Deeper Waters

It’s been an interesting Thanksgiving. I spent mine in some online evangelism, in some forum debating, and in doing laundry. Of course, being the constant gamer, there was some Final Fantasy XII involved. My family is far away and I just couldn’t get out there to see them. However, I thought I’d write about what I’m thankful for and maybe it’ll help you think of what you’re thankful for.

I’m thankful for my friends. Believe it or not, I think friends have a totally different place than family. I love my family of course, but family loves you often because you are family. It has been said that we love people that if we knew just on the street we would not love at all simply because they are family. That is something that makes family unique. I love mine, and I couldn’t always tell you why, but I love them dearly. Friends are different though.

I think of my friends as the people that love me because they choose to. (I mean love in the phileo sense of course.) I take my roommate as an example. I didn’t have any choice which home I would be born into and neither did he. Both of us though had a choice in who we would move in with and we made that choice. That’s unique.

I have a community of friends all around the world through the internet and other mediums. There are a number of people I can shoot an email to around the world and know that my message is going to a friend. That’s something quite pleasing. I could travel to a number of different areas and find someone happy to see me.

I’m also thankful for where I’m at. I have a great church family here and a school I look forward to attending. For the first time, I’m out there and with a friend and I’m making it. I am doing something that many people thought I would never be able to do. I am making it just fine and rather enjoying myself.

I am thankful for what I do also. I love reading and I love Christian apologetics and I love philosophy and theology. I can’t imagine doing anything else. There is a great joy in mining the depths of who God is and his revelation and then getting to pass that information on to other people. I love how God invites us to explore him. He doesn’t want us to hold back. He wants us to use all we are to know him as he is.

I am thankful for my family of course as I mentioned earlier. They let me go and are watching me live out my dream. They know it’s hard and most people know I’m one of the most self-critical people in the world, but I am doing what I can to make it work. I am pushing and fighting and I enjoy it.

I am thankful for what God has done though and for who he is. I give thanks that I am unnecessary to the plan, but he has chosen to use me. Service is not just our gift to God. It is his gift to us. It is his gift that we are invited to come to know him and to serve him in the cause of righteousness.

None of us needed to be, but God brought us into being by his grace. It is up to us how we will respond. Will we graciously acknowledge the one who gave us life and live our lives to please him, or will we forsake him and choose to walk our own way and tell God that we will be our own god?

I am thankful especially for the revelation in Christ. I find him amazing. I see no flaw in him and there certainly is none. I do not see how anyone could have dreamed up this man that billions throughout space and time since the cross would willingly give their lives for. I just don’t see that.

It is because of Christ that I am here today and doing what I do and ultimately saying that I have a lot to be thankful for. No matter where I am or who I’m with, that doesn’t change. I could be with my family and friends or as far away as possible, but who Christ is will not change. That is ultimately what I rely on when all is said and done.

As Paul would say, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Tonight, I am going to be writing another appreciation thread. My roommate and I wish to extend our thanks to our new church family. Again, he is away, but I do not believe he would really disagree with anything I have to say. We have found ourselves time and time again impressed with you and we look forward to each Sunday.

When we came to the church for the first time, we were pleased with the fellowship and people coming up to greet us. The first sermon definitely was one that we thought had meat to it and we could apply to our lives. We were able to start interacting with you from the very first day.

While we have a small community at the time, they are a close community. I think it is one of the closest I have ever been in.  We love having a church where the need of apologetics i is seen and regularly proclaimed. We’ve also enjoyed hearing accounts of missionaries overseas and how they have done.

We have been amazed with how you have treated us. In talking to my own mother about it, my words were that we feel like we’re being treated like the greatest thing since sliced bread. We were honestly shocked there wasn’t a marching band and fireworks the day we joined the church. You all are that complimentary and supportive of us.

We’ve especially enjoyed how you have a sermon and then afterwards, we have a time with more speaking on the sermon and then the floor being opened up for questions and discussions. It means that our preacher, and you are an excellent one, is willing to hope himself up to critique and have people even disagree on a point and we can all grow more in that way.

The staff in interviewing us for membership was extra cordial. We told our stories and then felt right at home. I do not recall any time at a church where I have been asked to tell about my story. Having that time as I ponder it indicates that you do have an interest in me and my roommate. We are not just numbers. We are members. We are persons.

