The mind is a terrible thing to waste … and countless people waste it every day. A good friend of mine recently recommended the book “THE SHALLOWS”, a detailed look at how we think and the ways that our internet addictions are changing it.
Since we are called to “renew our minds” (Romans 12:1-2) followers of Jesus need to be careful. Watch the video … then take some time to unplug. Blogs, Angry Birds, your farm and Robot Unicorns will be here when you get back!
Today we celebrate both Halloween and Reformation Day … and we’re celebrating both.
Last year I highlighted some thoughts about Halloween (click here to read it from the archives). Today I’d like to highlight a new free resource for Reformation Day.
Today is called “Reformation Day” because on this day in 1571 Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Church door, beginning a movement that would rediscover the Gospel and impact the future of the world.
We have much to learn from Luther, a man of great action, tragic mistakes and world-changing faith. That’s why I’m excited to introduce to you a free new ebook by John Piper that highlights Luther’s life.
Originally delivered as the biographical message at the 1995 Conference for Pastors, this new ebook features five chapters that present a sketch of Luther’s life and distill relevant lessons for not only pastors and leaders, but all Christians.
To download Martin Luther: Lessons from His Life and Labor, click on the following format options:
Enjoy this “treat” as you celebrate Halloween and Reformation.
I recently stumbled across this fun comic “Coffee with Jesus”. This one struck me as helpful on a few levels …
Click the image to enlarge
I’ve been asked by a few people, inside and outside of the church, what they should think about the new book that’s causing quite the stir … 50 Shades of Grey.
Honestly, I haven’t read it and until recently I didn’t know much about it. With all the questions, I figured it was worth digging into.
One of the more helpful articles I read was over at Family Life Today’s website, written by Dave Boehi (I pronounce that David Bowie in my head). He wrote …
Recently my wife, Merry, asked, “I’ve been hearing about this new book, Fifty Shades of Grey. I wonder if that would be good to read?”
To answer her question, I began by looking up the book on Amazon and reading the description:
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
“Actually, this description doesn’t reveal much about what the book is really about.” I said to Merry. “From what I’ve read, this is a book about sexual bondage and sadism. So … does that sound like something you want to read?”
“I don’t think so.”
It was an easy decision for Merry, but apparently there are many Christian women today who are hearing about this book and are wondering, “Should I read Fifty Shades of Grey?” Many women love stories about romance, and here’s a book that has become a national sensation—the book and its two sequels rank 1-3 at the top of the New York Times paperback bestseller list. So many women are talking about the book that others want to become part of the conversation.
For some women, the decision of whether to read it is simple once they learn what the book is about. Others are curious and want to try it out, so to speak. And others can’t understand what the fuss is about. “Isn’t this just a book?” they ask. “It isn’t real, after all, it’s just fiction. It might even spice up your sex life with your husband!”
Falling into the same trap
Words like these sound awfully familiar to me because they’re the same justifications that men use for consuming pornography. And that’s why I’m writing, as a man, about a book written primarily for women. I hate to see women falling into the same trap that has claimed so many men.
I’m writing these words a few hours after watching a preview session from FamilyLife’s upcoming Stepping Up video series for men. In this session, men were challenged to “stand firm”—to step up and do the right thing no matter what temptations you face or what circumstances you find yourself in. As 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 tells us, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
One of the ongoing battles for any man is with lust, and each day he is tempted to look at images that feed this lust. At one point the video session focused on one man’s struggle with pornography and how it nearly destroyed his marriage. And it struck me that there’s little difference between the effects of a man choosing to view pornography and the effects of a woman reading books like Fifty Shades of Grey.
The right place for sexual desire
Some people will say it’s unfair to criticize a book I haven’t read. Often I agree with that sentiment, but not when it comes to erotica or pornography. Here are a few points to consider:
1. Erotic photos, videos, and books are all designed with one thing in mind—to stimulate sexual desire. From a biblical standpoint, sexual desire is good as long as it’s in the right context. But I think it’s safe to say that the creators of erotica and pornography are not very concerned about whether they help couples build stronger marriages. Instead, using these media invites men and women to fantasize about sexual relationships outside of marriage. That’s a dangerous path to walk. It leads to unhealthy comparisons with your spouse and a host of other problems. If the sexual relationship in a marriage is weak, reading erotica or viewing porn is not a good way to add some sparks.
2. Erotica and pornography promote a corrupted view of something God designed as beautiful. Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says it well:
Rightly understood and rightly ordered, marriage is a picture of God’s own covenantal faithfulness. Marriage is to display God’s glory, reveal God’s good gifts to His creatures, and protect human beings from the inevitable disaster that follows when sexual passions are divorced from their rightful place.
