day who struggle with a multitude of sins. I hear Christians say "if only" they could get over that one particular sin habit. Masturbation, pornography, homosexuality, lust, gluttony, cursing, smoking, etc. The list goes on. (I don't think all of those things mentioned in the list are sin - yet that is the list) That "if only" they could overcome that one addictive sin behavior that they could ... could what? I never quite hear the rest of the sentence. Be happy, I suppose, or be righteous, or get right with Christ.
I weigh in at a portly 285. I'm not garguntuam, but I am a bigger person. I realized a number of years ago that if I couldn't be happy with who I was as a fat person, that I could never be happy with who I was at any size. It was a revelation, really. I stopped hating myself. I still don't want to see any photos of my body at pool parties, but I can be happy with who I am.
I think the same principle applies in both situations. Not that we should be happy with our sinful old selfs, but that we should be able to rejoice in what Christ has already done in us. If we can't celebrate the fact that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins while we are yet sinners, how can we pretend that we would celebrate that fact if we were without sin?
I think the old "love the sinner hate the sin" slogan applies first and foremost to ourselves. Christ has counted each and every one of us as worthy of salvation - now why should we hate ourselves for our sin? A friend who struggles with homosexuality recently said that if people found out his secret he would kill himself. This simply breaks my heart. 1.) That we as the church have created a culture that elevates one sin above all others that a person can't even openly struggle against sin without being persecuted. 2.) That a person could hate the sinner (even unto death) even when the sinner is looking him back in the mirror, and 3.)That the church has so blatantly missed the mark and has no plan to revise its current stance, even knowing that it has caused much harm.
This Christmas, take a break from loving family and friends and be selfish. Love yourself. Love the sinner that you look at every day in the mirror. Show grace, mercy, and forgiveness to yourself. Celebrate that Christ died for you knowing that you would continually mess up - even after salvation. Celebrate the new life that Christ has given to you- knowing that you aren't perfect - and celebrate the victorious limp knowing that Christ's love is sufficient even in the face of your "secret little sin."
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Christ has come for this
Those were the lyrics the high school boy might have heard as he passed the group of adults singing christmas carols. "Christ has come for this."
He might have heard them. The singers were engaged in a power play of musical tempo, making the understanding of lyrics difficult. If he did hear them, he might have understood them. He might have understood them. We were all scowling because of the cold, and if our message was one of joy I think we missed our mark.
Truly, Christ has come for this. For this boy - for his heart to be turned toward God. Not for petty squabbles to be carried out in His name, not for families to fake and feign holiday joy, not for songs to be sung to graying streets filled with slush; but for people.
That God would come to earth as a baby speaks volumes about His heart. That we can't even get through a four verse carol without needing things done our way says a lot about our hearts.
But, alas, Christ has come for this. For us - for our hearts to be turned toward His.
He might have heard them. The singers were engaged in a power play of musical tempo, making the understanding of lyrics difficult. If he did hear them, he might have understood them. He might have understood them. We were all scowling because of the cold, and if our message was one of joy I think we missed our mark.
Truly, Christ has come for this. For this boy - for his heart to be turned toward God. Not for petty squabbles to be carried out in His name, not for families to fake and feign holiday joy, not for songs to be sung to graying streets filled with slush; but for people.
That God would come to earth as a baby speaks volumes about His heart. That we can't even get through a four verse carol without needing things done our way says a lot about our hearts.
But, alas, Christ has come for this. For us - for our hearts to be turned toward His.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
"Faith is not a story of belief in the midst of predictability. You must believe when everyone and everything tells you not to. Faith is the ability to clean the lenses and find hope and joy among the cracks. Faith is found in the midst of life, not in spite of it. This is a story of Christmas. Each Christmas, inspired by Mary and Joseph, find reason to believe even when idyllic dreams of life change."
Bishop Tom Bickerton
Bishop Tom Bickerton
Friday, December 07, 2007
The Nativity Story
Most often we fail to fully embrace the eccentricity of the birth narrative as described in the gospels. We sterilize the story and trap it in a box of religious zeal. It becomes holy and sanctified until we are no longer suprised by it. It was a “then” thing. But, could you imagine the story happening today; the unlikely cast of characters:
Elizabeth: The old biddy of a pastor’s wife who gains a few pounds and suddenly thinks she’s pregnant with a special child. She might be right, but with a suddenly-mute husband and a new-found Buddha belly things aren’t looking to bright, not to mention her youngest cousin …
Mary: The 13 year old “virgin” who somehow managed to get knocked up. Oh sure, she’ll be memorialized with a stoic face, full of grace; but tonight she looks scared as hell. We want to judge her, but we recall our own past and remember that no one is truly pure; remembering our own sexual transgressions we wish to keep hidden – and we say a little prayer of thanks that we never ended up with child-support payments or a young one of our own. The ladies at Bible Study, who all agree that she hasn’t been coming faithfully enough talk behind her back, “Poor dear, God bless her sinful little heart.” Not to mention her poor fiancé ….
