Men, if you really want to grow in holiness then here is a site that you will find most helpful. It has resources to deal with FREEDOM FROM ... Alcohol & drugs, Gambling, Overeating, Overspending, Sexual Addiction, Stealing and Workaholism.
http://battlezone.echurchnetwork.net/Support/AddictiveZones/default.aspx
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Porn-Again Christian
It was in the late ‘80s, Christians were delighted to hear that rocker Billy Idol had become a believer after a near-fatal motorcycle accident. When asked was he “born again”, Idol replied, “No, I’m into porn again.”
Segue, segue, segue…into uber-cyber-Christian-wunderkind Mark Driscoll’s latest (e-)book “Porn-Again Christian”. Driscoll is releasing this challenging new publication in a most appropriate way for a web-based problem - serialised on the Internet. Week by week he reveals a chapter, a bit like a striptease I suppose… And the content even has a warning label on it:
“Because I am speaking to fellow men, my tone may not be well suited for some women and, therefore, I would request that they not read this booklet, unless they are a wife whose husband has read it first and he can discuss its contents with her in love.” (1st chapter, 2nd par.)
The result?
Well, let’s just say, your ears will burn and your eyes will water at the frank and direct language that Driscoll is famous for, and you’d better have an icepack or a cold shower running nearby, and at least for one chapter, a sick bucket…
He starts off promisingly enough, with the introduction and Chapter 1 addressing the need for his e-book:
“The church…largely fails to teach men masculinity in any area, particularly regarding sexuality.”
A bold claim, and one with teeth, at least in my previous church experience.
Chapters 2-4 feature as warnings on how to live wisely as Christian men in a sensual world and outline his “theology of pornographic lust”. Along the way, Driscoll makes some astute observations on the difficulty of defining pornography and the increasing sexualisation of our culture:
“It has taken forty years to go from one dirty magazine under the counter at the local convenience store to today where it is expected that junior high boys have at least one nude shot of their junior high girlfriend on their cell phone.”
See, told you it was frank… His central argument is that “pornographic lust exists to elicit coveting and dissatisfaction that no woman can satisfy”.
Chapters 5-7 feature a helpful discussion on a fairly taboo subject in Christian circles (with the exception of perhaps Phillip Jensen’s “Love, Sex, & Marriage” CDs) – masturbation. He advances both practical and theological reasons for and against masturbation. A confronting Q&A follows with real “live” questions from Christian men on the issue.
Chapter 8 is a highlight / lowlight with its chilling interview of convicted US serial killer Ted Bundy by well-known Christian counsellor and author James Dobson. Bundy is frighteningly honest about the effects of pornography on his life, and how it contributed to his horrific beating, raping, and murdering of at least 30 girls and women between the ages of twelve and twenty-six. Grief gripped my heart.
An extended address to military men on prostitution and a painful analysis of the worldwide sex trade concludes the book. These chapters are graphic in their details and sickening in their brutal depiction of the treatment of many women.
“Porn-Again Christian” is more like a tour through the roughly ordered thoughts of Driscoll on the topics of sex, marriage, pornography, masturbation, prostitution, and the sex trade, than a publishable book in itself. Therefore, as an e-book, it works quite well, but do brace yourself before picking up your hard copy from the printer.
Helpful to young men at your church?
I’d recommend a PG rating (only with parental or big-brotherly guidance), some sections MA (mature adults), and a hardcore R (risky) for the remainder.
Now that you’ve read the warning, you will find that Mark Driscoll’s “Porn-Again Christian” is, like the problems it seeks to combat, freely available at this web site.
Andrew is Sydneyanglicans.net’s resident digital scholar and the pastor of the Asian Bible Church (ABC), a congregation of St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, and the organiser of the Australia Day Convention.
Segue, segue, segue…into uber-cyber-Christian-wunderkind Mark Driscoll’s latest (e-)book “Porn-Again Christian”. Driscoll is releasing this challenging new publication in a most appropriate way for a web-based problem - serialised on the Internet. Week by week he reveals a chapter, a bit like a striptease I suppose… And the content even has a warning label on it:
“Because I am speaking to fellow men, my tone may not be well suited for some women and, therefore, I would request that they not read this booklet, unless they are a wife whose husband has read it first and he can discuss its contents with her in love.” (1st chapter, 2nd par.)
The result?
Well, let’s just say, your ears will burn and your eyes will water at the frank and direct language that Driscoll is famous for, and you’d better have an icepack or a cold shower running nearby, and at least for one chapter, a sick bucket…
He starts off promisingly enough, with the introduction and Chapter 1 addressing the need for his e-book:
“The church…largely fails to teach men masculinity in any area, particularly regarding sexuality.”
A bold claim, and one with teeth, at least in my previous church experience.
