If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales. It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas - no wonder my words have been impetuous.  Job 6:1-3

When we have lived for a long time by the 'don't talk' rule, learning to talk honestly and personally can be a real challenge. Our attempts to move away from self-deceit toward honest self-disclosure may be quite awkward. It's not reasonable to expect ourselves to be gifted at telling the truth when we have practiced deceit for so long. Sometimes our words will seem startling. We will feel our pain, find our voice, and the words and emotions will tumble out raw and uncensored. This text calls these 'impetuous' words. Another translation of this text calls them 'wild words'.

It is not easy to break the silence, to talk about what is real, to tell the truth about what we see and hear, to share what we think and feel, to tell our stories. Breaking the silence is like breaking the sound barrier - sometimes it can be quite loud and it can rattle the walls a little. When our misery feels like it 'outweighs the sands of the sea,' our emotions are going to be intense and our words will sometimes be wild.

Wild words are part of the journey and should not surprise us. Intense feelings sometimes need strong language in order to find true expression.

Lord, I am not accustomed to talking.
I am not gifted at honesty.
I have practiced 'don't talk' for a long time.
And now I need to practice honesty.
Help me to be patient and accepting of my wild words.
Even when the wild words frighten me.
Help me to pursue the truth.
Give me the courage I need.
You, Lord, who created the worlds with a word,
Give me the words I need.

Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
National Association for Christian Recovery

I was tasked with assessing a man regarding his sexual addiction.  

Unfortunately, his tale was all too familiar.  

As he sat across from me telling me that he is now considered a sexual offender and must register with the local police every time he moves, he started to unfold his story.  He told me that he had found his Dad's stash of Playboy and Hustler magazines when he was just eight years old.  

That is a bad sign...  The earlier a man is exposed to porn the greater are his chances that he will become addicted and the greater are his chances of getting into legal trouble.

The more he looked at porn, the more he wanted to look at porn.  (Interesting cycle, don't you think?)  The more he looked at porn, the more he fantasized about doing what he was watching on the porn movies.  

The more he watched porn, the less developed his social skills became.  This happens because porn causes a man to be selfish and just think about his own pleasure.  Friendships are unnecessary.  Girls are unnecessary because the girls in porn movies and magazines are always accessible and there for a man's pleasure.

It's a terrible cycle that entraps a man.  He wants to approach girls but fears rejection.  He wants to do the things he fantasizes about but he fears she will say no.  Finally, his isolation led him to frustration and he decided he would act upon some of his fantasies.  

A really weird thing about men addicted to porn is that they think that women are turned on by seeing male genitalia.  The porn that men watch gives a terribly distorted perspective of sexuality.  In actuality, women are more attracted to an intimate relationship than the male physique.

This man started to act upon his fantasies from the porn that he had been viewing over the years.  

One of his fantasies was that he would "accidentally" leave his zipper down and a woman would notice and become aroused.   He would walk around in grocery stores with his zipper down, fantasizing about his inevitable sexual encounter.  He was disappointed that no women noticed.

So, he developed another plan.  He decided that he would sit in his car close to the exits of stores with his pants open and hope that women would see and become aroused.  That didn't work either.  

So, his next step would be to call women over to his car, "to ask a question" and hope that with his pants open, they would notice, be sexually aroused and want to be with him.   He continued to be very disappointed.

He thought, because of his distorted perspective of women and sexuality, that what women were wanting to see was that he was sexually aroused, that he was erect, ready for sex.  So, he would sit in his car and fantasize about a woman jumping into his car and they would drive to a secluded place for a sexual encounter.  

One morning, while he was sitting in his car masturbating and fantasizing, he rolled his window down and asked a woman to come over because he had a "question" he wanted to ask her.  She approached his car, looked at him and where his hand was and instantly became repulsed.  She noted his license plate and called the police when she got home.  

She made a report to the police and he was arrested and prosecuted.  His prosecution was made public, his family was embarrassed and he lost his job.  

As he finished his story, I asked, "have you gotten rid of your porn?"  I knew his answer would be "no."  I was right.  The court wanted recommendations at the end of my assessment.  My recommendations were necessary:  no cable tv, no vcr/dvd player, no internet, no smart phone, no porn.  If he was caught in possession of any of these items, he would go to prison.  Also, he needed intensive counseling.  If this failed, then he would need residential treatment.

However, when the judge found out that he had not given up his porn, he acted swiftly.  This man immediately went to prison.  

Wouldn't it be nice if all of my stories ended in a positive note?  

This is a depressing, disgusting story.

Porn wins.

"Behold, you have sinned against the LORD and be sure that your sin will find you out."