Joseph: The man with one marriage behind him about to marry his new bride; she’s pregnant and he knows he isn’t the father. The fool will probably marry her anyway. He believes her angel stories. Men will believe anything, it seems. Or maybe he just doesn’t have too many prospects left. So they travel out of town because of an edict, darn governmental red tape, and try to find even one last room happening upon …
The innkeeper: The foreign-born hotel owner who is finally getting ahead during the mid-season rush, with a full hotel, and a strange couple looking for the last room in town. He knows that every two-bit motel is full tonight, and he’s compelled to help. He can’t just send a pregnant woman out into the cold, can he? Maybe they could just sleep in the lobby or the old tool shed out back? If only he had known just what he was in for and who all would show up …
The lowliest shepherds: The mill-workers pulling extra hours at the mill to make a few bucks to spend for the season. Living a gritty, grimy existence, covered from head to toe with grease, they claim to have seen an angel pointing the way to a better existence. They claim to be honest men, but you know how people in their profession act, I’m sure they saw an angel – they probably saw some little green men, but there were others …
The wise men: Men with expendable income, excess time, and no wives to keep them at home? In a modern retelling they would have to be the gay. Three queens, riding in from the city without a clue about the small town culture. Bringing lavish, pointless gifts: Gucci bags, Prada shoes, and enough hair care products to last a baby with no hair at least 3 years. There is just one other player …
The Baby King: Perhaps the most sterilized, trivialized, stock-character of them all in our classic tale, but perhaps the one who was originally the most scandalous. Th’incarnate one; Christ the Lord. It’s bad enough that God leaves his post in Heaven, but that he takes the form of a baby? God, being passed around by greasy mechanics and rich queens, simply coos and smiles.
It doesn’t fit on a Christmas card. It doesn’t have a pretty bow. There are loose ends; we’re left unsatisfied. Mary can’t prove she’s a virgin; Jesus can’t prove he’s the King. We have unreliable witnesses or witnesses with tarnished testimonies – you take your pick. There’s nothing certifiable about the whole story, you aren’t sure if you want to tell your kids (especially your 13 years old daughter) all the details.
So Mary become the heroine of courageous faith, Joseph the honest man of valor, the shepherds show up clean with white sheep, and the wise men seem to have a point and purpose. It makes a beautiful Christmas card – we come to accept it as easy fact … but we fail to realize the scandal behind the story. We see these people as plastic figurines and it sets our minds at ease.
Monday, December 03, 2007
I'm feeling like a bit of a failure at the moment. It's an odd feeling that I get every know and then. It's a feeling of depression, but I can't figure out any reason for the depression; at least not a reason that makes sense.
The drama team I lead was going to do a skit for 11 church. The girl who I want to give the lead too doesn't want to do it. My top priority is to give the kids the courage and confidence that they need to thrive in life. I feel like I haven't accomplished that. It's a sad feeling.
I cussed twice in youth group on Sunday. I was in the senior high youth group discussion and I was so angry that I cussed ... twice. Not just once, but twice. I don't think that cussing is a sin ... but I don't want to encourage younger beliefs to sin ... but I do want them to be honest. If they think that the core tenets of the Christian faith are bullshit ... i want them to be free to voice that. I don't want them to feel that they have to be someone they aren't because their in church. I know they cuss at school; why shouldn't they be the same person at church?
I have a friend, of whom I love dearly, who makes me feel like I am a burden on his busy life. He's never said anything, but I always feel like he's just shy of telling the truth ... it's so odd.
How can you be simultaneously happy and sad?
The drama team I lead was going to do a skit for 11 church. The girl who I want to give the lead too doesn't want to do it. My top priority is to give the kids the courage and confidence that they need to thrive in life. I feel like I haven't accomplished that. It's a sad feeling.
I cussed twice in youth group on Sunday. I was in the senior high youth group discussion and I was so angry that I cussed ... twice. Not just once, but twice. I don't think that cussing is a sin ... but I don't want to encourage younger beliefs to sin ... but I do want them to be honest. If they think that the core tenets of the Christian faith are bullshit ... i want them to be free to voice that. I don't want them to feel that they have to be someone they aren't because their in church. I know they cuss at school; why shouldn't they be the same person at church?
