Entries categorized as ‘Front Porch to Back Seat’
Over the spring semester, we had the opportunity to see how God addresses the whole issue of human sexuality – a topic of no small interest to young adults. My hopes are that this series of Bible studies were interesting, relevant, and helpful. From understanding why the Bible takes the stand that it does on sexuality to redeeming singleness, from combating pornography and immodesty to reclaiming our biblical roles as men and women – there were lots of topics covered.
The point in all of our grand discussions can be boiled down to this: if we are indeed Christians, Christ’s blood is not intended simply to save us “when we die,” but to make us “holy” now. Or, to coin a term, to holify us. This doesn’t happen all at once – it is a growing process. Some of us will be further down the road in this than others. If we are, this is no cause for pride, because it is God who has worked this into our lives. Rather, we should gladly pass on whatever we might for the building up of our brothers and sisters.
The Bible is clear; if we claim the redeeming merits of Christ’s atoning blood – this should have an evident impact on the way that we live. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 is unambiguous: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality . . .”
Likewise, Paul elsewhere states his disbelief at the Corinthians celebration of immorality. All throughout 1 Corinthians 5-6, Paul admonishes the Corinthian church to deal with one of it’s more prominent cases. If you stop to think about this, it sounds horribly counter-cultural. After all, isn’t our sexuality a matter of private interest? Not for a Christian! The church (i.e., a public community of persons) is told to deal with a man’s sexual issues. If you are willing to consider the weakness of your own faith, your own flesh’s ability to entice you, your utter inability to resist your own sinful desires – isn’t it a relief to know that one of God’s ordained means to help you grow and fight temptation is other Christians?
There are some who would claim that our view of sexuality is repressive; that we are sub-human because we do not glory in an unfettered and unhindered approach to sexuality. But that is just the opposite of the truth. We value sexuality and hold it high as one of God’s good gifts. The sexually promiscuous person is the one who is most lonely – hopping from bed to bed in search of God knows what. Yet the faithful Christian can rest in embracing not just God’s gift, but His sanctions for the gifts use.
A married couple, joined in both body and soul, is perhaps the best defense for what we mean. My ultimate fulfillment comes not from an antiseptic hookup in which I get sexual favors. It comes from being a husband and father the way God intended – and enjoying sex in that environment. THAT is where the greatest blessings come from – God has granted to me the tremendous privilege of loving and enjoying my wife and kids. Sexual fulfillment is the dessert. Heaven forbid that I ever become like the kid who always wants to eat dessert and never wants the main course that God has cooked up for me.
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
Last Wednesday, Scott talked about the ideas of dating and courtship: what are they, how are they different, and what does the Bible say about each. When he gets back from vacation, I will let him post his notes and outline. However, while we eagerly await his return, I found these “Seminary pick-up lines” on the website of Scott’s roommate in college, J. D. Greear. I am sure that none of these were used by our own Scott Davis as he was trying to persuade Marcie to begin dating . . . or courting . . . or whatever:
“You may not have chosen me, but I have chosen you.”
“I could not help but notice you were exegeting me instead of the text during the sermon.”
”Your name must be grace, because you are irresistible.”
“There are six things that motivate me to talk to you, yea seven that turned my head.”
“God may be the bread of life, but you are the butter.”
“Well, gouge out my eyes and cut off my hands. If I hang around you much longer, I won’t have any limbs left.”
“There’s something about you that just makes me want to repent.”
“I’m pretty flexible… I don’t think a woman should be submissive on the first date.”
“You must have missed The Fall line, because you are lookin’ righteous.”
“Are you homo or homoi?” (sorry if you don’t get this one. Seminary-nerd humor).
Please, if you have any more funny and/or cheesy lines, add them as a comment below!
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
Yes, this week we looked at Genesis 3 to see what the Bible has to say about the Battle of the Sexes. Below is an expanded outline of what we found:
1) Created by God (Gn. 1:26-30): Kinda an important starting place and gives an important reference point for all that follows. Remember, creation did not happen by accident or mindlessly . . . everything happened as God intended!
2) Created with Dignity (Gn. 2:15-20): The scriptures make a point of drawing a distinction between the creation of animals from the creation of man – see Gn. 1:24. Yes, God did create the animals too . . . but the emphasis is on the fact that man is made specifically and specially by God – directly! Only we (mankind) are image bearers and only we were created for dominion!
3) Created for Marriage (Gn. 2:21-25): God left Adam with a bunch of critters to show him his need of companionship. Kinda odd that God would, from the beginning, attempt to show men how to appreciate women. Adam got the point – he wrote a poem. Generally speaking, men and poetry don’t mix!
4) Created for Dominion (Gn. 3:18-19): Yet, we were tragically enslaved to sin by the slanderous serpent. He tempted Eve to disbelieve God’s Word. Adam, however, openly rebelled, with no assistance from the snake. We learn something about the nature of sin by the evident shame and guilt, manifested in Adam and Eve’s hiding and blame-shifting. We also explored the nature of the “pain” and “desire” found in the curse toward Eve. In essence, we see that everything good that God gave us to enjoy – the land, the marriage, and children – all bear some kind of curse. The land is only fruitful with toil, men are tempted to be lazy and women are tempted to be usurpers, and childbearing comes through pain.
Yet all throughout, God manifests His gentle,wooing, incomprehensible grace. It is amazing that God had made provision for His fallen children – in spite of their unbelief and rebellion! Yet we can know with certainty that the Fall did not take God by surprise . . . He had a Chosen Warrior already prepared to deal a death blow to the sneaky snake . . . restoring all of His chosen people to the goodness of that Garden we all seem to have forgotten . . .
