Month: September 2008

Today blog readers, I celebrate a year. About a year or so ago, DeeperWaters stopped having new posts for a few days. (And I thank those of you who kept reading anyway!) Why? Because your blogger was moving to a new town. This day a year ago, I was on the road and heading towards a place to live that I’d never seen. I’d seen the town of course, but never the place where I live now. While now my computer and game systems are hooked up and connected and my bedroom is fully furnished, a year ago, there were boxes on the floor and just a mattress in my bedroom I slept on that first night.

I thought about this a lot last night. It’s amazing how one’s life can change so much. I still think to myself at times that I really am here and that I really am going to Seminary. I’m still blown away by it all and still amazed that someone like myself is here.

My roommate and I have made several good friends as well through the school, the church, and work. It seems as soon as we moved in that we were already hobnobbing with the leadership. We are friends with people who have high positions in both places and have both already become recognized. I believe it’s providence watching over us.

Every time I’ve been in a financial bind also, something has come through always. The doors have opened that have enabled me to keep my schooling going and they seem to remain open. I know I’ve got several friends looking out for me and are willing to do whatever they can to make sure I make it to the end.

Friends are the main thing. I have often said this on my blog. My friends mean everything to me and last night, I tried to do a mental review of all the new friends I’d made in a year. It’s quite touching as more and more names and faces keep popping into one’s mind and you realize just how blessed you are to know them.

There are the new experiences also. My roommate and I are members of the Y. I’ve never been one before and now, I find I quite enjoy it and one of the plans for when I get a better job so I can afford to do more is to take swim lessons. My roommate, who I swear has gills, is a great blessing. There is one thing that he does that most others don’t do.

Nothing.

Seriously. He goes and enjoys his own thing and that is far better than any pushing. My roommate does not push me to do things, and I find that extremely helpful in getting up my own motivation to do them. I am not doing something to please him then. I’m doing it because I want to and not because he wants me to.

Learning my way through the school system has been a challenge. At first, I felt overwhelmed with all the work, but my first semester was probably the hardest. I started with three classes and I was told that I had jumped in on the deep end. Still, I managed to pull through all of them and do great in all of them as well.

I’ll also say my knowledge and capabilities have improved definitely. I find myself better prepared in engaging arguments from the other side and even asking questions more of my own side in order to get better answers. Christianity needs the best defenders that it can get in an age becoming more and more hostile to the notion of truth itself.

It’s also been an experience learning better discipline as I try to turn the computer off at a decent time, leave gaming for a specific time, watch Smallville at a specific time, and do my reading at a specific time. All of this while keeping up with my internet duties including bringing the blog to you my faithful readers.

So here’s to a year! Let’s hope for many more!

My roommate introduced me to a friend of his and while we haven’t interacted much, I have liked what I’ve seen so far. I’ve been informed that he’s gone through some hard times lately. I don’t know the details, but it seems to involve the death of a friend at a young age. My guess is a battle from cancer, but again, I’m not certain.

I write for him tonight.

This friend is very angry from what I gather and to that, I say “good.” Dear Christian. It’s okay to be angry. In fact, it’s commanded of us. Ephesians 4:26 tells us to be angry and sin not. We see in the life of Christ that he got angry a number of times. The stoics pride themselves on concealing their emotions, and I do like a lot of stoic thought on how to react to the world, but Christ was not of that manner. He openly wept and openly had anger.

While we can rejoice that those who die in Christ are now in a better place, we should not be saying “Celebrate! They’re dead!” We’ve lost something. It’s okay to grieve and/or get angry. We all deal with it in different ways and the Christian who tells you that you should simply rejoice and not cry or be angry about it is one that deserves to be smacked.

1 Thess. 4:13 tells us that we grieve. The difference is we don’t grieve like those who have no hope. We do realize that we are separated for now, but we will see each other again someday. What we are saying is temporary. That doesn’t mean it’s less painful, but we should not treat a temporary reality like it’s an eternal one.

Part of it also I believe in this case is that the friend was young. He will never get married. He will never have children. He will never have a family. We should all grieve for something like that. It seems many people get cut off in the prime of life and there’s no rhyme or reason to it. It’s natural for us to go to God and ask “Why?”

I also think God welcomes these questions. The Psalms are full of them. The prophet Habakkuk is noted that he spoke to God on behalf of the people. Jeremiah had his share of complaints to God concerning the ministry that he was doing. Of course, we can’t forget the book of Job where Job wishes for an audience with God.