I have a friend, of whom I love dearly, who makes me feel like I am a burden on his busy life. He's never said anything, but I always feel like he's just shy of telling the truth ... it's so odd.
How can you be simultaneously happy and sad?
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
2 Kings 16:3 “… who sacrificed his own son, which was a disgusting custom of the foreign nations.”
Sometimes God must remind us that we don’t yet have Him figured out. God is a mystery. A beautiful, wonderful mystery.
The Christian faith has trumpeted for 2000 years that you can know this God personally. Recently, however, we have crossed our wires and tried to teach that you can know everything about this God with absolute certainty. Modernism called for an end to anything that could not be quantifiably measured and calculated; this included God. The church caved to pressure and allowed the God of all mystery to be systematized. Suddenly, God was small – small enough that we could comprehend Him. He made sense; and a person need only fall for the ranting of a glib faith-salesman’s rational explanation/trickery to gain personal salvation. If you can’t defend your doubt against the truth of the man with the slicked back hair; surely you just got saved. (Now repeat this prayer after me …)
But it was not this god; the god of rules, regulations, and repetition; but the God of mystery – all-powerful, omnipotent, creator God – who sent His only son to die for the sins of the world. … as was the disgusting custom of the foreign nations? Of all the salvific formulas God could have imaged and placed into motion – he chose the strongest, harshest, most unethical plan imaginable … one that had been condemned when perpetuated by godless nations: the sacrificial slaughter of a son.
It doesn’t even make sense. As if God pulled a number from a hat, He, seemingly, purposelessly chose the most painful option to save the world from sin. He could have chosen any method of propitiatory satiation. Salvation for the world could have come through a mighty warrior, a military ruler, the death of a grizzly murderer, a pink bunny delivering brightly colored eggs, or any other avenue God saw fit to employ.
But the God who will continue to mystify even the most brilliant scholar chose the route of unbelievable pain and suffering – the death of his beloved son – as the means of our salvation. God threw a curveball; created the mystery to end all mysteries, and yet we believe that we can systematically comprehend His motives. Bullshit. (I’m a theologian, primarily!)
Ms. Griffin, a missions prof, once said “Do you realize that the sum of all of your theology is less than God.” It was revolutionary when juxtaposed against our Bible classes; where all Truth may be learned. All the thoughts that I have about God add up to significantly less than who He is. All the thoughts that I will ever have about God will never begin to compare with the vastness of mystery contained in the act of salvation God chose through His son, the Christ.
Sometimes God must remind us that we don’t yet have Him figured out. God is a mystery. A beautiful, wonderful mystery.
The Christian faith has trumpeted for 2000 years that you can know this God personally. Recently, however, we have crossed our wires and tried to teach that you can know everything about this God with absolute certainty. Modernism called for an end to anything that could not be quantifiably measured and calculated; this included God. The church caved to pressure and allowed the God of all mystery to be systematized. Suddenly, God was small – small enough that we could comprehend Him. He made sense; and a person need only fall for the ranting of a glib faith-salesman’s rational explanation/trickery to gain personal salvation. If you can’t defend your doubt against the truth of the man with the slicked back hair; surely you just got saved. (Now repeat this prayer after me …)
But it was not this god; the god of rules, regulations, and repetition; but the God of mystery – all-powerful, omnipotent, creator God – who sent His only son to die for the sins of the world. … as was the disgusting custom of the foreign nations? Of all the salvific formulas God could have imaged and placed into motion – he chose the strongest, harshest, most unethical plan imaginable … one that had been condemned when perpetuated by godless nations: the sacrificial slaughter of a son.
It doesn’t even make sense. As if God pulled a number from a hat, He, seemingly, purposelessly chose the most painful option to save the world from sin. He could have chosen any method of propitiatory satiation. Salvation for the world could have come through a mighty warrior, a military ruler, the death of a grizzly murderer, a pink bunny delivering brightly colored eggs, or any other avenue God saw fit to employ.
But the God who will continue to mystify even the most brilliant scholar chose the route of unbelievable pain and suffering – the death of his beloved son – as the means of our salvation. God threw a curveball; created the mystery to end all mysteries, and yet we believe that we can systematically comprehend His motives. Bullshit. (I’m a theologian, primarily!)