We look forward again to every Sunday. We both eagerly anticipate doing all that we can do in the church to help it grow. We want to move forward and face any challenges that lie ahead. We want to support you as you support us. Any chance we have to see you, we want to take.

To our new church, we are in your debt. We came to you as strangers, and you took us in. I have felt a great sense of honor in being in your, no, our church. I believe with the minds we have there, we can do much. May we have some part in pushing our church forward to change our town and the world for Christ.

My roommate is away as he chose to go back home for Thanksgiving. My friend, I hope all is going well for you and I look forward to your return. However, he does not that I would be doing this and I am sure he would agree with all that I say here. This is going to be another one of my threads of thanks and appreciation.

Last Saturday night, he and I went to an event at the home of our Seminary President. I keep the identity secret for my own anonymity. However, he knows who he is and rest assured, I will be making sure he gets a copy of this blog. What we went to was what I’m thinking is an annual event held every year with a band playing 50’s and 60’s rock music and food and fellowship with students.

One big highlight was meeting an apologist there that my roommate will remember. He knew me from past encounters and I wanted to be sure he got to meet my roommate. My roommate didn’t know who he was at first and when he found out, I wish the cameras could have been in the courtroom to see the excitement that he had.

I’m not much of a music guy, although I do enjoy the time period that was being played. My Dad raised me up on that music and I know it well. However, wanting more to meet Seminary students and cold weather drove me to go inside where I chatted with some of them and found out that our Seminary has several great minds. (If any of you who I gave my info to haven’t contacted me yet, do so!)

I was pleased though that the president took some time aside to chat with my roommate and I about issues concerning us. I have been impressed with him ever since we got here. He has come to know us well and calls us by name. It amazes me that he’s willing to take time to be with us. We can easily call him friend.

Thus, we want to thank you for all that you’ve done for us. You opened up your home to us when all you knew was that we were students at the seminary and you treated us like honored guests. You invited us for discussion and have done everything in your power to make us feel at home.

We respect your position, of course, but at the same time, we believe that we can approach you as friends. That is something we value in our president. You know us well and you treat us as just friends you’d like to hang out with, and believe me, we certainly enjoyed it.

We both left that evening and I think my thought summarized the whole thing well. “I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did.” I had an awesome time and I definitely look forward to another such event. I see your being the president of our Seminary is going to be one of the things that keeps us going strong.

Thus, we extend our thanks and hope that you will have such an event again and want you to know that we are in your debt. We will be glad to help you out in any way that is in our power so don’t hesitate to let us know. We look at you and call you president and by a proper “Mr. X”, but more importantly, we can call you friend.

We look forward to our years of education with you for with you in charge, we know they will be great!

By the way, and those in the know on this joke will understand, I love peanut butter.

A few days ago, my roommate and I were in my car listening to a radio program. It was a Christian broadcast and I don’t remember what they were talking about but I remember them saying that they needed a fresh word from God. We had a conversation going on at the time, but when that was done, I brought up what I heard and my roommate was of the same opinion.

I have a growing concern with that statement because it implies something. It implies that the Word we have is no longer enough. “Lord. We’d like to thank you for sending Scripture, but we really need something more to guide us in our lives. Do you have anything new to offer?”

This is one reason I’m quite concerned with the movements based on experience and hearing the voice of God today. It seems that Scripture takes a back position. Instead of going to the text and finding principles that can help us in making a decision, we instead are looking for a fresh word.

Now make no mistake here. I am not denying that God can speak. He certainly can if he wants to. I am saying we should not expect such as it is not normative. Instead, God has already spoken. He is not silent. Creation testifies of him and Scripture testifies of him. He is the God who is there.

I suspect that this could be why so many churches are falling away also and not having the growth in discipling that they should. People are turning away from the Word and turning to new fads. It’s nice to think that you can get a personal message from God. It isn’t to think you might actually have to read and study the Bible in order to understand how you are to live your life.

Why have churches turned to Bible studies where it seems each time we get to “What does the text mean to you?” Instead, we have to ask what it meant to the original hearers and what the author meant by it. (Oh yes. Despite postmodernism the author is the one who determines what a text means.)