Of course, I think we should also watch how we approach God. God doesn’t mind us approaching him with honest doubts and questions provided we’re not doing so with the mindset that we are the ones calling the shots an that we know better than him. In fact, it is part of his grace that he welcomes those questions as it shows we trust in him.

Why does such suffering happen? Frankly, we don’t know. We know the general that things are working for a greater good, but we don’t know the particular. That’s why it can be hard to trust at times. That’s all we’re told to do though is trust. We’re not told to avoid grieving or to not get angry. We are simply told to trust.

We’re never told it’ll be easy either, but most things worthwhile aren’t. God hasn’t given us an answer for the particulars again, but he has given us himself. He has given us his Holy Spirit and the reminder of the cross that he is the God who comes and suffers with us. God is not aloof to human suffering. The Son came and suffered on our behalf. We serve the God who dealt with the problem of evil in a more personal way than any other religion.

I have sympathy for this friend also and an open ear and this is the best we can often give to those suffering. Our presence means more than our answers. While I am an apologist, I do not wish to be one here. I wish to be the counselor and friend more than anything else. There will come a time for the apologetics later, but it is not now.

Friend. I pray for you. I hope all goes well.

Tonight, a friend of mine and I went to see the movie Eagle Eye. I didn’t really know much about it except I was told that it was a government conspiracy movie. As entertainment, I enjoyed the movie, but as we left, I found myself speaking of it as anti-Bush propaganda. I’m a strong conservative and my friend was surprised when I described the movie that way and said “In what way?” (Note. Spoilers ahead if you plan to see it. You might want to wait.)

Let’s see. You have a start with an identification of a Muslim target that turns out to be incorrect later. Compare that to the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Meanwhile, you also have an attack on the Patriot Act as a threat to our civil liberties. Finally, since all of this has taken place, we need to have a regime change. 

Readers know my blog is not really about politics. I have said this is about philosophy. What does what I’ve said have to do with philosophy? Everything. My friend was completely unaware of all the connections, but as soon as I pointed them out he caught on and could not believe that he had not seen them before.

There are three levels of philosophy. The first is level one. Consider works like Plato and Aristotle. How many people have read Aquinas or Augustine? Can your average man on the street tell you anything about the ideas of Descartes and Spinoza? Is the average student in the high school classroom aware of the works of Hume and/or Kant?

Probably not.

This is part of the problem. Let’s suppose you think Spinoza was crazy in his philosophy, which I personally do. You at least need to know what he thought. Let’s suppose you think Kant opened up a can of worms. You need to know what he thought. Let’s suppose you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Aristotlean even. You need to know what Plato thought.

This is the first level and it’s the foundational level. It is where we get the philosophy from and where the arguments are argued at. If you want to have a real viewpoint on epistemology, you go here. If you want to discuss ethical theory, you go here. If you want to make a point about the body/soul problem, you go here.

Eagle Eye is level two. This is the level of media. This is the level of illustration and we will come back to it after talking about level three. (Trust me. I skip ahead for a reason.)

Level three is what happens around your dinner table. When you discuss how you function as a family, that is level three. When you are interacting with your fellow man, you are having level three. Now if you were discussing a philosophical issue, you’ve moved more into the area of level two, but the application of philosophy is at level three.

Today, level two is where the action usually is.

Like I said, most people will probably never pick up Plato and read him. Sad, but true. Today, we live in a society where most people get their worldview from the media. They go to a movie and get some belief about reality. They watch a TV show or hear a song or play a video game or read a fictional novel and get opinions from those also. 

To some extent, we all probably do this. However, if this is your only source, there is a serious problem. Please note that I am not against the use of the media to express philosophical ideas. I encourage it in fact. I have on my shelf some books like “Harry Potter and Philosophy”, “The Matrix and Philosophy”, and “Superheroes and Philosophy.” There is a whole line of books like that and I think they’re excellent as they use the issues of the media to discuss philosophical topics.

I am against though the story being used without any foundational idea to back it. Our Lord told parables, but he could also argue his point aside from a parable. He used his as illustrations, but when he wanted to express the values themselves, he spoke to us and told them what they were. The sermon on the mount is not a parable. It has parables in it, but these are illustrations of points that have been made prior.

In a postmodern world though, a story is used in the absence of an argument. People are moved through stories. There’s no doubt about that. That’s why it can be dangerous as ideas can be sneaked in on us without us realizing it. This is one reason I believe Plato was quite careful about the stories and music that would be allowed in his city. (That’s in the Republic, one of those foundational works.)

