Stopping to Think

I have oft pondered the question, especially in recent months, are American Christians ready for what is coming?, a question which I must firmly answer with a no. But what do I mean by the question, let alone the answer? What is coming in America, indeed is already upon certain parts of our nation, is the full-scale rejection of Christian virtue. By rejection, I do not mean in a personal sense. That happened long ago for many Americans; what might be considered "orthodox" Christian views on issues of homosexuality, the nature and purpose of marriage, etc, have long been turning away from "our side", though these turns have been accelerated in recent years. But what I mean when I say rejection, is the rejection of any possibility that such values may be right or have any potential validity. In short, it is the refusal to acknowledge Christian virtue, particularly as pertains to sexual ethics, as anything besides unabashed bigotry and hate. This rejection is largel...

What Does Go? A Brief, Positive, Framework of Biblical Sexuality Preface: A little over a year ago I wrote, “Does anything go?” What I want to do this morning is give a slightly longer (though still unjustly brief), positive, outline of the Biblical doctrine of sex. Here is why I think it is important: evangelical Christians tend to be good (at least sometimes) at knowing what can be wrong about sex, or knowing what it isn’t for, but I doubt that very many of us could give a good explanation of what it is for. (And I’ve made this point in other blog posts, here , and here ). Why does sex exist? Our lack of a solid response here is a problem, a very big problem. We live in a society steeped in assumptions about human personhood and sexual expression that run totally contrary to what the Scriptures would teach us, and often times we ourselves buy into these same assumptions without realizing it. And when our underlying assumptions meet the commands of Scripture, we run into probl...

Before we dive in, I think a slight preface is in order. I try not to comment too often on current events, for a number of reasons. First of all, I spent several years of my life totally wrapped around what was current, and the reality of this age is that what is current today is obsolete tomorrow. Even stories that get run for a week or more will be long forgotten by this time next year. Why become wrapped up in what is transient? Secondly, it is often hard to see enough of an issue to make intelligent comment upon it when the issue is still upon us. There are more reasons, but those two will suffice for now. So why am I writing now? Well, I am angry. Last week Michael Sam was taken in the 7th round of the NFL draft, becoming the first openly homosexual player to have had this honor. Unless something goes terribly wrong in training camp or preseason, he will become the first openly homosexual man to play in the NFL. This of course is no small feat considering the hyper-testost...

What happened to me posting more often? When I first began putting together these thoughts, one of the top news headlines was the story of NBA player Jason Collins "coming out of the closet", announcing to the world that he is gay. The responses to this were, of course, varied. There were many who applauded his "courage", many who shrieked in disgust- others simply shrugging their shoulders and saying, "Who cares?" What I would like to do is examine each of these responses in light the Apostle Paul's letter to the 1st Century Roman church, and conclude by presenting what I believe ought to be the Christian response homosexuality. Romans 1:25-27, 32 "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natur...

"You will be delivered from petty worries if you are concerned about the souls of men." Charles Haddon Spurgeon I approach this topic with some measure of fear and trembling. Not because I fear controversy or want everyone to like me. Far from it. But rather, because issues of politics often seem so trivial, and quite often become trivial because of the way in which they are handled. I am far more concerned about the souls of men than I am systems and forms of government. That being said, government in its various forms has a very real impact on the life of the people who live under governments. This means therefore, that government matters. And in a democratic republic like the US of A, that means that politics matter, because the political system of parties and campaigns and elections is how we determine who holds office and the proverbial reigns of the government. However, many Christians come to this point and begin to feel disillusioned by the process. ...

I want to use this post to address three points, all brought up in comments to the last one. First, I want to address the comment made by an Anonymous individual whose main thrust in argument was that prohibiting homosexual marriage a)prevents no one from sinning, and b)is a violation of religious freedom. On point "a", of course I agree with that. I can never do anything to stop another person from rebelling against God, because ultimately that is a heart issue, and I cannot see their heart, let alone change it. That being said, laws exist not because their existence precludes the possibility of evil, but because sinful human beings need both encouragement towards right behavior, and punishment for wrong behavior. Simply put, laws exist for the good of society (see Romans 13-or the entire Pentateuch). If a person believes, as I do, that the basic human relationship that society is built upon is the relationship of husband and wife in marriage, then encouraging and fig...

I want to make a few brief comments on marriage, and the debate over whether or not homosexual marriage should be created by our government. I use the word "created" very intentionally. Note: none of my thoughts or ideas here are original, and most are being expressed by some in this ongoing national debate. However, they are certainly the minority, and so I have decided to add my small voice to the choir. It seems to me that, while not universally, the general slogan of those opposed to same-sex marriage (from here on "SSM") is that they "support traditional marriage and traditional values." Less frequently I hear of a support for "Judeo-Christian" values. Here is my rub with both of these terms, especially the former-they utterly miss the root of this entire issue. The question is not whether marriage should conform to what is traditional. If it were, of course marriage could change into whatever we would like it to. This is because traditi...