Click here for the Mp3: genesis-of-the-gender-wars.mp3
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
For our last message, we considered the dangers of pornography. Considering that as many as 70% of men admit to struggling with pornography, it is an indictment that the church does not talk about this more openly.
There is no magic pill to combatting lust. It doesn’t care how many News Year’s resolutions you make or how often you walk an aisle. No, the only way to combat lust is to report for the duty of dying to self daily. Our message directed our focus to five biblical principles that can help us as we seek to slay the serpent of wonton sexuality.
From 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7 we discussed how . . .
1) The Pleasures of God (4:1)
2) The Knowledge of God (4:2-3)
3) The Will of God (4:4-6a)
4) The Fear of God (4:6b)
5) The Call of God (4:7)
. . . are all worthy resources that God gives for our use in sanctifying our desires. God offers us Himself – yet just like Eve we are drawn to that which we should not want. Not content with eternal pleasures, we crave immediate gratification. God help us as we seek purity both outwardly and inwardly! Here is the Mp3:Jesus Loves Hugh
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
Are you modest? Don’t ask yourself! Your mind will do mental gymnastics to tell you that modesty has to do with others . . . but not you. Your mind will also tell you that modesty is simply about your clothing and not about your attitude and spirit.
While 1 Peter 3:1-7 is addressed to women, there is still plenty of application to us as men. We noted the fourfold relationship between: 1) submissiveness in relationships 2) respectability in behavior 3) modesty in dress and 4) gentleness in spirit. It seemed appropriate to emphasize that if we are not submissive in our relationship to our Lord, none of these other three injunctions are within our grasp . . .
I hope you took note that modesty has to do with your expectations, too. We all are given to thinking that we deserve more than we actually do – which is why it is so easy for some of us to get off kilter in our relationships. It also has everything to do with what singles believe they deserve in their future mate. No, I’m not suggesting dumbing down your requirement list, especially if you have a biblical justification for a requirement. It’s just that we are SO immodest in what we expect for ourselves that our expectations can be unrealistic.
Click here for the Mp3: Miniskirts and Rock Hard Abs: Thinking Biblically about Modesty
Click here for Mary Mohler’s booklet “Modeling Modesty”: Modeling-Modesty.pdf
Click here for the article on modesty by Carolyn Mahaney: modesty-check.pdf
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
Our last week’s lesson was titled “Single Ambition.” No, it wasn’t about being ambitious to be single. It was about what our singular ambition should be regardless of our marital status. Of course, I believe the four principles we looked at had particular significance for those single persons who are wanting to glorify God while they wait for Mr. or Mrs. Right.
The four principles we looked at we:
1) Purity reflects the values of a redeemed life (1 Thessalonians 4:1-7)
2) Prayerfulness demonstrates a hope in God
3) Patience trusts in God’s plan and timing (2 Peter 3:8-9)
4) Purpose seizes the “wait” for the glory of God (Matthew 6:25-34)
Click here for an MP3 of last week’s message: Single Ambition
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
For our second study, we pondered the singleness of Jesus Christ. If marriage indeed is God’s normal pattern for all of mankind – past, present, and future – why were so many New Testament leaders single? We must be very careful about taking the experience of one generation of leaders (ie., Jesus and Paul) and using their example to contradict the clear teaching of scripture.
We are reminded mature manhood and womanhood is not dependent upon our marital status and that according to Mark 12: 18-25, marriage is not any person’s ultimate union. Rather, our ultimate union is with Christ. This is good news – especially for those of us who are unhappily single at the moment! Be very careful about slighting God’s control over your marital status – the example of Paul and Jesus (as well as Paul’s explicit teaching in 1 Cor. 7) shows us that singleness can and should be viewed as a gift. Click here for the MP3 (the-33-year-old-virgin.mp3).
On a personal note, let me commend the vast majority of our singles. While I think there may be some “heart” issues to work on internally, I applaud you for taking Paul’s encouragement to use your singlesness for service to Christ’s church. Your involvement with our children’s ministry is a tremendous blessing to our entire congregation. God bless you for setting an example (1 Tim. 4:12)!
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
Last week we started our new message series “From the Front Porch to the Back Seat”. Over the course of the semester, we will be looking at how to be faithful to Christ in an age that offers many different opinions about love, sex, dating, marriage, and what manhood and womanhood looks like.
Our first message was “A Public Theology for Private Parts: Human Sexuality and the Christian Worldview” and was based upon 1 Corinthians 6:9-20. In essence, what I wanted to demonstrate was that biblical Christianity has the furthest thing from a prudish view of human sexuality. As a matter of fact, the Bible celebrates sexuality – within the context of a lifelong, heterosexual marriage union.
While we began with Paul’s long list of the “unrighteous”, this served as an illustration of God’s gracious salvation: such were some of us! Paul’s use of this list served to both humble us and remind us of the great grace of God.
Having a gracious God should encourage us to holiness. Yet in the Corinthian church, some had adopted a very “free” view of sexuality. Paul countered some of their slogans in order to show us God’s ultimate purpose for human sexuality. While from a negative perspective this included our new phrase “no coursing”, from a positive perspective we were reminded that God preserves us from pre-marital promiscuity in order to allow us to experience sexual pleasure within the safety of the union of marriage.
Click the following link for an MP3 of the message (A Public Theology for Private Parts).
Categories: Front Porch to Back Seat
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