The physicality of the male and female bodies cries out for fulfillment in the other. The sex drive calls both men and women out of themselves and toward a covenantal relationship that is consummated in a one-flesh union. By definition, sex within marriage is not merely the accomplishment of sexual fulfillment on the part of two individuals who happen to share the same bed. Rather, it is mutual self-giving that reaches pleasures both physical and spiritual.
A man who directs his sexual drive toward the one-flesh relationship in marriage, Mohler writes, “is the perfect paradigm of God’s intention in creation.” By contrast, a man involved with pornography subverts his sex drive toward lust and self-gratification. “Rather than taking satisfaction in a wife, he looks at dirty pictures in order to be rewarded with sexual arousal that comes without responsibility, expectation, or demand.”
3. The particular genre highlighted in Fifty Shades of Grey, BDSM, is even worse. BDSM stands for bondage, dominance, sadism, and masochism. These practices are the opposite of the “mutual self-giving” that should characterize a holy, biblical sexual relationship in marriage.
4. The fact that a book is fiction doesn’t negate the damaging consequences of reading it. Words can penetrate your mind in negative ways just as images can. In Philippians 4:8 the Bible tells us, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Can you truly do that while simultaneously reading this book?
5. You don’t need to join every conversation. We like to think that teenagers are particularly vulnerable to peer pressure, but sometimes I wonder if it’s just as bad for adults. Think of what a mother tells her kids: “If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do the same thing?” The same goes for friends urging you to read erotica or look at pornography.
Is it good for your marriage?
“I’ve been studying what God says about sexuality for 15 years,” writes Dannah Gresh in a blog post titled, “Why I’m Not Reading Fifty Shades of Grey.”
According to Him, there is only one who should stimulate sexual desire in me: my husband. Since that’s God’s plan for my sexual desire, anything other than my husband creating arousal in me would be missing the mark of God’s intention. (Translation: it is sin.) Jesus said it this way: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The same is true of a woman looking at or reading about a man.
Erotica, especially the genre involving bondage and sadism, easily leads to a corrupted view of something God created as good within the context of marriage. It sparks physiological reactions that require greater and greater levels for fulfillment; it causes unhealthy comparison to a real-life spouse; and it leads men and women to be preoccupied with sexual fulfillment at the expense of other relationships, including their relationship with God.
So you’ve got to ask yourself: Is any of that good for your marriage?
My hope and prayer is that Christian women, when faced with the temptation of a book like Fifty Shades of Grey, will “be watchful” and “stand firm in the faith.” Don’t fall into the same trap as men do with pornography.
What do you think?
Jerry Bridges’s Trusting God is free this month from ChristianAudio.com. Here is a description of it:
Description: In an effort to strengthen his own trust in God during a time of adversity, Navigator author Jerry Bridges began a lengthy Bible study on God’s sovereignty. The revelations changed his life.
In Trusting God, he shares the scope of God’s power to help you come to know Him better, have a relationship with Him, and trust Him more—even when unjust things happen.
Tragedy, grief, loss, and death are part of life. Discover how Trusting God can reveal biblical truths about God.
For a short time (maybe only today!) John Piper’s new book “Bloodlines” is available for free.
Dr. Piper writes:
Bloodlines is one of the most autobiographical books I have written. It tells my story from racism to the path of redemption. I preached on the theme of Bloodlines yesterday to mark Martin Luther King weekend. The title of the message was “From Bloodlines to Bloodline.” I argued that God is calling his people to move from the alienation of many bloodlines to the reconciliation of the single bloodline that began on the cross of Christ.
I urged my people to read the book. Not because I care about selling books, but because I want them to know my story, to be aware to the global relevance of the issue, and to feel the hope that comes from the power of the gospel.
Download this book (PDF).
Download this book (PDF).
You can download the audiobook for J.I. Packer’s Knowing God for free.
I read this back in college and have re-read parts of it. This is a book that gets better with every reading … and I’m looking forward to going through it again.
Have you ever wondered about the Innkeeper who led Joseph and Mary stay the night? He lived in Bethlehem … did he have a young son that tasted Herod’s vengeance? What was his life like after that “Silent Night / Holy Night” … and after that horrible, bloody day? Did he ever meet the adult Jesus?
This poem by John Piper explores those questions. It is also the source of one of Shannon & my favorite lines, “There’s nothing in the Decalog that says a man can’t love a dog.”
This video explains how John Piper was inspired to write it. The full text of the poem follows. Consider reading it to your family some time this holiday season.