This is also why we need Christians in Hollywood. The anti-Christian worldviews of today are readily promoted. Imagine the impact if we could get Christians making movies that show a Christian worldview! Imagine if Christians had their own version of Oprah in the public eye recommending books that millions of people would turn into bestsellers!

The tragedy is we’re missing these wonderful tools of communication. If someone like Saint Paul were alive today and saw the means of communication we have, he’d be thrilled. (I believe this would also include internet blogs. I think all Christians should be blogging. I recommend getting a copy of Hugh Hewitt’s book “Blog” to show this.)

When you are receiving something from some output of media, also ask yourself about it. What worldview is being sent across? I think it’s fine to enjoy something even if the writer is non-Christian. It’s just important to be aware of what is going on. 

Philosophy is everywhere. You can’t avoid it. It is better to have a good one than a bad one and to know the foundations rather than just what you see at the movies.

There are many people today who are highly educated, but yet, when it comes to their thoughts on religion and philosophical matters, they can be incredibly atrocious. How can this be? How can it be that people can go to great schools and get degrees and be said to have a good education, but at the same time seem to make arguments that are just ignorant?

A friend of mine here goes around to various schools and gets to speak about Christian apologetics. I have pondered what it would be like to go there and ask “Why are you in school?” Now some might be there because they have to be and they’ll give that answer, but many will say they are there to learn. I could also ask about those who plan to continue their education afterwards why they plan to do such a thing. 

What if the answer is that one is there to learn? That answer only goes so far though. Why are you wanting to learn a bunch of facts? Is it simply because you want to be a Jeopardy contestant someday? One should not learn facts simply for the sake of learning facts. One should try to understand the pieces of the puzzle so they can understand the whole. 

Could it be that is where we have fallen short?

Do we teach people to try to understand reality as it is? We try to teach them facts about reality but we do not teach them how to analyze reality. It is like showing various angles and parts of the puzzle but never telling anyone that all of these angles and parts are supposed to go together and to form a cohesive whole.

Or it could be that many don’t think the cohesive whole even exists….

Thus, philosophy and religion get downgraded as one can surely know things about a philosophical idea or about a religious belief, but these are not seen as coherent in anyway. They have no connection whatsoever to the real world. It is the idiots of society that look at the world and assume some sort of theistic mindset.

In the medieval worldview, theology was the queen and philosophy was her hand-maiden. Both of these were to work together. The sciences were underneath them. This is not to downplay physical sciences of course. They have their place and it is an important one. We are to be grateful for all that they have done for us, but let us not dare think that the peasants have uprooted the queen and started their own government!

With our interest in facts though, we are getting there. One knows about religion the way one is to know about fairy tales, but one is to be educated and know the facts of science. Of course, I’m not denying that there are facts in science. I will deny though that science is the only method that can give us truth and if something isn’t scientifically demonstrable, it isn’t true. (And if you think I haven’t met people with that kind of stance, think again.)

Today then, mankind believes he lives in a disjointed world and doesn’t see how the picture fits. It is because he has lost sight of that puzzle. He has forgotten that his goal is not to understand pieces of reality, but to understand reality. He is to learn to analyze what goes on in the world around him and see how it fits into the nature of the whole.

This is one reason also science needs to reclaim the concept of the final cause. The final cause in Aristotlean thought is the purpose for which something is. When we see a system in space we can ask why it is that way. What purpose does it have? When we watch anything else in science, we can raise up that same question believing theris a mind who made it that way for a reason.

In this, we are to remember that we serve the God of all truth. What I learn in philosophy and theology relates to what someone learns in science which relates to what someone learns in economics which relates to medicine which relates to politics, etc. There is too much out there for one man to know all of it, but we can work together and learn Truth.

And we must remember this. We are all to be metaphysicians in some sense. We are all to spend some time pondering ultimate reality. It’s good to know facts, but if one doesn’t know how to reason through facts and realize a deeper message, one could simply be one of the ones that proclaims themselves to be wise and becomes a fool.

I had some friends over tonight and we were discussing a Christian worldview. It was myself and another apologist friend of mine with two others who are starting to get interested after having come in contact with some Jehovah’s Witness. We started talking about dealing with people on religious issues and this got into the art of arguing.