Ms. Griffin, a missions prof, once said “Do you realize that the sum of all of your theology is less than God.” It was revolutionary when juxtaposed against our Bible classes; where all Truth may be learned. All the thoughts that I have about God add up to significantly less than who He is. All the thoughts that I will ever have about God will never begin to compare with the vastness of mystery contained in the act of salvation God chose through His son, the Christ.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Prayer is becoming a part of my life. I have always prayed, lest anyone begin the defrocking of my Christian faith, but it has never come naturally. I would pray a stilted prayer before meals and a somewhat less stilted prayer of salvation before takeoffs and landings on airplanes.
My thankfulness can be sent up at any time these days. And, I no longer beg for a pardon on runways, but rather thank God for the long productive life I have led.
I don't ask forgiveness 18 times after a "big" sin. I thank God for his assurance that my sins are foregiven.
I pray for the service before it begins, an hour before it begins, and I pray for my friends.
When I was having an MRI, I had an intese hour of prayer for my loved ones.
Prayer isn't something that I do, it's something that I am. Let's hope it keeps going in that direction.
My thankfulness can be sent up at any time these days. And, I no longer beg for a pardon on runways, but rather thank God for the long productive life I have led.
I don't ask forgiveness 18 times after a "big" sin. I thank God for his assurance that my sins are foregiven.
I pray for the service before it begins, an hour before it begins, and I pray for my friends.
When I was having an MRI, I had an intese hour of prayer for my loved ones.
Prayer isn't something that I do, it's something that I am. Let's hope it keeps going in that direction.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Sex!
There, now that I have your attention I'm going to talk about the existential divide ... no, I'm really just going to talk about sex.
Why is sex the biggest topic in the Christian world? Why is it the final taboo?
We don't talk about it. When we do talk about it we sterilize it. We use safe, euphemistic words. Medical terms are generally okay, but not always - you just need to know.
The church teaches, inadvertantly I do believe, that sex is the greatest sin; that engaging in premarital fornication, homosexuality, oral sex, or anything not intended primarily for reproduction is inherently sinful. If you can't wait to have sex you should get married when you're 18 - whether you're ready or not. If you do fornicate - you have committed a sin that is unforgivable in the eyes of God.
I don't buy it. I know that moms and dads don't want their kids having sex, and I know that premarital sex is dangerous, and I know that waiting until marriage is much more fulfilling, and I know that having sex before marriage is a giant emotional burden that most people can't handle. I know all of these things, but I can't believe that sex is a sin that the grace of God can't cover.
I think it's morally irresponsible to teach anything less than the full gospel. It is true, sex outside of marriage is a sin. I would never deny that, but we take it a step too far when we teach, intentionally or not, that sex is unforgivable or a greater sin. God mourns our sin when we choose not to wait for marriage, but he also mourns our sin when we choose to lie to our kids. He also mourns when we change the gospel to fit our needs.
I want my friends to know that I don't support sex outside of marriage, but if you are choosing to do so, please use a condom. If you are too afraid to buy condoms (especially if you live in Toccoa) let me know and I will buy them for you.
Sex is fun, but it isn't fun enough. God's grace is sufficient.
Why is sex the biggest topic in the Christian world? Why is it the final taboo?
We don't talk about it. When we do talk about it we sterilize it. We use safe, euphemistic words. Medical terms are generally okay, but not always - you just need to know.
The church teaches, inadvertantly I do believe, that sex is the greatest sin; that engaging in premarital fornication, homosexuality, oral sex, or anything not intended primarily for reproduction is inherently sinful. If you can't wait to have sex you should get married when you're 18 - whether you're ready or not. If you do fornicate - you have committed a sin that is unforgivable in the eyes of God.
I don't buy it. I know that moms and dads don't want their kids having sex, and I know that premarital sex is dangerous, and I know that waiting until marriage is much more fulfilling, and I know that having sex before marriage is a giant emotional burden that most people can't handle. I know all of these things, but I can't believe that sex is a sin that the grace of God can't cover.
I think it's morally irresponsible to teach anything less than the full gospel. It is true, sex outside of marriage is a sin. I would never deny that, but we take it a step too far when we teach, intentionally or not, that sex is unforgivable or a greater sin. God mourns our sin when we choose not to wait for marriage, but he also mourns our sin when we choose to lie to our kids. He also mourns when we change the gospel to fit our needs.
I want my friends to know that I don't support sex outside of marriage, but if you are choosing to do so, please use a condom. If you are too afraid to buy condoms (especially if you live in Toccoa) let me know and I will buy them for you.
Sex is fun, but it isn't fun enough. God's grace is sufficient.
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