I wanted to let you know about an article my friend Jessica wrote called “Sex and Church” in response to a pastor’s challenge to both couple and singles…for the couples to have sex for 30 straight days and for singles to abstain from sex.

Here is an excerpt from her article, which you can find in its entirety here:

“This is a very interesting topic. Sex. Church. Two of the most controversial, I’d say. I love it. I think We shouldn’t be silent about this…. church or no church. Our society is remarkable at devaluing sex. We are constantly bombarded with messages that sex is casual, that sex is meaningless, that sex should be had by anyone and everyone, no matter what the age, what the circumstances….if it feels good, do it. Right?”

I appreciate Jessica sharing this. In a way, I like the challenge this pastor gave for both singles and marrieds. He shows that sex in marriage should be viewed as a beautiful act that can be experience without guilt or fear. For the singles, he seems to challenge those who may be having sex outside of marriage and urging them to abstain for a season. But, yes, if that’s as far as he goes, he is selling the beauty of sex and the love of our God and King far too short.

And, this bodes the question, How do we communicate this well to a sex-crazed culture you’ve described? I grew up in the “Don’t” and “Thou Shalt not” type of church…very reminiscient to the pharisees of Jesus’ day that he scolded. Over the last few years, I’ve seen a truer picture of how God views sex and the beauty of waiting for marriage…reminding me of Jesus’ loving interaction with the prostitute and his grace-filled charge to go and sin no more.

We may be laughed at by our culture for this stance on marriage and sex, which could be like my encounter with a swedish girl who thought I was crazy for being almost 30 and still a virgin. But, with this knowledge requires great responsibility. For those who have seen the beauty of Jesus, desire to follow him, and declare his Lordship of our lives, we have a great high priest, a friend, a lover and a King who will be our mediator in such a charge. And for those who need strength to follow this call, God’s promised the power of the Holy Spirit to all who call upon him for help in our “Sex Sells” culture. The key though I’ve learned as I get closer to be coming the 40 year old virgin is…

Treasure Jesus and share Jesus with everybody!
As a bonus, I wanted to include a video about how our culture views sex and pornography…I hope this will give you more of a taste for how to reach our culture and how to live a Spirit-Filled, Holy-Filled life for all the world to see!

How do you view sex today in our culture and how are you combating it as a follower of Jesus?

More Links on Jim Caviezel and The Passion of The Christ

The Passion of the Christ

Jim Cavieze’s Website

If any of the 100 million people that watched the Super Bowl are out there, you know about “The Play” in the last minute of the Super Bowl, where Eli Manning eluded tacklers and threw a long pass to a covered David Tyree. Tyree somehow caught the ball behind his head as Rodney Harrison tried to push it out of his hands. This led to the Giants win, and the catch is now considered one of the greatest in Super Bowl History.

What’s even more fantastic than the catch is that David Tyree gives the credit to God for his catch and mentions the Power of Jesus Christ that transformed his life from drugs and alcohol. I also learned from Charisma Magazine that someone had prophecied to David Tyree about the catch below:

“Daniels told Tyree that the Lord would “quicken” his feet and give him “hind’s feet” which she later explained to him were like the feet of a kangaroo. She also told him that he would have “spiritual glue” on his hands and would make “the big play.” Daniels’ husband prophesied that the sports world would no longer know him as just a special teams player but as, “David Tyree, the receiver.””

Check out the video of David Tyree on Jim Rome and ESPN last week, in addition to Eli Manning’s reaction to the catch. David Tyree credits God for both the play and catch and mentions Christ changing his life (at 5 min into the first video with Jim Rome).

I believe in the power of God and I hope this encourages you to see that God is Alive today and working in big and small ways. See for yourself…

David Tyree on Jim Rome
 

Tyree Reflects on His Super Bowl Performance

Eli Manning talks about the catch David Tyree made here:

We may have missed a grand opportunity in Hollywood, but I’m not giving up yet. As I read about the writers strike, Heath Ledger’s death, and the Britney Spears saga, I see so many opportunities for followers of Jesus to love on the writers, to care for those in pain over Heath Ledger’s death, and to minister to Britney Spears with her struggles.If the writers strike goes on, we may be frustrated that there aren’t more episodes of The Office and that 24 and Kiefer Sutherland has been delayed until who knows when, but we could turn our sorrow into an opportunity to bless the writers of these shows by making and brining them food on the picket lines, and even asking what some of their needs are. This could change how they view Christians! For more info on the writers strike and where they’re striking, check out http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/

When Heath Ledger’s death was first reported on MSNBC.com, I couldn’t believe it. Heath Ledger was only 28! And, as I turn 30 this month, I can grasp how young that is, and at such a time when he was achieving so much success. Heath had just finished making The Dark Knight -the Batman sequel with Christian Bale - that I have been totally stoked on since seeing the preview with Heath’s role as The Joker. How do we respond to such tragedy as followers of Jesus? I don’t believe we stay silent. No, I think we take action and love on those who are mourning and ask how we could help them get through their grieving. And, then we share hope for the future, hope in Jesus and that He has defeated death on the Cross.

As sites like TMZ.com and PerezHilton.com release new videos and pictures of Britney Spears, and news media outlets broadcast the latest in her custody battle and supposed meltdown, I ask myself how I could shine the light of Jesus on this saga. Once again, I don’t think we stay silent on this issue. Today I was reading in Psalm 96:

“2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”

This reminds me that in all things, places, times, circumstances, we need to tell, declare, share about our Savior Jesus. So, as I’m reading about how they are putting Britney Spears in a Psychiatric hospital, I want to declare to her and the world around her that Jesus wants to heal her, Jesus wants to set her free from anything in her life just like Jesus has done for me. I believe that there could be demonic spirits causing these things in her life, and since Jesus set many people free from demonic possession in the Gospels, I believe that Jesus could do that for Britney Spears or anyone else in Hollywood that wants to be set free from these demonic influences.

We haven’t even scratched the surface of Hollywood - Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake - and the many opportunities that we have to shine the beauty of Jesus Christ to these people that God cares as deeply about as the homeless or prostitute on Hollywood Blvd! And, with the Oscars coming up on Feb. 24, there are many ways to reach out to Hollywood like never before…Think and Pray for God to give us opportunities.

Will you join me in shining the light of Jesus to Hollywood? What would you do to reach Hollywood? Has God put someone or someplace on your heart to pray for or reach?
Breaking News on death of Heath Ledger