Porn Again Christian

I'm in Galway tonight. I'm down for a leadership training day with Andrew Jones (aka blogger, Tall Skinny Kiwi). I'm in amazing hotel called the Clayton and taking full advantage of the lan in the room.

I'm reading through a book that I'd like to share with you. It's a e-book by Mark Driscoll and released by Re-lit on their website for free . At the moment, it's just available to read on the web but it's going to released in pdf format for distribution in the next few days.

Considering the topic, they recommend that not everyone read it. It is specifically for Christian men and they don't recommend that women read it. IT IS EXPLICIT. Don't read if you're worried about offense.

If however, like myself, you're a Christian male who lives with the reality of life in world and media that's saturated in cheapened sex, if you're some strength and kindness in resisted temptation, if you are finding yourself becoming insensitived to lust and porn, READ IT.

Later edit: just noticed on my tracker, that two people came to my site after googling porn. If you come from such a query, I suspect you probably won't stay long but if you do. I hope maybe, you give this book a chance and may experience some freedom from the vice of porn addiction.

Jazz

I was working on my Martin Luther essay and got distracted by a book on my table. It was Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I haven't read it yet but I just read the introduction and thought it was worth sharing. Here it goes:

"I never liked jazz music because jazz music didn't resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theatre in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes. 

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.

I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happens."

In researching Martin Luther, I found that he once said, "I do not love God! I hate him." This was the same Luther who revolutionised Christianity, who brought the world away from the church as an institution and into Christianity as a personal, living faith.

Yet, he hated God.

He hated God because of his guilt... because he was a sinful, messed up wretch who God had every right to squash if He so chose.

One verse made a difference to Martin:     Romans 1:17

This Gospel tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

The reason Martin's hate was turned to love was the realisation that God isn't waiting to squash us, who have faith in his Son. He's saving them and changing them and that is something worth enjoying.

Close your eyes, enjoy the jazz.

WordLive

I just starting trying out a new service that Scripture Union offer, WordLive. It's an online Bible study for the Web 2.0 generation (basically all the internet addicted people like myself).
It's offers a multipart, multimedia Bible teaching devotional everyday.

I was already pretty excited about the format before I started, and it's got the substance to back up the packaging. It takes you through the backround infomation, reflection and even offers a chance to hear the scripture read out loud.

Today, it was talking about Judas and what the difference is between his remorse for betraying Jesus and repentance.
It states it better then I could here in my fly-by blog post, so if you have the time check it out.

Stan Story: The Saga Begins.....

Tonight, in Gap, I had the opportunity to share a bit of my story about and how I got closer to God in time. The problem was I wasn't that well-prepared and I only had ten minutes. What I'd like to share in a series of post is the extended version. So, each post is going to be a part of my story and and an application of something I learned from or gained from that experience.

Keep in mind when I say stuff I learned, I don't mean learned as in just knowledge but more something I learned a deep heart level. I think the beliefs and experiences we have in our Christian walk make a bit part of who we are.

So I begin...

Born 22nd January 1986 in Dublin City, Ireland.


I was raised in at typical Irish Catholic family, so since the beginning of school, I knew a little bit of the Bible and about Jesus.

Since as long as I can remember, my family background has always been incredibly difficult. My mother since before I was born has suffered from Muliple Sceloris which is a paralysing disease. So, rather then the traditonal mother-look-after-child scenario, its always mean the opposite. I'm not saying this to look for sympathy but because through the difficulties of the this, I've learned one of the key points of the Gospel: this world that we now inhabit is not how it's supposed to be. It's broken on a deep level and the ideal is far from the reality.

Although, I didn't know the Gospel yet, I knew this in a deep way.

I think everyone feels this brokeness somewhere in their live and worlds. Walking throughs the streets of Dublin City, it's tangible.

I also believe that God can use the evil or dark things in the world and work His purposes through them, so I'll explain next time how God used my family situation to bring me to Him.

John Piper and the Prosperity Gospel

This is a video that I found on Benjamin Euler's blog. John Piper is talking about the Prosperity Gospel.
I have to say I can understand why he is so angry about this. I come from a background in a prosperity Gospel church and I've seen first-hand the damage that this false teaching does.

It raises expectations for God to deliver and when God doesn't give wealth, health and joy, people question  their faith, their righteousness and eventually leave the faith. Prosperity Gospel IS NOT a good thing.

I think my experience with the prosperity gospel is what gave me the passion I have for confronting false teaching. That's about the only benefit that my dealing with it have had.

I'm a Ex-Rob Bell fanatic.

I've had a change of heart about Rob Bell in the last week or so.
I still think he's a great communicator and presents some Biblical truths and insights in his videos and sermons.

The problem thought isn't the transmission, it's the message. I wonder how many people are actually aware how controversal and shocking his messages are.

Firstly, he approaches Christianity from a post-modern view. Post-modernity is the idea that it's impossible for to know absolute truth. In the first chapter of Velvet Elvis, he essentially writes that Christian doctrine is not important, that if elements of the Gospel are false, it doesn't matter.
The fact is however: that it does.
Without the foundation of historical fact, we may as well believe a fairy tale. Without the coherent system of theology, Christianity becomes a sentimental, mish-mash of well-meaning but non-sensical ideas.

I'd encourage everyone to read up a bit about Rob Bell and the emerging/emergent church.

Back to Basics has an excellent sermon called "Emerging or Submerging" on mp3 that I recommend listening to.

Here, you can find a good, even-handed analysis of the Nooma DVDs by Greg Gilbert.
It's got three parts including a individual rundown of each of the Noomas.

Please check the background for yourself and don't get up in the fancy packaging. I know Rob has some good ideas but be discerning in what you absorb.

Feel Good

I hadn't posted in a while and I was going to break the hiatus, I was going to post some long-winded article about how my quiet-time are now just focusing on one thing per day but I decided to abbreviate it. Here go:

I read lots of things in my bible-reading time; I remembered little.
I read and focus on one thing; I remember and get a chance to apply 100% of it.

SIMPLE: Focus on less, learn more.


Now, for the rest our time together, watch this:

I started reading this book today. I was entralled by the bright cover image. I was startled by the large capital letters. Even more though, it was the latest in a long line of books I've been reading about what it means to be a man or more specifically a man as God intended. What John Elredge started (Wild at Heart), Paul Coughlan continues. It's different here though.

No one would really argue about John Elredge's angle. Surely men are supposed to be wild. It appeals to the classic idea which are more or less reinforced in the culture around - men go fishing, hunting (some men do) and basically stuff that men would like to do. We all want to live an adventure, fight a battle, and rescue a beauty. I don't know of anyone who is offended by that.

No More Christian Nice Guy is another beast entirely. Niceness is wrong is the basic premise. Jesus was not only wild, but he was offensive, subversive, rude, impatient and used righteous sarcasm - all that and an agressive sense of humour. Yep, Jesus sounds pretty, well, unnice. Coughlan is also critical of the feminist movements and an idea that often thought but seldom said that women are ever so slightly more Spiritual then women. As crazy as this all sounds, I tend to agree with his ideas. Niceness is basically pleasing other people and as long as that takes a high place in our value scheme, we're ineffective in our Godly mandate and often lying to ourselves. Niceness - so overrated.

I should be finish the book in the next week if anyone wants to borrow it.
Leave some comments, I want to hear what people think.