Jake’s wife would have been fifty-eight
The day that Jesus passed the gate
Of Bethlehem, and slowly walked
Toward Jacob’s Inn. The people talked
With friends, and children played along
The paths, and Jesus hummed a song,
And smiled at every child he saw.
He paused with one small lass to draw
A camel in the dirt, then said,
“What’s this?” The girl bent down her head
To study what the Lord had made,
Then smiled, “A camel, sir!” and laid
Her finger on the bulging back,
“It’s got a hump.” “Indeed it does,
And who do you believe it was
Who made this camel with his hump?”
Without a thought that this would stump
The rabbi guild and be reviled,
She said, “God did.” And Jesus smiled,
“Good eyes, my child. And would that all
Jerusalem within that wall
Of yonder stone could see the signs
Of peace!” He left the lass with lines
Of simple wonder in her face,
And slowly went to find the place
Where he was born.
Folks said the inn
Had never been a place for sin,
For Jacob was a holy man.
And he and Rachel had a plan
To marry, have a child or two,
And serve the folk who traveled through,
Especially the poor who brought
Their meal and turtle-doves, and sought
A place to stay near Zion’s gate.
They’d rise up early, stay up late,
To help the pilgrims go and come,
And when the place was full, to some
Especially the poorest, they would say,
“We’re sorry there’s no room, but stay
Now if you like out back. There’s lots
Of hay and we have extra cots
That you can use. There’ll be no charge.
The stable isn’t very large
But Noah keeps it safe.” He was
A wedding gift to Jake because
The shepherds knew he loved the dog.
“There’s nothing in the decalogue,”
He used to joke, “that says a man
Can’t love a dog!”
The children ran
Ahead of Jesus as he strode
Toward Jacob’s Inn. The stony road
That led up to the inn was deep
With centuries of wear, and steep
At one point just before the door.
The Lord knocked once then twice before
He heard an old man’s voice, “‘Round back!”
It called. So Jesus took the track
That led around the inn. The old
Man leaned back in his chair and told
The dog to never mind. “Ain’t had
No one to tend the door, my lad,
For thirty years. I’m sorry for
The inconvenience to your sore
Feet. The road to Jerusalem
Is hard ain’t it? Don’t mind old Shem.
He’s harmless like his dad. Won’t bite
A Roman soldier in the night.
Sit down.” And Jacob waved the stump
Of his right arm. “We’re in a slump
Right now. Got lots of time to think
And talk. Come, sit and have a drink.
From Jacob’s well!” he laughed. “You own
The inn?” The Lord inquired. “On loan,
You’d better say. God owns the inn.”
At that the Lord knew they were kin,
And ventured on: “Do you recall
The tax when Caesar said to all
The world that each must be enrolled?”
Old Jacob winced, “Are north winds cold?
Are deserts dry? Do fishes swim
And ravens fly? I do. A grim
And awful year it was for me.
Why do you ask?” “I have a debt
To pay, and I must see how much.
Why do you say that it was such
A grim and awful year?” He raised
The stump of his right arm, “So dazed,
Young man, I didn’t know I’d lost
My arm. Do you know what it cost
For me to house the Son of God?”
The old man took his cedar rod
And swept it ‘round the place: “Empty.
For thirty years alone, you see?
Old Jacob, poor old Jacob runs
It with one arm, a dog and no sons.
But I had sons . . . once. Joseph was
My firstborn. He was small because
His mother was so sick. When he
Turned three the Lord was good to me
And Rachel, and our baby Ben
Was born, the very fortnight when
The blessed family arrived.
And Rachel’s gracious heart contrived
A way for them to stay—there in
That very stall. The man was thin
And tired. You look a lot like him.”
But Jesus said, “Why was it grim?”
“We got a reputation here
That night. Nothing at all to fear
In that we thought. It was of God.
But in one year the slaughter squad
From Herod came. And where do you
Suppose they started? Not a clue!
We didn’t have a clue what they
Had come to do. No time to pray,
No time to run, no time to get
Poor Joseph off the street and let
Him say good-bye to Ben or me
Or Rachel. Only time to see
A lifted spear smash through his spine
And chest. He stumbled to the sign
That welcomed strangers to the place,
And looked with panic at my face,
As if to ask what he had done.
Young man, you ever lost a son?”
The tears streamed down the Savior’s cheek,
He shook his head, but couldn’t speak.
“Before I found the breath to scream
I heard the words, a horrid dream:
‘Kill every child who’s two or less.
Spare not for aught, nor make excess.
