Porn for Women

I stole the title of this blog from the photographic book by Susan Andersen (don't google the title - Covenant Eyes will getcha!)

Keith preached on Ps 101 in Chapel today, about living the ideals of a blameless life. In true Keith fashion, he made incisive comments about men and women, starting with the eyes.

It's quite natural for men to be fascinated with form and physicality of women. Sometimes the "vile thing" before our eyes (v3) is beauty. In other words, sin often looks beautiful and attractive. Eve's apple and David's Bethsheba both looked pretty good. And beauty and its appreciation aren't inherently sinful, but anything good can be perverted to be something evil.

Even though he, along with everyone else, is "over" the whole internet pornography thing, he said it would be remiss of him to pass over it when dealing with sins of the eyes.

So what about women?

Keith remarked that women can also have "a haughty eye and a proud heart" in their internet use. This includes:

- prying into people's lives (e.g. insatiably searching through cavernous Facebook)
- projecting a desirable (and fake) image of themselves on a webpage

At the root of this is covetousness, jealousy, rivalry, deceit and one-up-man-ship (one-up-woman-ship).

My friend has been putting off Facebook for sometime, because she didn't want to make an e-shrine of herself. Not only is projecting a positive image a temptation, but envy of others can also ensnare her. I've been trying to sell FB to her, saying that she doesn't have to fall into that trap, and there are many social advantages, yadda yadda yadda... But perhaps she knows what is good for her and I should let her conscience direct her actions. My friend thinks that she'll probably be ok dealing with Facebook, but isn't that the beginning of being sucked in? Doesn't everyone think they are immune?

It's been said that men might fantasize about the physical attributes of women. And women just fantasize (daydream about the perfect man, a certain situation, how conversations might go, make negative comparison between real people and fictional characters: "Darcy would never have done that..." or any form of romanticising reality).

I guess the e-pitfalls for women are a little less apparent, a little more respectable but just as binding and insidious.

Near the end of the sermon, Keith gave this exhortation (via Piper): it's not the fact of the pornography or perversion of sex that's sad. But what's sad is Satan using it to disqualify us for service, laying a huge burden of guilt on us that we are unable to carry out ministry. We are Christians are to take our sin seriously, but remember that Jesus' yoke is light.

As I was absorbing all this, I thought about the purpose of this blog. I don't feel the need to keep a diary, public or private. I post to reveal the world of theological training to others. So this blog isn't a representative sample of the contents of my head in electronic form. It's just the ideas and experiences that have impacted me that I think are worth mentioning to people. But this image of a God-centred life, of lofty thoughts or worthy deeds, is more concentrated than it really is. Does the purpose of the blog justify its disproportionate goodness? Or is it vanity disguised?

Fear God, Escape Hell

People want to do away with hell because they want to present God as less fearsome. They act as God's PR people, moving away from the image of a "angry, vengeful God" which causes distance and makes God more unapproachable. You can't love and respect a God who'll torment people in hell forever, they say.

But Jesus commands us to fear God!

But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

~ Luke 12:5

This fear is not the terrorising fear for tyrants and evil forces. Instead, it is the right way for corrupt humans to relate to the powerful authority of a just God. (Similarly, it's good when a criminal to fear the police and law courts.) Fear in God yields obedience which pleases God and helps us to take the warnings in Scripture seriously.

So ironically, changing God's image to one less fearful makes people more susceptible to God’s wrath ~ you are removing the impediments to hell. Our fear safeguards us from pride and immorality that brings destruction and God’s judgment of a life sentence in hell. If you tell people not to fear God, they'll stop respecting his commands and living to please him. And so they may actually end up in hell! The abolition of the fearful threat of hell has the ironic effect of evoking God's wrath which leads to the realisation of the threat.

The Sleep of a Chatechist is Sweet

Sundays is a huge day for student ministers, from about 8am to 10pm. We'd often have one or two services in the morning and an evening one. We may be invited to a relaxed Sunday lunch. Even though there may be church prep or even college work to do, we'd often spend the block of free time in the afternoon having a little rest.

Friend 1 siestas in her car parked outside the church, often bursting onto unsuspecting musicians who are waiting to get into the church.

Friend 2 likes to kip on the carpet in the church photocopy room.

