In an interview for Atlantic Monthly, Philip Pullman, author of the Golden Compass, told Hannah Rosin regarding sex and the alleged Christian repression thereof:
"Why the Christian Church has spent 2,000 years condemning this glorious moment, well, that's a mystery. I want to confront that, I suppose, by telling a story that the so-called original sin is anything but. It's the thing that makes us fully human."
I do indeed agree that sex is a glorious moment, something that God designed for our pleasure and worship of Him, and is indeed full of Him. However, the idea that we ought to be completely sexually "free" in the sense of being able to follow our every sexual instinct, does not make us more fully human. Indeed, it makes us more fully animal.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Journaling and Despair
As I thumbed through old journal entries, I came across a time in my life where I was tempted very badly to despair about certain things in my life... one of those things being my life in general. God taught me many things in that time of my life, and I was able to overcome it through His grace on me. Reading this over again has lead me to two thoughts:
1.) Journaling is a profound tool. If I were honest with you, I would say to you that I had completely forgotten about this time in my life. This is not nearly so tragic as the fact that I had also forgotten what God had shown me in that time. Remembering as I read those entries again encourages me and gives me strength. Journaling is not important so that we have some record of our actions in life, but so that we do not forget God's actions in our lives.
2.) Despairing is putting your trust somewhere it should not be. If a general surrenders, it is because he has recognized that he cannot win the battle, and so he surrenders. He is trusting in his enemy's power to defeat him. My friends, this should not be so with the children of Christ. If we despair, we trust in the enemy's power and give up. However, even if we give up, we will still learn our lesson, for the enemy is incapable of true victory even then (as Christ has already won), but then we will have missed all the opportunities God created in that seemingly hopeless situation. If we trust in Him when a situation appears hopeless, He can then use us in ways we cannot then conceive because of what we see and feel.
Finally, in re-reading these, I realized that I need to journal more completely. Simplistic paraphrases do not accurately or fully convey my thoughts or feelings, or what God was doing in my life. They simply will not do. This in and of itself will be a battle against laziness which, I am sure, I will have to journal about. Sometimes God is humorously ironic.
1.) Journaling is a profound tool. If I were honest with you, I would say to you that I had completely forgotten about this time in my life. This is not nearly so tragic as the fact that I had also forgotten what God had shown me in that time. Remembering as I read those entries again encourages me and gives me strength. Journaling is not important so that we have some record of our actions in life, but so that we do not forget God's actions in our lives.
2.) Despairing is putting your trust somewhere it should not be. If a general surrenders, it is because he has recognized that he cannot win the battle, and so he surrenders. He is trusting in his enemy's power to defeat him. My friends, this should not be so with the children of Christ. If we despair, we trust in the enemy's power and give up. However, even if we give up, we will still learn our lesson, for the enemy is incapable of true victory even then (as Christ has already won), but then we will have missed all the opportunities God created in that seemingly hopeless situation. If we trust in Him when a situation appears hopeless, He can then use us in ways we cannot then conceive because of what we see and feel.
Finally, in re-reading these, I realized that I need to journal more completely. Simplistic paraphrases do not accurately or fully convey my thoughts or feelings, or what God was doing in my life. They simply will not do. This in and of itself will be a battle against laziness which, I am sure, I will have to journal about. Sometimes God is humorously ironic.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Dreams, Vision, and Connecting the Dots
Proverbs 16:9 - "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."
Proverbs 20:24 - "A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can a man understand his way?"
I have big dreams... dreams and desires I believe God put into my heart. I believe He has put them there as a vision I am supposed to pursue someday and prepare for now. However now is not the time to pursue my dreams, and this often causes restlessness within my heart. I desire very greatly to go now. Indeed, before God worked greatly upon my impatient heart, the thought of working a mundane job, living in Memphis, and serving in my local church depressed me. I wanted to move on so greatly that I could not truly want what God has for me here and now.
I think this is a classic example of why God often does not inform us of our calling or His will until it happens and we're there. Because I believe God has told me some of my calling in life, I often struggle greatly with doing anything else until I am allowed to pursue it. My impatient, matter-of-fact mind views these sorts of things as detours that hinder me from reaching my destination.