Christians need to learn how to argue. I’m not talking about it in a negative sense, but in the sense of being able to find the truth, find flaws in claims other people are making, and being able to refute them. Considering we are in an election year, this is an especially important time for Christians to be learning to watch arguments instead of simply delivery and presentation.

One thing I made clear to my friends was the need for Christian thinking. This is not the territory of Christians entirely. It is simply clear logic that has been handed down throughout the ages and describes the way the world really is. What I am about to say can be found by reading Aristotle or many books on logic. I write it out tonight for I was asked by them to do so.

That having been said then, let’s look at basic laws of logic.

First, the Law of Noncontradiction, which will be called the LNC for short. A cannot be both B and non-B in the same time and in the same sense. What this basically means is that contradictions can’t be true. I am sitting at my computer desk right now. I cannot be both sitting and not sitting at the same time and in the same sense.

The Muslim philosopher Avicenna had something interesting to say about this. He told us that the person who denies this law should be beaten and burned until they admit that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned.

Sadly, I meet people often who should be thankful Avicenna is no longer around….

The second law of logic is the Law of Identity. LID. A = A. My computer is my computer. Your car is your car. Your copy of the Bible is your copy and not mine. Even if I have two Bibles here and both of them are the same in all respects except location, they are not the same object. One of them is one thing and the other is another. 

The third law is the Law of Excluded Middle, which is the LEM. A is either B or non-B but nowhere in-between. This water bottle next to me is either empty or not empty but nowhere in between.

We also brought up the importance of recognizing statements that contradict themselves and asking questions in response to show the contradiction.

“There is no truth.”

Response: Is it true there is no truth?

“All truth is relative.”

Response: “Is that a relative truth?”

“You can’t know anything.”

Response: “How do you know that?”

“You should doubt everything.”

Response: “Do you doubt that?”

“I can’t speak a word of English.”

Response: “Did you just say that in English?”

“That’s true for you but not for me.”

Response: “Is it true for you but not for me that that’s true for you but not for me?”

“There are no absolutes.”

Response: “Is that an absolute truth?”

“Only scientific statements are true.”

Response: “Is that a scientific statement?”

Now many people don’t come right out and make contradictions this straight forwardly, but some do. If not, one has to analyze what one says and see if there is a contradiction. There might not be. It could be the person is wrong on a matter of fact. If someone is a Christ-myther for instance, he’s not holding a position that’s inherently self-contradictory. He’s just holding a position that’s wrong on a matter of fact.

Good thinking needs to return to our lives. We live in a world where people are interested in knowing truths, but they do not want to know Truth. They want to know about things but they don’t want to know about what things are. We live in a psychological age where we want to know about our particular selves without konwing what it means to be a man, woman, or just a human.

Without knowing these rules, it is revealing why so many lose the game and so many play so badly at it.

Let’s not let Christians be in this category. We need to be out in the forefront with sound thinking.

My roommate and I had a friend come over tonight as this friend and I watch the new Smallville every Thursday night. (Or Friday afternoon if we have to.) Yes dear readers. My roommate is still unrepentant and has yet to enter into the joy of Smallville. Nevertheless, this involved somehow our discussing with our friend how we first met.

What happened for us was that he was passing through my town and so I invited him over and then we went out to dinner at my favorite pizzeria. My roommate reminded me of a story tonight where his mother had told me about a pastor who was hesitant to do baptisms and communion. I don’t recall why, but he felt unworthy.

My reply pretty much?

Good.

The honest truth is, we are all unworthy. None of us deserve to be in the position of ministry. We’re there by grace and we are blessed to get to serve. We don’t get to serve him because of who we are. He lets us serve him because of who he is.  We are unworthy servants doing as we have been told. (Luke 17:10.) The good news is God likes to treat his servants very well.

I try though to honestly stay humble in the face of all that happens. This week, I have received a number of compliments at the seminary and it seems to happen more often and every time, I get more and more amazed. I just cannot believe at times that God has so far taken someone like me who is an unknown from an unknown town and is using him to do great things.

Due to certain conditions I have, I was not predicted to do much with my life. I was not seen as one who would finish High School. Whoops. I did that one! I was told to not go into ministry because I would not be able to speak in front of people. Apparently, they would have been stunned to have seen the sermon I gave to the student body where I was in Bible College to about 1,000 people.

Every single time, I have thus far proven people wrong.