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

“Everything happens for a reason.” How many times have you heard this short, pithy saying echoed in response to tragedy? Hospital rooms and crime scenes across the world are littered with these words. Such a seemingly innocent idea appears to provide many Christians with serenity and strength in the midst of great calamity. It is truly a concept that has brought many Christian sufferers a profound sense of security and comfort in moments of intense grief. The notion that there is a reason, or a purpose, for all events seems to say something positive about the sovereign care of God. To affirm this popular Christian idea is to affirm that, even in the midst of utter chaos and confusion, God has everything under control; all events are a part of God’s magnificent, immutable plan for his creation. When viewed in this light, it is no wonder why so many well-meaning believers hold on to this popular Christian motto.

But what are the dangers, if any, of such an understanding? It seems to me that this seemingly harmless idea carries with it some heavy theological implications. A quick analysis of the key terms used in this common Christian saying will be more than sufficient in demonstrating this. The word “everything” obviously means “all occurrences,” or “all events”—from the greatest acts of self-sacrificial love, or pure altruism, to the most horrendous evils imaginable.

The phrase “for a reason” seems to imply that the event in question was necessary to some greater good; it is a part of a greater divine plan. In this schema, there are no accidents, no pointless events; nothing happens merely by chance. This means that God is involved in every single event; the hand of God is somehow behind all occurrences. Thus, meaning can be found everywhere. There is hope that even the most horrific evils serve some higher purpose.

Overall, this weighty Christian motto seems to lead to two possible theological conclusions: Either (1) all events are caused by God or (2) God deliberately chooses not to intervene in particular situations, and thus not to prevent certain evils, in order to fulfill his set purposes, which would not have materialized had he intervened. In other words, either all things are divinely determined or God allows particular evils to occur in particular situations because they are necessary to greater goods which justify their occurrence.

Both of these options are based on the notion of particular providence, or meticulous divine governance, and thus both of them deny the existence of gratuitous evils. Again, if everything indeed happens for a reason, then there is no such thing as a pointless, purely accidental, or even unnecessary evil.

Based on this analysis, it should not be surprising that this common Christian understanding has often led to some controversial public pronouncements, to say the least. For instance, in the time before the election, a certain Republican senate candidate allegedly claimed that rape is the will of God. Whether or not this is actually what the prospective senator meant is unclear (personally I do not think that it was). Nevertheless, the words of this senatorial candidate have been interpreted in this very manner.

This recent charade is just another example of how problematic, and even dangerous, this theological viewpoint can be. Not only can it be detrimental to Christian witness in the world—as it can easily portray God as the author of evil—but it can also be injurious to personal faith for the same exact reasons. One can imagine the trauma that a person can undergo when that person sincerely believes that God is the cause of her husband’s physical suffering or her daughter’s mental disability. The trauma might even be more intense in cases that involve the repugnant stain of moral evils (all evil that stems from the will of human beings) like rape.

With all of this in mind, my purpose in writing is to correct what I see as a highly-problematic misunderstanding in popular Christian theology. In order to effectively deal with the troubling words of the Indiana senatorial candidate mentioned above, I will narrow my focus to the concept of moral evil in particular.

It is impossible to prove that the idea of particular providence, or meticulous divine governance, actually corresponds to reality. Unfortunately, it is also impossible to prove that it does not. Thus, when discussing such matters, we must be willing to put aside our desire to make objective, matter-of-fact claims. What we can do, however, is discuss what we think is reasonable.

I would argue that the ontological existence of gratuitous, pointless, unnecessary evil makes much more sense of Christian theology and human experience than its nonexistence does. Likewise, I would also argue that the notion of genuine libertarian free will, which allows for the existence of gratuitous evils, makes more sense of reality and Christian theology than its alternatives--either the idea that God causes everything or the idea that God meticulously overrides all human actions that would have resulted in moral evils except for those that are necessary to greater goods. 

Human beings are free moral agents and thus possess the God-given capacity to make free moral choices. God endowed human beings with personal and moral freedom because he values sincerity of choice and sincerity of action. God is not in the business of creating robots that are programmed to think and act in a set, predetermined manner. Instead, God created human beings in his image, which involves personal and moral freedom, so that they may be able to choose the good out of the sincerity of their heart, rather than out of the coercion of the divine will.

In a world where sincere human freedom exists, and thus in a world where God does not jeopardize the integrity of the moral order by continually tinkering in human affairs, the potentiality for gratuitous, or pointless, evil exists; gratuitous evil will always be a possibility in a world occupied by free moral agents who are generally unabated by the coercive will of God. In fact, the same moral freedom that allows for some of the most selfless acts of love also allows for some of the most horrific acts of evil. Mother Teresa used her moral freedom to minister to the poor of India; Ted Bundy used his moral freedom to murder innocent young women. Freedom is a beautiful thing, but it can also be a dangerous thing.