But life is like a game of connect-the-dots. God does not tell us about Point #54 because we would probably attempt to go straight to that point. He wants us to go in order from dot to dot, and in doing so, we create the much bigger and more beautiful picture that He has in mind for our lives. Just consider it! If we got what we wanted right now, our life would merely be a straight line.
No, God has a much bigger plan for us than getting what we want when we want it... even if it's something to serve Him.
So why am I here right now? I don't know, but I am thankful I am. What lives will I impact at my job? What difference will I make in church? What does God still have to teach me before I live my dreams? What part do I have yet to play in my friends' lives before I leave some of them? What part of me is not ready to face my dreams... that if not prepared first and in due time, would destroy those dreams?
When I think about all that, I realize that my life is more exciting than I'd realized or imagined. He is going to teach me great things. He is going to change me in great ways. He is going to use me in ways I can't yet imagine. And there are countless other reasons I simply cannot see.
We all long for the adventure of chasing our dreams, but we fail to realize that the adventure has already started. And if we could see the big picture that our life is creating, with all its stops and detours, I imagine we would not have it any other way.
Proverbs 20:24 - "A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can a man understand his way?"
I have big dreams... dreams and desires I believe God put into my heart. I believe He has put them there as a vision I am supposed to pursue someday and prepare for now. However now is not the time to pursue my dreams, and this often causes restlessness within my heart. I desire very greatly to go now. Indeed, before God worked greatly upon my impatient heart, the thought of working a mundane job, living in Memphis, and serving in my local church depressed me. I wanted to move on so greatly that I could not truly want what God has for me here and now.
I think this is a classic example of why God often does not inform us of our calling or His will until it happens and we're there. Because I believe God has told me some of my calling in life, I often struggle greatly with doing anything else until I am allowed to pursue it. My impatient, matter-of-fact mind views these sorts of things as detours that hinder me from reaching my destination.
But life is like a game of connect-the-dots. God does not tell us about Point #54 because we would probably attempt to go straight to that point. He wants us to go in order from dot to dot, and in doing so, we create the much bigger and more beautiful picture that He has in mind for our lives. Just consider it! If we got what we wanted right now, our life would merely be a straight line.
No, God has a much bigger plan for us than getting what we want when we want it... even if it's something to serve Him.
So why am I here right now? I don't know, but I am thankful I am. What lives will I impact at my job? What difference will I make in church? What does God still have to teach me before I live my dreams? What part do I have yet to play in my friends' lives before I leave some of them? What part of me is not ready to face my dreams... that if not prepared first and in due time, would destroy those dreams?
When I think about all that, I realize that my life is more exciting than I'd realized or imagined. He is going to teach me great things. He is going to change me in great ways. He is going to use me in ways I can't yet imagine. And there are countless other reasons I simply cannot see.
We all long for the adventure of chasing our dreams, but we fail to realize that the adventure has already started. And if we could see the big picture that our life is creating, with all its stops and detours, I imagine we would not have it any other way.
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Monday, October 15, 2007
An Unpleasant Realization
This was taken from my journal:
"I now recognize (though my flesh still oppose it) this: that if I am in the Word daily, not just reading, but absorbing and applying, then I am stronger. Likewise, if I am not in the Word in such a way, I will find myself in more sin.
I do not wish it to be so, for I do not always like or enjoy reading the Word, and at these times it is even harder to take the Word to heart. This is because my own selfish desires still hold a place of power in my soul.
And it is a difficult mountain to overcome when the method by which one conquers selfish desire is by doing the very thing that desire opposes. Thus, by spending time in the Word and meditating on it, even when I do not want to, I begin to usurp the thrown of selfishness and allow God to take His rightful place as ruler over my being and my desires."
"I now recognize (though my flesh still oppose it) this: that if I am in the Word daily, not just reading, but absorbing and applying, then I am stronger. Likewise, if I am not in the Word in such a way, I will find myself in more sin.
I do not wish it to be so, for I do not always like or enjoy reading the Word, and at these times it is even harder to take the Word to heart. This is because my own selfish desires still hold a place of power in my soul.
And it is a difficult mountain to overcome when the method by which one conquers selfish desire is by doing the very thing that desire opposes. Thus, by spending time in the Word and meditating on it, even when I do not want to, I begin to usurp the thrown of selfishness and allow God to take His rightful place as ruler over my being and my desires."
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