At our church, we have a sermon and then later we meet for an hour and usually discuss the sermon. I find this to be a great way of doing things. We all get blessed some and we’re allowed to make comments and answer questions. It’s especially helpful and in a way, difficult for the preacher when he knows he’ll be called to account for what he teaches.

This will make him study more though so the listeners will be the benefit. If the pastor knows the congregation knows the passage he’s going to teach on as well as he does, he’s not going to handle it sloppily. He’s going to handle it well for no pastor wants to get called out on what they say. In turn, the congregation will be blessed for having done their own homework instead of relying entirely on the minister.

So, do we need a fresh word? No. We don’t. We need to return to the one we have.

In February of 2008, Ben Stein is scheduled to release a movie called “Expelled.” From what I understand, the movie is going to be questioning Darwinism as the high ideology of science and how it doesn’t allow, as Richard Lewontin says, “a divine foot in the door.” The antagonism towards ID displays this.

Stein is not saying that Darwinism is wrong at this point. He admits Darwin got a lot of things right. Stein’s point is that Darwin cannot explain everything such as the origin of life and from the way things are going, it doesn’t really look like it will be able to. Why should science not be open to ID?

I’ll state outright that I am not a scientist. I do philosophy instead. However, I am interested in how the situation is shown. I find it amazing that Darwinism claims that it has the truth entirely, but it refuses to accept a challenge from the ID movement. It is almost as if the Darwinist movement is afraid that if left exposed, the public will learn that like the emperor, it has no clothes.

The main danger I see is that Darwinism has been equated with science. Now this would be denied, but as I ponder it, this seems to be the case. Imagine what it would be like to question geocentricism at one point in time. This was mainstream science. (We do have a myth of Galileo horribly suffering for questioning it, but that’s a blog for another day.) Imagine what it would be like to have questioned Newtonian physics! It works so well!

Both of these were questioned though and were dropped because we found better explanations. Why not Darwinism? If someone is truly doing science, they should be willing to say “I’d like to put Darwinism to the test and see if it’s the best explanation.” However, something must be stated at even that.

When scientists say they are looking for a best explanation of what we have, they usually mean the best naturalistic explanation as no religion is allowed in the door. The question to ask though is “Why only naturalistic explanations?” I do agree that evolution is the best naturalistic explanation we have, but if we take it as far as it can go and we find it unsatisfactory, then why not allow another theory in?

Well, that will mean saying God did it. Question though! What if God did do it? If he did, then all the science in the world won’t change that. If the true conclusion is God did it, then the evidence should show some signs of it, as is brought forward in the ID movement. Maybe the ID movement is wrong. Maybe the Darwinists are right. The point is though, we will not know until we examine the claims rather than have court rooms fight the battles.

Now when James Cameron came out with his claim, we were told that we should see what he has and then evaluate the evidence. I agree. We should do that. Now I was skeptical of course, and it was for good reason. Cameron’s event came and went with hardly a blip. Now though, the responders I’ve seen of this movie are not happy with it.

I contrast this with hearing Sean McDowell, son of Josh McDowell speak at the apologetics conference. He told of how he went to his Dad when he was around eighteen and told him that he had his doubts about Christianity and he wanted to check himself and see if it was really true, and his Dad answered “That’s great son!”

This is my response as well. If someone says “I’m not sure about Christianity. I want to study other world religions first.” I’d say “Be my guest.” I have no concern for I am convinced if someone is really seeking truth, they will come to Christ. If they are not, they won’t.

Why not try that with science? Why not let the kids in schools hear both sides? In fact, if Darwinists are so sure of their case, you think they’d welcome having students hear both sides so they can publicly show everyone exactly how weak the ID side is. I would have no hesitation to show how weak I think other sides are.

It could be the reason is what Plantinga says. If you’re a naturalist, evolution is the only game in town. You have nowhere else to go. If evolution does not explain life, then where do you go? Now I do not believe in macroevolutionary theory, but if it was true, it would not destroy my faith. In fact, I consider the odds so incredibly unlikely that it would be a miracle itself if it happened and if a miracle takes place, well, you do the math.