In light of this, I tend to believe that, more often than not, evil is an abuse of human freedom, rather than an abuse of divine freedom; God does not force people to do bad things, people sincerely choose to do bad things. We must allow man to be evil and God to be good. When we ascribe evil to the will of God, we basically blame God for things that he plays no part in, things that he actually despises. To be quite honest, this is insulting to the nature and character of God.

If human beings truly are free moral agents, equipped with the ability to make free moral choices, and if God truly values the sincerity of human action and the integrity of the moral order, then it follows that some things do not happen for a higher, divine purpose. Again, if God truly allows his creatures to act as they may, without intervening every time they are about to commit a moral evil that is not necessary to a greater good, then some evil is entirely pointless. Because moral evil is often the sole result of human perversity, evil is not always necessary to greater goods. In a world endowed with human freedom, some evil is simply meaningless.

So, in response to the recent controversial remarks from the Indiana senatorial candidate mentioned above, we can rightly say that rape is not the will of God. Instead, it can be said that rape is a perverse expression of the depraved human will. In general, the act of rape is a meaningless, pointless, gratuitous evil that opposes God’s good purposes for his creation; it is a good example of a thing that happens for no higher purpose, or reason.

Fortunately, however, we do serve a God who both can and will redeem all evils, and who, in some way, can beautify even the ugliest perversities of the human will. Even though some things may not happen for a reason, and even though God’s perfect will does not always come to fruition in the midst of a rebellious world, God is never far from us. He is here. He has not abandoned us, and never will he. Though it may not always seem like it, God is working to make all things new. He will not allow evil to reign in this world forever. Although our world may be consumed with evil, even gratuitous evil, God is surely able to turn that which is ugly into something that is beautiful, even glorious; we worship a God who seeks to use the bad for good. This is what Christians call redemption, and this is the eternal plan of the Triune God.

This post was written by Ryan Ragozine who is a Master Arts in Theological Studies student at Asbury Theological Seminary. He received a B.A. in theological studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God University and plans to pursue a Ph.D in historical theology.


For the original post, go to:  http://seedbed.com/feed/evil-sometimes-the-human-explanation-is-better-than-the-divine-explanation

Is it appropriate to reveal a long held hidden secret in this type of blog? I am not sure, but today I am going to do just that. This secret is one that my brother and I have been holding on to since the late 80’s. In fact, he may object to the fact that I am revealing this secret. Okay, here it goes…

When we were younger, my brother and I were playing in the field behind our house.  Like normal boys who didn’t listen to the voice of reason (and ironically had a firefighter for a father), after jumping ramps with our bikes we became bored and decided to light small things on fire (leaves, trash, etc). Well as you could imagine this got out of hand quickly and soon a large fire erupted and engulfed a significant portion of the field. The next few minutes felt like an eternity. All we had were cardboard boxes that we had brought some things in so we thought it would be a great idea to somehow try to put the fire out with these boxes. This was a bad idea. Eventually, after kicking sand on the fire everything was fine. From then on we vowed to not reveal our secret until we were adults and were guaranteed not to get in trouble.

We are brothers, so you already know that we used this event to blackmail each other, and force each other to do the other’s chores. All we had to do was look at each other and say “I will tell Mom and Dad about the matches”…and all arguments would cease. The truth was always kept hidden to control the other sibling.

As humans, our tendency in life is to attempt to make our situation look better than it is. We try to hide or even ignore the truth when it is inconvenient because we feel like people will look down on us or we will even get “in trouble” if we are transparent.

If all truth belongs to God then it stands to reason that living a life that embraces truth will lead to blessing. Doing the right thing will never return void…it may hurt at first, but it will always benefit.

Trust in God today. Do what is right.  

More tomorrow...

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos.  You can find the original post here:
http://otherwordsdotnet.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/getting-in-trouble/

A new report released by a publication that focuses on institutions of higher learning asserts that universities nationwide are waging war on Jesus by leaving him out of their religion courses.

College Fix says that it conducted a survey of 316 religious courses from 12 universities across the country and found that only three courses centered on the life and teachings of Christ.

“Jesus Christ is – without question – the most influential figure to ever walk the Earth, but professors clearly prefer to offer electives on much more obscure matters,” the publication writes.

“[J]ust because a class is on Christianity does not mean it will give much, if any, consideration or weight to the person of Jesus Christ or his teachings,” researchers stated. He might get a lecture or two, … but many course descriptions on Christianity classes don’t even include the word ‘Jesus’ at all…”

Those who conducted the study said that there are also notable differences in how Christianity is analyzed compared to other religions. They explained that words such as “understanding” are using for courses relating to Islam, but the phrase “critical analysis,” for example, is used in class outlines surrounding Christianity.