1 Cor. 1 talks about the kind of people God uses which includes the foolish to shame the wise and the weak to shame the strong. This keeps making more and more sense. I was with an apologist friend of mine in another state once who was introducing me to members of his church and being very complimenting to which I finally told him “You’re going to give me a big head!” He just smiled and said “Don’t worry. You know who you are.”

I didn’t understand that much then, but I think I understand it more now. My friend had seen my own heart better than I, which is what friends can often do. We can often be totally blind to aspects of ourselves that our friends see clearly. This is one of the great blessings of friends. My roommate, for instance, has done more to build up trust I think than anyone else and enabled me to do more than I have just by being a friend.

Ministry is not about worthiness. It’s about showing who is worthy. It’s an enjoyable job in many ways, and it’s also hard. I enjoy arguing with skeptics, but there are times also you get tired of being in the firing line and you’re thankful that you have good friends around you at those times who are able to keep you going strong.

There are times I’ve needed to go on to bed some nights, but someone needed to talk, and I didn’t think it should be put off, so I talked. They had a pain in their life and they just wanted an ear. I know I’ve had enough people who have done the same thing for me. Will I be tired and exhausted overall the next day, even if it’s a work day? Yeah. That’s what you do though.

You always keep in mind your unworthiness. I think of what my friend said and all I had stacked against me and how its been overcome so far. I can’t explain it through natural means. I know I’m not the same person I was ten years ago. I imagine going back to a high school reunion and having people wonder if I’m the same person who left. Ontologically, yes. Qualitatively, no.

There’s something amazing though when you hear all the good stuff during the day, and yet you go to pray at night and you think “Wow. How amazing you are that you pull all this off God!” 

My answer to that pastor would still be the same. No. You’re not worthy. Who cares? God has called you to serve and he has blessed you with that opportunity. If you have the gifts and the opportunity and the desire, then serve.

It’s not about you and your worthiness after all. It’s about him and his worthiness.

I was in a discussion with a co-worker today about the topic of abortion and one point she made up to me as someone who is pro-choice is “You don’t have a uterus.”

Well, I suppose it’s meant to be a point.

In his work, “Defending Life”, Francis Beckwith has a word to describe this argument.

“Silly.”

First off, my view on whether the unborn are human or not has nothing to do with the genitalia I possess. Now I won’t deny that I can’t know the experience of what it feels like to be pregnant. However, that is not what is under discussion. We are not discussing what an experience is but what the unborn is. (And to the comment on my last blog and I plan on addressing those issues later, yes though, there are some people who believe the unborn is a person and still favor abortion.)

I will never know what it means to carry around a life inside of me for nine months and then go through an experience that I am quite certain is painful in having that life come out into the world. No doubt, that is a hard experience to go through from morning sickness to cravings to the painful moment of birth itself. (To which I say I wonder about when I get married and get to the point where my first child is being born. There will be all the yelling, screaming, crying, groaning, moaning, not to mention whatever noises my wife is making at the time.)

However, if the man is to have no say in the abortion debate simply because he’s a man, then why is it, that since he can have no say on whether the life should live or not, that he is then forced to pay child support. If the experience is to belong solely to the mother, then shouldn’t all the ramifications of that belong to the mother?

There are other points Beckwith points out as well. For instance, if a man can have no say in the issue, then it’s time to throw out Roe v. Wade. Why? It was a decision made by nine men. These men don’t have uteruses though. (I would hope you all knew that by now.) However, their opinion seems to be binding on the issue. 

Beckwith also says then that the mother cannot make a decision on whether the boy should be circumcised or not. After all, the woman possibly can’t know anything about what that experience is like. (And my fellow men, aren’t you glad that that happens at a time when we’re really too young to remember what it felt like?)

Finally, Beckwith says that the sword can cut the other way. Every argument given for abortion I saw today was an emotional one at some level. Could it be that since men are not the ones that are the most emotionally involved in the case that they should be the ones who are given the most authority in the matter?

The ultimate problem is simply that this argument is an argument based on experience and does not address the issue at all. Whether the unborn is a human person or not cannot be addressed by describing what the experience of pregnancy is like or how painful it is. It is a question about ontology and not function.

Last night, I was reading Aristotle. Now normally, Aristotle is really boring for me. I’m not going to dispute that he said a lot of stuff that’s really good, but he just doesn’t present it in an exciting way. Aristotle is the kind of guy that says in six paragraphs what most of us would say in one sentence. However, I was reading the Nicomachean Ethics and started thinking about society and morality and abortion.