If evolution falls though, then the creation narrative of the naturalists is gone. The priesthood has lost the key story of the formation of man. What are they to do? Thus, the reaction of many to this movie coming does confirm what I think. When ID was just a few others out there, then they had no problem since they could fight it at a legal level. A figure like Ben Stein taking it on though in a public venue like a movie theater is different.

I congratulate and think Ben Stein for doing this. I plan on seeing this movie in February and I urge you to do so also. Remember that in the movie business, the producers get 100% of the ticket proceeds the first two weeks. Give this one a big showing and let them know you want to see more.

This sounds like such an odd thought for me to type out. As soon as I typed out the title, I had to admit it sounded odd. Why? Because we don’t think about this much in church. When was the last time you heard a sermon about the humor of God? When was the last time you laughed at a strong point made in Scripture in a funny way?

Jewish humor had much exaggeration in it. Let us consider some statements Jesus made.

“Better to enter Kingdom of Heaven with one hand than to have your whole body thrown into Hell.”

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man enter the kingdom of God.”

“Take the speck out of your own eye before taking the plank out of your brother’s eye.”

Each of these statements and others, while making a point, would have been understood as a joke also. Doesn’t it make sense? Think about hearing a dry and boring preacher. Do you really want to hear them again? Crowds flocked to Jesus though. Now there was the bonus of miracles of course, but it could also be because Jesus was a fun guy and also when he preached.

Consider also that even before he ever did a miracle, he and his disciples were invited to the Wedding of Cana. Weddings are fun events. Could it be Jesus was invited because he was a guy people liked? Believe it or not, it is actually possible to enjoy a sermon. It is actually possible to have fun and laugh while making a valid and biblical point.

Now what about our view of God? If we believe Jesus reveals to us who God is, we’d better have a way to include humor in the portrait. I honestly believe that many times we look at God and think he is boring. It is a great tragedy in the church today that people get the impression that God is boring.

I believe it’s the opposite. It is not we who make God boring. It is he who reveals us to be the boring ones. He’s a far greater pleasure seeker than we are. He created a whole universe to invite others into his love and Christ is the one who went to the cross for the joy set before him.

We think God spoils our fun. No. If anyone spoils our fun, it’s us. God is not opposed to fun. In fact, his way is the most enjoyable way overall. That doesn’t mean that every second is spent in the time of your life, though I think with him in mind it could be, but in the long-term, the Christian life is the most exciting of all.

What we say of God is actually how we should see ourselves in that sense. God is not boring and if we think he is, the problem is with us. God does not want to spoil our fun and if we think he does, the problem is with us. We’ve blamed God way too long when we have no one to blame but ourselves.

And sadly, if we believe that about God, is that also what we’ve shown the world about him? Do you really see God as enjoyable or is he just practically lifeless out there? He just exists and he’s not doing much more than existing. Now I know I disagree with much people says he does, but he is far from non-active. He is the most active of all.

Oh Lord. Do forgive us for making you boring. May we see the joy that you have prepared for us and realize how essential it is to our Christian walk.

Some of you might be thinking this title is blasphemous. Instead, I think it in a way of treating things like they are. Before you start to write me off as a heretic or blasphemer, I simply ask that you read the entirety of what I say here.

I do Scripture reading in the morning and in the evening. Last night, I read Isaiah 44. If you’ve read Isaiah, you should know that at this point, Isaiah is challenging the idolatry of his day. Now he has spoken about it a number of times and each time, he finds it simply incredible that people believe in idols. Let me let the prophet speak for himself.

6 “This is what the LORD says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God. 7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me
what has happened since I established my ancient people,
and what is yet to come—
yes, let him foretell what will come.

8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

9 All who make idols are nothing,
and the things they treasure are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind;
they are ignorant, to their own shame.

10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
which can profit him nothing?

11 He and his kind will be put to shame;
craftsmen are nothing but men.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
they will be brought down to terror and infamy.

12 The blacksmith takes a tool
and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
he forges it with the might of his arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
he drinks no water and grows faint.

13 The carpenter measures with a line
and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in the form of man,
of man in all his glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.

14 He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.

15 It is man’s fuel for burning;
some of it he takes and warms himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.

16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
“Save me; you are my god.”