Let this one be the oldest here
And if you count your own life dear,
Let none escape.’ I had no sword
No weapon in my house, but Lord,
I had my hands, and I would save
The son of my right hand . . . So brave,
O Rachel was so brave! Her hands
Were like a thousand iron bands
Around the boy. She wouldn’t let
Him go and so her own back met
With every thrust and blow. I lost
My arm, my wife, my sons—the cost
For housing the Messiah here.
Why would he simply disappear
And never come to help?”
They sat
In silence. Jacob wondered at
The stranger’s tears.
“I am the boy
That Herod wanted to destroy.
You gave my parents room to give
Me life, and then God let me live,
And took your wife. Ask me not why
The one should live, another die.
God’s ways are high, and you will know
In time. But I have come to show
You what the Lord prepared the night
You made a place for heaven’s light.
In two weeks they will crucify
My flesh. But mark this, Jacob, I
Will rise in three days from the dead,
And place my foot upon the head
Of him who has the power of death,
And I will raise with life and breath
Your wife and Ben and Joseph too
And give them, Jacob, back to you
With everything the world can store,
And you will reign for evermore.”
This is the gift of candle three:
A Christ with tears in tragedy
And life for all eternity.
I ran across this helpful article over at Justin Taylor’s blog...
From Tim Kimmel’s chapter “The Freedom to Make Mistakes” in his book Grace-Based Parenting:
Legalistic parents maintain a relationship with God through obedience to a standard. The goal of this when it comes to their children is to keep sin from getting into their home. They do their best to create an environment that controls as many of the avenues as possible that sin could use to work its way into the inner sanctum. . . . It’s as though the power to sin or not to sin was somehow connected to their personal will power and resolve. . . . These families are preoccupied with keeping sin out by putting a fence between them and the world.
The difference with grace-based families is that they don’t bother spending much time putting fences up because they know full well that sin is already present and accounted for inside their family. To these types of parents, sin is not an action or an object that penetrates their defenses; it is a preexisting condition that permeates their being. The graceless home requires kids to be good and gets angry and punishes them when they are bad. The grace-based home assumes kids will struggle with sin and helps them learn how to tap into God’s power to help them get stronger.
It’s not that grace-based homes don’t take their children’s sin seriously. Nor is it that grace-based homes circumvent consequences. It isn’t even that grace-based homes do nothing to protect their children from attacks and temptations that threaten them from the outside. They do all these things, but not for the same reasons. Grace-based homes aren’t trusting in the moral safety of their home or the spiritual environment they’ve created to empower their children to resist sin. . . . They assume that sin is an ongoing dilemma that their children must constantly contend with.
[Children in a grace-based family] are accepted as sinners who desire to become more like Christ rather than be seen as nice Christian kids trying to maintain a good moral code. Grace is committed to bringing children up from their sin; legalism puts them on a high standard and works overtime to keep them from falling down.
Grace understands that the only real solution for our children’s sin is the work of Christ on their behalf. . . . Legalism uses outside forces to help children maintain their moral walk. Their strength is based on the environment they live in. Grace, on the other hand, sees the strength of children by what is inside them—more specifically, Who is inside them.
See also:
Chesterton from ORTHODOXY
“As I read and re-read all the great non-Christian or anti-Christian accounts of the faith… a slow and awful impression grew gradually but graphically 
upon my mind – Christianity must be a most extraordinary thing… It was attacked on all sides and for all contradictory reasons. No sooner had one rationalist demonstrated that it was too far to the east than another demonstrated with equal clearness that it was much too far to the west. No sooner had had my indignation died down at its angular and aggressive squareness than I was called up again to notice and condemn its enervating and sensual roundness… They did prove to me in chapter 1 (to my complete satisfaction) that Christianity was too pessimistic; and then, in chapter II, they began to prove to me that it was a great deal too optimistic” (pg. 84-85) I simply deduced that Christianity must be something even weirder and wickeder than they made out… And then in a quiet hour a strange thought struck me like a still thunderbolt… Suppose we heard an unknown man spoken of by many men.
Suppose we were puzzled to hear that some men said he was too tall and some too short; some objected to his fatness, some lamented his leanness; some thought him too dark, and some too fair. One explanation… would be that he might be an odd shape. But there is another explanation. He might be the right shape. Outrageously tall men might feel him to be short. Very short men might feel him to be tall… Perhaps (in short) this extraordinary thing is really the ordinary thing; at least the normal thing, the center. Perhaps, after all, it is Christianity that is sane and all its critics that are mad – in various ways.” (pg. 90)