Chapters 2-4 feature as warnings on how to live wisely as Christian men in a sensual world and outline his “theology of pornographic lust”. Along the way, Driscoll makes some astute observations on the difficulty of defining pornography and the increasing sexualisation of our culture:
“It has taken forty years to go from one dirty magazine under the counter at the local convenience store to today where it is expected that junior high boys have at least one nude shot of their junior high girlfriend on their cell phone.”
See, told you it was frank… His central argument is that “pornographic lust exists to elicit coveting and dissatisfaction that no woman can satisfy”.
Chapters 5-7 feature a helpful discussion on a fairly taboo subject in Christian circles (with the exception of perhaps Phillip Jensen’s “Love, Sex, & Marriage” CDs) – masturbation. He advances both practical and theological reasons for and against masturbation. A confronting Q&A follows with real “live” questions from Christian men on the issue.
Chapter 8 is a highlight / lowlight with its chilling interview of convicted US serial killer Ted Bundy by well-known Christian counsellor and author James Dobson. Bundy is frighteningly honest about the effects of pornography on his life, and how it contributed to his horrific beating, raping, and murdering of at least 30 girls and women between the ages of twelve and twenty-six. Grief gripped my heart.
An extended address to military men on prostitution and a painful analysis of the worldwide sex trade concludes the book. These chapters are graphic in their details and sickening in their brutal depiction of the treatment of many women.
“Porn-Again Christian” is more like a tour through the roughly ordered thoughts of Driscoll on the topics of sex, marriage, pornography, masturbation, prostitution, and the sex trade, than a publishable book in itself. Therefore, as an e-book, it works quite well, but do brace yourself before picking up your hard copy from the printer.
Helpful to young men at your church?
I’d recommend a PG rating (only with parental or big-brotherly guidance), some sections MA (mature adults), and a hardcore R (risky) for the remainder.
Now that you’ve read the warning, you will find that Mark Driscoll’s “Porn-Again Christian” is, like the problems it seeks to combat, freely available at this web site.
Andrew is Sydneyanglicans.net’s resident digital scholar and the pastor of the Asian Bible Church (ABC), a congregation of St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, and the organiser of the Australia Day Convention.
Friday, November 21, 2008
love
A helpful concept that is floating around in my head and heart at present is that all of lifes moments are a test. Not a test designed to try and trip me up, but a test lovingly given to me by God to help me see if I believe that he truly loves me. Each opportunity that comes is an opportunity for me to believe or disbelieve God's way which is essentially an opportunity to believe that God truly only has love for me in mind. When a choice presents itself before me, I can believe God loves me and do that which he calls me to do, or I can believe that God doesn't really love me and make the choice that satisfies my short-term desire.
All of life it seems to me is an opportunity to love God, love self and to love others because Jesus said the greatest command is to love God and the second is to love your neighbour as yourself.
My prayer is this: Lord, help me today to believe you love me so much that I choose to live life your way because that ultimately is the best way to live.
All of life it seems to me is an opportunity to love God, love self and to love others because Jesus said the greatest command is to love God and the second is to love your neighbour as yourself.
My prayer is this: Lord, help me today to believe you love me so much that I choose to live life your way because that ultimately is the best way to live.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Global Warming
For a contrarian view on the 'overwhelming evidence for gloabl warming' check out this from the Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/michael-duffy/truly-inconvenient-truths-being-ignored/2008/11/07/1225561134617.html
Thursday, November 06, 2008
thinking
I think occassionally ... think of lots of things, strange things, normal things, weird things. Sometimes people think that cause I'm a Pastor I must think holy things all the time. But I reckon we're much the same, all of us seeking to make sense of the world, to love our families, to care for our friends, to leave the world a better place.
Here are some things that have flitted across my mind in the last few hours.
How awesome is my God. How much work there is to do. Concern for a friend. Laughter with a work mate. How good the chocolate was. I could kill a beer. The joy of going for a bike ride. Surprise at finding an old friend on facebook. Looking forward to a day off. How we organise our leadership better. Catching up on emails. Sex.
Yeah, just a pretty normal day of thinking ... and now my thoughts turn to lunch.
Here are some things that have flitted across my mind in the last few hours.
How awesome is my God. How much work there is to do. Concern for a friend. Laughter with a work mate. How good the chocolate was. I could kill a beer. The joy of going for a bike ride. Surprise at finding an old friend on facebook. Looking forward to a day off. How we organise our leadership better. Catching up on emails. Sex.
Yeah, just a pretty normal day of thinking ... and now my thoughts turn to lunch.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
What I supposed to be
I love the Youtube video clip called 'What I supposed by be' by Ray Bolt. A moving message about the potential of what could have been done by those lives who never made it out of the womb.
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