18 They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

19 No one stops to think,
no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;
I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

20 He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

21 “Remember these things, O Jacob,
for you are my servant, O Israel.
I have made you, you are my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you.

22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.”

23 Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;
shout aloud, O earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
you forests and all your trees,
for the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
he displays his glory in Israel.

Honestly, go through and read his argument. See if you don’t laugh at some points. The way he sets it out is a mocking tone. How can someone not laugh if they are really approaching the text and treating it properly? Yeah. Of course this is Holy Scripture, but why can the holy never be funny?

Have you never laughed at a joke a pastor told during a sermon? Does he not tell the jokes also to make a point? As one who has been in the pulpit a number of times, I try to use humor at some points every time. It helps to make a light mood and it actually helps to aid recall. People can remember jokes easily and if they can connect a point with the joke, all the better!

My concern at this point then is that we not foster an attitude and a view of God that hinders us from reading Scripture as it is to be taken. As my roommate walked through here last night and saw me reading my Bible, he did see me laughing. I couldn’t really help it, and I had no shame in doing it. Isaiah made his point brilliantly and it was funny.

As I ponder it, it makes me wonder how the people responded. How could they not see the futility of what they were doing? (Unfortunately, Scripture records the hardness of hearts well. Jeremiah’s audience after Babylon came thought that it might have been because they hadn’t been honoring the pagan gods enough.)

This is also an excellent argumentation technique that Isaiah is using. Let’s remember that the people of the time knew how to argue their case. Isaiah was wanting his people to reason to see the truth of what he said. One way to show a view is false is to show the absurdities that exist if that view is true.

What do we get out of this passage then? Well, we get a good laugh and we get a good lesson in how to argue. We also get something else. We also get some joy in seeing that people in the biblical times used argumentation like we do today and enjoyed showing the absurdity of false views. If they enjoyed expressing it, should we not enjoy reading it?

In “The Case For The Real Jesus”, Lee Strobel interviews Daniel Wallace on textual criticism. For those who don’t know, this is how we recover what the original documents of the NT or any ancient document for that matter said. However, Wallace makes some remarks also about how the church seems to be lacking.

Wallace mentions that the church needs to start studying the Scriptures hard, which is something I’ve stated for awhile. The church has lost its intellectual edge that it used to have so strongly. The church in history preserved the great writings by both Christians and non-Christians and studied them. Do we even read them today?

However, he also mentioned the problem in that we have the view that Jesus is supposed to be the personal buddy of all of us. In doing so, we have too often forgotten that he is the sovereign Lord of the universe and while we are supposed to boldly approach the throne of grace, we must remember always that we are approaching a throne.

This might seem bizarre, but is it really? Consider if you were best friends with the President for instance. Does that mean you can call him up whenever you want and have him do whatever you’re wanting to do at that moment? Does that mean that when you’re with him and in the public eye that you can act the way you would in private?

Consider if you were going for a job interview and you really needed and wanted the job. What would you do? You’d dress in your finest clothes, make sure your hair was impeccable, and have all the green stuff removed from between your teeth. You’d have good posture at the meeting and answer as cordially as you could.

For my fellow bachelors, consider what it would be like if you were going out on a date with a lady that you really wanted to impress. You’d spend twice as long in the shower as you’d wash all the grime off of you even more than before, you’d get your best cologne, if you shaved, you’d make sure you were completely clean-shaven, you’d straighten out your car and probably wash it thoroughly, (Some of you might leave the windows open to wash yourself at the same time) and you’d get your best and neatest clothes out to wear. This is the girl after all!

Yet too often, we treat the Lord of the universe casually, and I know that I am quite guilty of this as well. I confess that this is an area I need to work on. When we treat him as casual, we lose out on who he is. When we realize he is the sovereign Lord of the universe, then we realize just that. We realize that he is in charge. He’s not just a friend we call. He’s the first one on our list as he is the one in charge.

I try to get this in with my prayer practice at church. At my old church, we’d stand for songs and then we’d keep standing for a time of prayer. I would sit in the back with my fellow youth and I’d stand for the songs, but when it came time to pray, I would sit down. Why? For me, this was a way of remembering who I was approaching. It was reminding myself that God is absolutely holy. I am not worthy without Christ to approach him. He is God and I am but a man.