A good society is one that enables you to be good. The role of government is to bring about that freedom for society. If all men were angels, as the founding fathers said, there would be no need for government. Government is there not because people are good but because they are evil. Government is meant to contain the forces of evil.

What about abortion? If abortion is for the good of society, then it would seem that abortion would enable us to become good. Yeah. I know. Goodness is an unknown concept really today. The ancients spent so much time talking about virtue and today, you would be hard-pressed to find people who could tell you the four cardinal virtues.

Of course, if someone is a moral relativist, this won’t really work on them, but then one can just ask where they get this idea of “a right to choose.” Where does a right come from exactly? If moral relativism holds the day, one cannot say abortion choice is good or evil even. One can merely say that it is. To say it is good or evil is nonsense. 

For now though, I’m simply going to assume moral absolutism for the sake of the blog. If you disagree with that stance, please understand then that that is another argument for another blog and it could be one that I take up soon. However, for those who do believe in moral absolutes of some sort, I would really like you to see if you can find abortion being good for society in that it helps people to BE good.

Please notice the emphasis on being. There is no doubt that one could say abortion brings about some goods for some. Some might say “Well, it allows me to have financial stability.” Generally, I could agree that financial stability is a good. Another could say “It allows a couple to have sex without having to have a baby.” This is the one of pleasure and I think we would say that pleasure can be a good also.

However, is being good about financial stability or is it about pleasure? One can be good and have those things, but would we not think that one can be good without those things? Could one be good in the Russian Gulag? Could one be good in a nazi prison camp? Could a Christian ascetic living on a hilltop alone be good?

Goodness is not about obtaining certain ends, but about the kind of person that you are. Do you value what is good more? This will also depend on how things rank on your scale. Do you put pleasure above life? Then why not be a rapist? Do you put financial stability above life? Then why not mug someone, kill them, and take all their money?

Instead, it seems the opposite has happened. A just man is one who values what is just. Do we value what is good any more? Has our society shown an increase in the value of life since abortion or have we instead kept pushing the envelope further? Now we have euthanasia being discussed and partial-birth abortions going on and even ethicists who say that the living baby in the delivery room can be killed.

Today, we have school shootings going on and suicide being rampant. Do we really value life more or do we value it less? If we value it less, could it be because of the laws? Laws cannot make someone be good or evil, but they can change the public viewpoint over time so that one comes to see something as good or evil when they shouldn’t. It’s also because we don’t have moral training in our education any more. People are not taught about the good and what it is or what it means for something to be evil. Ethics is not a topic you will hear discussed in the classroom normally in the school system.

Thus, if abortion is not being good for society, the simple question is, why have it? Sure. It might bring about some goods supposedly, but let us not dare sacrifice the good for some goods.

The friend I mentioned a few days ago and I were talking about this topic recently. I had linked her to an MP3 of Lauren Winner speaking on sexuality. Lauren Winner is the author of “Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity.” This is a book I think everyone who wants to learn something about a Christian view of sexuality should read.

Lauren Winner in the MP3 and in the book cites the corniest story of all about a couple going out to a movie and the man goes home saying “Lord. I know the wedding is in two weeks and your grace is sufficient, but if you could just make these weeks fly, I would be really appreciative.” Most of us can understand that one and think it makes sense.

The lady, on the other hand, seeing as this couple had been to the movies, snuck home a popcorn kernel that she will keep in her diary as a treasured memento of this event. Winner says the authors of the story claim the girls want “non-sexual socialization.” Yep. You can picture a girl sitting at home one night waiting for her boyfriend to call saying “Wow. This guy is great for non-sexual socialization.” (And no, I’m not saying that sexual socialization means having sex.)

This kind of thinking though is an insult to men and women.

My own mother, for instance, I have been told was told when she got married that you just have to act like you enjoy it. This is definitely a shame. Women. God gave you a clitoris. The purpose being so that you could have pleasure in sex. Your bodies are designed I believe to bring men pleasure, but then they are designed so you can receive pleasure from men as well. The Bible affirms this numerous times whether highlighting the joys of marriage or the language used to describe Israel chasing off after other lovers.

What is the idea given? As Winner says, it’s that women don’t have libidos. Women are never told apparently that they might one day have their own sexual desire and might really want sex one day. However, this is far from the case. Naturally, as a guy, I can’t say I know from personal experience, but from talking to women who I often find to be just as interested as men are. (And in fact, some of them are more interested.)