They explains that, in comparison to the three courses that did center on Jesus, there were also two classes on witchcraft and shamanism, three on sex and religion, five on mysticism and twelve on women and religion. College Fix also outlines that some of the course titles were so obscure that it had no idea what kind of material would be discussed.

“University of Colorado at Denver’s 40-plus religious studies classes include ‘whores and saints,’ ‘theories of the universe,’ ‘Freudian and Jungian perspectives in dream analysis,’ and ‘spirituality and the modern world,’” it writes. “No electives focused exclusively on Jesus, however.”

“Arizona State University’s 50 religious studies classes run the gamut from ‘anthropology of material culture’ and ‘ritual, symbol and myth’ to ‘what is religion’ and ‘gender and peace.’ Again, no Jesus electives,” the publication continues. “In fact, the only religion class at Arizona State focused exclusively on Christianity is called ‘lost scriptures/lost Christianities,’ and zeros in on the ‘wide diversity of early Christianity and its suppressed and lost texts, which have been found in modern times.’ But rest assured, the campus offers four classes on Islam and two on Stalinism.”

It states that although three of the classes centered on Jesus, other historical — or even non-existent — figures headlined course electives as well, such as Mohammed, Martin Buber and “The Brothers Karamozov.”

Additionally, College Fix said that the three classes that were focused on the life of Christ apparently all dealt with what others have to say about Him, not who Jesus said He was or what He taught.

“Take Georgia State University at Atlanta’s ‘Jesus Inside and Outside the Gospels’ course,’” the publication said. “It’s a ‘comparative study of portrayals of Jesus as they have evolved over the past two millennia … and visual depictions of Jesus in modern media such as film, television and the internet.’”

“The University of Hawaii’s ‘Life and Teachings of Jesus’ class is a ‘critical study’ of Gospels and of extra-Biblical sources,” it continued. “And the survey’s third and final elective solely devoted to Jesus comes from Butler University in Indiana. Called ‘Historical Jesus,’ it offers a ;close look at Jesus of Nazareth, focused on sources and methods of knowledge about Jesus as a historical figure. Attention will also be paid to historical and cultural context, and to beliefs about and depictions of Jesus in early Christian literature.’”

At the end of the study, researchers concluded that there is an outright hatred for Christ on the vast majority of college and university campuses nationwide.

“[I]f this survey highlights anything, it’s that [students are] not even given the option [to study the words of Christ],” they stated. “Meanwhile the classes that do focus on Jesus or Christianity sidestep his message and teachings in favor of historical context and critical analysis.”

“Bottom line,” they declared, “universities across America show an outright disregard and disdain for Jesus Christ.”

For the original post, click here.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

On Monday I sat in on a class up at UNR (University of Nevada at Reno). The topics for this class were pornography and prostitution. The speaker was a local sex worker in one of Nevada’s legal brothels. The class was composed of students who spoke in very positive ways about prostitution and stripping and just overall sex. I was heartbroken at the deceitfulness of the world and how they look for pleasure in the name of “freedom” to do whatever you want to whomever you want, whenever you like.

Often times when I speak to groups of people I share with them research that was conducted in UNR. This research investigated the impact of Nevada legal prostitution on the attitudes and behaviors of college-aged men towards women. In these findings the Reno students significantly more often endorsed beliefs that prostitution is normal and they felt it would be appropriate for their sons to go to prostitutes and brothels and that it would be acceptable if their daughters grew up to be a prostitute.  The students in this class and their attitude around prostitution and pornography showed me the living example of the how true this research is. The legalization of prostitution in Nevada has led to a corruption of thinking that is beyond the repair of human hands.

I heard it stated in a mocking way that people actually believe that abstinence talks are still going to work. They spoke about how pornography is becoming the new way of sex education for kids in schools. Porn was completely normalized in conversations.

An hour later the guest speaker arrived and shared her experiences of being a sex worker for over 20 years. She glamorized her life and experiences while the students sat amazed asking as many positive scenario questions as they could. What the students likely didn’t pick up on was how she also commented on needing to know self-defense, have a panic button, protection, constantly checking for STD’s, tips on safety that she and the other girls discuss, how quickly she can dissociate, etc.

And what I am certain they didn’t hear was what she told me after the class when I walked her to her car. What they didn’t hear in class was her real name. Julie. They didn’t hear that Julie at age 8 (now 48) was molested as a kid. They didn’t hear that after a 15 year abusive marriage Julie realized her husband was also her pimp. They didn’t hear how much therapy she has gone through or about her battles with drug addiction. They only heard what Julie wants to believe herself just to get through the day…. deceit.

I will be speaking to this same class next week. I ask for your prayers that as we bring Truth to them their hearts will be open to hear it.

Melissa

Please take some time to pray for this young lady as she represents Jesus to her university.

For the original post, go to:  http://awakenreno.org/a-letter-from-melissa-holland/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.