Could it be we don’t pray at times because the stark reality of who we’re praying to hasn’t hit us? Last night I thought of how Moses even said to God “Now show me your glory.” When was the last time that I really wanted to see the glory of the Lord? Have I really thought about who he is?

I agree with Wallace. We need to remember who we’re approaching. We do have a friend in Jesus of course, but let us remember that he is more than a friend. He is our Lord.

I think it’s about time to wrap this series up. It’s been an interesting time. Of course, I’ll be writing on topics relating to sexuality from time to time, but I wanted to do something more long term like I did on hearing the voice of God. Readers can expect that this will happen every now and then.

If there is something I am concerned about with the increasing number of sermons I hear on sex, it is that we hear negatives only. We always are told how we must practice self-control and how we should avoid temptation and how this is only for marriage and all the diseases we can get and how scarred we’ll be if we make mistakes and guilt we’ll have later on.

Now, I think there is truth to that, but I am just concerned that while we hear the negative side, we don’t hear the positive, and that side needs to be heard.

We need to hear about the joy of sex. We need to hear about the joy of marriage. More specifically, we need to hear about the joy of sex in marriage.

We talk about how there is too much sex on TV today and in movies. However, it is there because the public is getting a message they enjoy. Why not get it from the married people today? Why aren’t married people putting forth an exciting picture of their marriage to where people would say “I want that!”?

Now we might talk today about young people today seeing marriage as confining and negative and something to be avoided. We can condemn that they have a false view of what marriage is to be, and I do. However, we must face the brute fact that they got that view from somewhere. Could it be from watching the older generation in marriage?

Look at how you present yourself to the world if you’re married. Is it something exciting and vibrant? Or, is it just something in your life? (For all Christians, we could ask the same thing about the presentation of our faith. If it’s just something in our life, why should anyone else want it after all.)

Do you complain about your marriage more than you boast in it? When you’re with other people, do you complain more about your spouse or boast about how awesome they are? Of course, I know we all joke some about our spouses some, but what impression are you giving people? You must be sure of that.

How about your children? Do they know that your marriage is extremely important in your life? With our high divorce rate, who can blame them for thinking we don’t value marriage and if we don’t, how can we tell them that they should? Furthermore, if you have older kids, what about your life in the bedroom?

Of course, I realize that this is time alone for you and your spouse, but do your kids know that this is an important part of your life? Mothers. Are you raising your daughters to know that this is something good that they can enjoy and they should wait til marriage for a man to enjoy it with? Most often, we usually get the message one author said a minister gave her in that he was told two things about sex. First, that it was dirty. Second, that he should save it for someone he loves.

Is that far from the boat for many?

Dads. What about you? Are you telling your son how awesome this is, but at the same time, showing him the boundaries God set in this awesome relationship? When we break the relationships between atoms in the physical world, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the result. Imagine what it does in the spiritual world when we break sexual bonds. The impact is more atomic. Are you teaching your sons this?

What about your presentation in the community? Are you known for arguing and bickering? I realize all couples have their arguments, but what are you known for? If people make jokes about how you arrive at church Sunday all friendly but start arguing when you get in the car, there’s a problem.

Remember also that if you have children, they won’t hesitate to tell how things really are. When they start dating, are they going to have a good role model to follow? Do the daughters want to grow up to be like Mom and do the sons want to grow up to be like Dad?

And ministers, what about you? When you preach on sex, are you only giving the do nots? Have you ever touched Song of Songs in a sermon and talked about the joy of sex? Have you ever turned to passages like Proverbs 5:18-19? I would love to hear ministers preach on the joy of sex instead of just the “Do nots.” Yeah. I understand they’re important, but so is the positive side.

And for all of us, have you considered that sexuality is God’s gift to you? If you’re a man, God’s gift to you is that you’re masculine. He could have made you feminine, but he made you masculine for a reason. It’s his gift to you. Are you thanking God for your masculinity and trying to live to be more of a man in his eyes every day?

If you’re a woman, then in the same way, your femininity is God’s gift to you. He could have made you a male, but he made you female. Are you also thanking God for that? Are you being the best lady that God would have you to be? Are you living up to a proper ideal of femininity every day?