When women are seen in this light, then they become objects. The denial of physical pleasure as a blessing for a woman is a damage to the woman as well. Is it wrong for a woman to have physical pleasure in sex? Not at all. She was made so that she would. I do believe of course that sex is for the purpose of reproduction and we know the woman carries the brunt of that, but to deny her physical pleasure is simply to make her just a machine that is supposed to breed babies.

Now let’s move on to the men.

What’s the message given to men? Men are simply bundles of hormones who think about sex 24/7. Now I’m not sure that’s accurate. I will say as a guy, I think about sex a lot, but I can’t say it’s all I think about or it’s all that is on my mind. There are times I could be playing a game or writing a blog or doing some reading in a book and sex just isn’t on my mind. 

When it is though, what are we to do? Well men are supposed to take a lot of cold showers.

If we men were often in that position where when we had strong sexual desire, we had to take a cold shower, we’d never leave the shower.

Consider this also with the attitude the church gives on lust. You are not to think about sex until you are married. Sorry guys. You’d better be thinking about it before marriage. It is such a contrast that we give the impression that sex is dirty and that men better not think about it, but that is all they can seem to think about so what’s a guy to do in that situation? He often feels condemned if he does think about sex, and wonders if there’s something wrong with him if he doesn’t.

And also, men are not just bundles of hormones. I know my friend would speak of my great fascination and wonder with women, but she would also say that underneath that also, or rather in support of it, is a strong side that seeks to honor a lady and treasure that beauty. It is one that wants to come to that pleasurable moment and have the pleasure not just be mine, but hers as well. (Men. Here’s some advice. Pray that you can bring your wife as much pleasure as she brings you or will bring you.)

Why not admit the truth instead?

We both think about this. Men and women are thinking about it. They think about it a lot. They have strong desires and we simply need a fruit of the spirit, self-control. Men need the support of men and women that of women. 

Sure, there are some differences, but if we are giving images that aren’t rooted in reality, we not only deny sexuality as it is, but we do a great harm to those who are young and growing up and are wrestling with these issues.

Ravi Zacharias has talked about this topic before also citing Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher who said you never step in the same river twice. The water is always changing. His student Cratylus said you don’t even step in it once. You are changing as the river is changing. As much of a paradox as I think that last statement is, I would like to touch on a truth of a changing world.

Everything changes it seems. Here in America, we’re about to change who will lead our country and we’re liable to see several other changes as well. As I go through school, I find some of my views changing on various issues. I have a problem with allergies often and so I find myself changing from sneezing constantly one day to being fine the next. My own emotional reactions to myself and what is going on are in a constant state of flux.

Thus, how I wake up in the morning is no guarantee of how I’ll go to bed at night. The world I wake up to is rarely the same one I go to sleep in. Something has changed throughout the day and usually something that I consider significant. Some of my relationships or some of my opinions have changed so that the world is different.

I can also think of how things are for people who have to relate to me and I to them. Could the way my roommate and I interact change often based on our different moods? Could it be safe to ask me a question one day and unsafe to do so the next? Could it be that one day I’ll want to have a friend spend time with me and the next day I don’t?

Everything is changing.

I find something when I pray at night, and for me, I’m a nighttime guy with prayer. Prayer is the last thing I do before I turn out the lights. I find the first thing I am usually saying when I come to God is that I am thankful that he is constant. God is one that never changes. He is outside of space and time and is eternally acting. This is so mind-boggling to me. This is a concept I find myself wondering about. In my view, God is viewing my birth right now, my wedding someday, my children being born, my death one day, my being in his presence in Heaven, all in one eternal now.

God and time. It’s such a fascinating topic to think about and I’m still thinking about it and when I have clearer and more certain thoughts on it, I’ll probably write about it.

I’m thankful though that he doesn’t change. When I come to him, he is the same. He is the foundation that the whole world rests on us. You don’t have to worry if God is different than when you approached him yesterday. He’s not. You don’t have to worry if they’ll be a different God tomorrow. There won’t be. He is the one constant that you can always turn to.

That means you can always rely on him. 

Think about the attributes of God and see how incredible he is and realize that that will never change. Nations will rise and fall. You will live and die. He will be there always though. Throughout endless ages, God will remain the same. When all the world is collapsing around you, you can always look and realize God is constant. He is not changing.

Whatever is going on in your world, keep that in mind. You’re changing, which isn’t always bad, but he is not. You can trust in him forever. He is the rock.