I often nap on the grass on the side of the church, outside the boys' toilets. If it's raining, I might sleep in the library / crying room which smells of children.

Resources on Hell

hear a sermon series by Wayne Schuller, given at Holy Trinity Doncaster 2008:

Jesus on Hell ~ Matthew 5:21-30

Jesus on Hell ~ Matthew 26:26-46, 27:45-50

Jesus - Gatekeeper of Heaven and Hell ~ Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus Over Hell ~ Revelation 20:1-15

read a sermon by:

Jonathan Edwards

Read posts by:

Pyromaniacs (quoting Spurgeon)

Gordon

One Night Only (Dreamgirls)

Dreamgirls was an enjoyable chick-flick. I was wowed by the talents of Jennifer Hudson (from American Idol), the evergreen Beyonce and Eddie Murphy (who seems to play Donkey in every movie). After a few lulls, the strongest part of the movie came in the last ~20 minutes, featuring two of the best songs: Listen and One Night Only.

The movie was based on a Broadway production. And it subscribes to the musical theater tradition of cleverly manipulating lyrics by having two versions of One Night Only. A simple change from "I" to "you" reverses the song's sentiments.

Effie sings of heart-break:

You want all my love and my devotion
You want my loving soul right on the line
I have no doubt that I could love you forever
The only trouble is, you really don't have the time

Bitter-sweetness, of fleeting love, is a flavor of soul.


In Deena's rendition, she sings:

You want all my love and my devotion
You want my loving soul right on the line
I have no doubt that I could love you forever
The only trouble is, I really don't have the time

It's a shagging song! Unrequited devotion becomes gettin' it on in a one night stand.

This subtle variation captured the contrast between Soul music (represented by Effie) and Disco (represented by Deena).

Because God is loving, Hell exists

People say hell doesn't sit well with a God of love. They tend to pit God's love against his wrathful judgment, as if the two were diametrically opposed. But precisely because God loves, he judges and is wrathful towards evil.

God’s judgment precedes from his love. Because he loves the world, he is grieved and angry when they rebel and are corrupted by sin. An human analogy illustrates this point: the more a father loves his son, the more he will hate in him the drunkard, the murderer. Because he loves the world, he is grieved and angry at evils done against those he loves. In the same way, a loving earthly father will have righteous angry for his daughter’s rapist. God's righteous anger at sin is an expression of his love.

Oddly enough, when you eclipse God’s judgment by his love, you render him evil. The opposite of love is not anger, but indifference (in this case, it would be the tolerance of evil). If God does not condemn sin by bypassing the punishment on perpetrators, it is not mercy but injustice and immorality. The ultimate judge would become evil. He would no longer be just or loving, but immoral and complicit in evil. Therefore, promoting God’s love by abandoning his judgment, perversely comes at the cost of his love, justice and goodness.

His wrath and righteous judgment are expressions of his deep, vast love and justice.

Lying about Hell

I'm writing an essay about hell and eternal punishment. And I've got a few unformed thoughts on the cutting room floor that I'd like to explore more. So don't be surprised if I post a sequence of hellish tid-bits.

Revelation describes the final experience of the unsaved as the “second death” (Rev 20:14) in the lake of fire without “rest day or night” (Rev 14:11).

People who deduce that there is no hell or eternal punishment seem to be buying a variation of Satan's original lie:

"You will not surely die," the serpent said... (Genesis 3:4)

Their claims that sin does not have devastating consequences, i.e. no "second death", echoes Satan's first statement which trivializes or nullifies the consequences of defying God.

It shouldn't be surprising, then, that theologians who deny hell often deny / subvert God's revelation or blatantly call God a liar.

Scholars who say this may be committing negligence to their hearers, like doctors who fail to advise patients of the adverse effects of an illness / treatment or one who gives the all clear when the prognosis should be terminal. But more that, they are (wrongly) judging God's judgment, and I fear for them on that count. Umm-mah...!

Attributes people often mistake for godliness

• a quiet demeanor
• being well-educated
• being theologically astute
• intelligence
  
• elegance
• physical attractiveness
  
• having an aversion to confrontation (or if I were to be less kind, cowardice)
  
• oratory prowess
• knowing how to pray in a fancy way
• having good social skills
• spending money freely
• being old
  
• cleanliness
• indignation
• being critical
  

Can you think of others?