Friends. Sexuality is important. I recall a friend once saying that it’s talked about in the Bible all the time because he knew we’d be thinking about it all the time. God treats it seriously. So should we. Are we doing that? Are we sharing the joy of sexuality and marriage with the next generation?

The future of the family and then our civilization I believe is at stake. We can’t afford to show a bad example.

This is another difficult one to write. Divorce is a sad reality in our world today. What is even sadder is that the number of Christian marriages ending in divorce is not that different from the number of non-Christian marriages ending in divorce. There are families I have seen growing up where I was friends with their sons and for some reason, they decide they can’t do it anymore and the parents divorce.

Lately, The Reclaiming the Mind ministry website has had on its blog, Parchment and Pen, blogs on the topic of divorce. I have a link to the latest one at this time here:

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2007/11/12/is-divorce-ever-understandable/

I read that one and the one before and looked at a number of the comments. They are questions that make one think and it makes me realize that situations aren’t always as cut and dry as we think. I will also add that I am not unfamiliar with this one on a more personal level.

No. My parents did not divorce. However, when my parents met, they had both been divorced. Both of them left behind incredibly bad marriages. My mother’s husband was quite abusive and she had great fear for the safety of her daughter, my sister. My father’s wife left him and although I don’t know all the details, it wasn’t anything pretty. I am the only child from the two of them and the only child of my father.

I do pay attention when divorce is brought up.

Matthew 19 is the main passage people turn to. Christ here says that marriage was made to be a lifelong institution by God. I don’t think there are many Christians committed to the Scriptures who will disagree with that. However, he then says that it is not to be undone except by marital unfaithfulness. The word is “Porneia.”

I’m not a Greek scholar. I will leave it to them. However, after some reading, I did find that this can include adultery, but I don’t think it is limited to adultery. When Jesus in Mark 7 lists various sins, he includes porneia and then includes adultery. Why say adultery twice unless the word refers to something different? Even in the Matthew 19 passage, there is another word for adultery other than porneia.

At this point, my thoughts are that Jesus was speaking about marital unfaithfulness, but I do not believe that relates only to the bedroom. I could justifiably understand a case where a lady was being abused by her husband. He is certainly not being faithful to the covenant and I see no justification for having the lady stay with him in such a case, especially if children are in danger.

Now you might say “Fine, but she shouldn’t remarry.” That’s a whole other topic and I choose to not discuss that now. The point I want to make is simply that I see no biblical justification in such a case. I believe too many women have stayed in dangerous marriages thinking they’re following Scripture right when they’re not.

Is it entirely wrong of me to make such a claim? I don’t think so. In 1 Cor. 7, Paul says that if a believing spouse has an unbeliever leave, they are free to remarry. Apparently, Paul did see that this was such a case and we can be sure he was familiar with Christ’s words on the issue as he kept differentiating in the chapter between his words and the words of the Lord, being Christ.

However, divorce is a sad reality. Even in cases where I think it is the lesser of two evils, it is still sad. Could it be so many young people are abandoning traditional marriage because so many marrieds are not holding up to what marriage should be? While we can condemn cohabitation, maybe we ought to look and ask how much of it is being sparked by disillusionment with marriage today? If marriage was seen as exciting and vibrant, maybe we’d see more of it and more of it lasting.

We all know also that this is especially hard on children. It never occurred to me for awhile that my sister never called my Dad, “Dad.” One day she did. It was even when I was in High School. I had no idea until then what had happened until either my Mom or my Dad said something. Divorce changes the way the family unit looks.

Now her story is minor compared to several others. How many children come from broken homes and as a result lead broken lives? It is not just a mother and a father that are affected by divorce. In fact, children are usually the worst casualties and these children that do not know what a marriage is supposed to be like are going to grow up and pass the laws on marriage for the rest of us.

I urge all couples to seek counseling first before any divorce takes place. I also urge married couples to please remember the joy of your marriage. Demonstrate it to the rest of us. Show it to an unbelieving world who sees marriage as an old institute that needs to be abandoned. Show it to those of us who are Christian singles and need to see the joy and wonder of marriage as something to shoot for.

Marriage is important. It is the foundation of family. For the sake of the family, and for the children, and the future of America and the rest of our world, we can do better.