HäAGEN DAZS® SEX

People ask me what I learn in "sex" class... so I want to share some
words of wisdom from my Christian Values and Human Sexuality class
taught by Professor Mike Platter. This is really powerful,
insightful, and truth-filled.

"Häagen Dazs® will never lose business to the poop cone."

Let's consider this metaphor and how it deals with sexuality. If
Häagen Dazs® is the best ice cream in the world, which in many
people's opinion is a fact, then as the best of the best they never
have to worry about losing any of their business to an unattractive
competitor, i.e. the poop cone. Who want's a poop cone when they can
have something enjoyable and good, something that is the best.

Sexuality is similar. A simple truth about our God is that he wants
us to have the best of the best when it comes to how we put our
sexuality into practice. God wants us to have a Häagen Dazs®
sexuality because he loves us. Our Häagen Dazs® sexuality though will
never be jeopardized by an unattractive competitor for the best of the
best. We will never been tempted into having poop cone sexuality.

Where then does Satan get his grip into our lives? By trying to
attract us into getting something that is second best and less
expensive... say Dryers Ice cream. The taste is similar but not quite
Häagen Dazs® quality, but it is less expensive. It is sometimes
easier to settle for less than the best if what we are settling for
comes at a cheaper price.

You guess it, our sexuality is similar. Satan knows the poop-cone
won't work, so he tries to get us to settle for second best. Satan
doesn't want us to have what is best because that brings us closer to
God, and loses a battle for him. God does plan for us to have the
best of the best when it comes to our sexuality, but it also comes
with a significant price. Are we man/woman enough to pay up, or will
we settle for what is second best?

When we get married, we are not suddenly blessed with sexuality.
Sexuality is something developed and present over our entire life.
Our sexual practice (i.e. intercourse) is a different story, but one
this remains the same, God wants us to have Häagen Dazs® sex, and lots
of it.

What is the best of the best? Marriage. It is the ultimate act of
love and commitment to the richness of our lives that makes sex the
best of the best. Sex before that commitment will never be as good as
sex within marriage because the commitment has not been exercised,
even if the partners have been committed for several years and never
married.

There are a lot of "chastity, virginity, abstinence" campaigns out
there, but many of them miss this point in order to shame sexuality,
suppress it, or spread misinformation about it. In the end many of
these campaigns do more harm than good. Why is this new approach so
good? Because it focuses on the richness of scripture, sexuality,
theology, and marriage to present information for why we should
recognize that Satan is trying to fool us into having second best
sexuality, and who really wants that? The answer is actually many
people, because it comes at a cheaper cost. I however, think Häagen
Dazs® sounds pretty tasty to me, and I don't mind splurging the extra
cash for the extra flavor.

I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

As the infamous Beetles' Song goes... "I get by with a little help from my friends!"  It is funny how these words are so powerful and true except for the fact that we don't even realize it.

My whole life I have beat into thinking that my salvation comes from a relationship with Christ as a personal relationship between me and Jesus.  How wrong is that, and how many people in this world do not understand it either?  I know, that sounds ridiculous, and it is.  Let me say that I do believe that being a Christian is about having a personal relationship with Christ--but we're forgetting about one of the most important dimensions of what it means to be a true Christian.

As many of us grow up in the Church we are told who we can and can't be friends with, and that we need to confine ourselves to a lonely life as a Christian because we are not to be "of the world."  To many people this message sounds like a call to solitude, to confinement, to isolation from the world and the people who populate it.  This is one of the biggest lies that Satan has ever had the pleasure to encourage.

I think the largest critique of my faith right now is the lack of people who understand the element of COMMUNITY and it's implications for how our faith is practiced.  The word "community" is the buzz-word of theology, often called the "integrative motif," meaning that everything that we know and can study about God boils down to one thing: community (relationship).  To illuminate my point: the relationship between God and his people is a communal relationship.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16).  God loved the world, and as a member of the world that loves him back that means I am a part of that community that loves God.  So why do so many Christians think that their relationship with God excludes their relationship with their neighbors?

One time at a lunch I told my friends that I don't think you can love God if you hate the people around you.  They shot me down.  One was a Pastor's Kid, and it was totally shocking to me that they disagreed with me, together.  Here I am thinking that this makes common sense, but these two tried to explain to me that I was mistaken.  Well, the truth is that I was not mistaken, but I didn't fight back because I knew it wasn't worth my time.

It's true though.  How can you love God but hate hate people around you?  I can understand thinking you love God, but if there is any hate in your heart, can you authentically claim to love God?  First of all, God asks you to love everyone, even your enemies.

Sorry for going so far astray, what I really wanted to write was that I think we are missing out on a beautiful dimension of our relationship with Christ, and that is via our relationship with each other.  I think that when we love each other, that love is the same love that we have for God, and in fact, I think that any love that is healthy and directed towards people in a way that does not promote idolatry could be considered an act of worship and reverence.  God is love people, and how can that love be in our hearts if we fill it with hate?  How can we experience that love if we are not in community with people who understand it and show it?

I get by with a little help form my friends.  For me this is so true.  I can't do anything without the love of my friends.  Their encouragement, support, love, and affection keep me afloat, and I know this is because they have the love of Christ in their hearts.  So I praise God for my friends, they really understand the grace and love of our wonderful Father.

DEFEATED

Of course I was a fool for thinking that the best of days would be
followed by anything other than the worst of days. I pray for
blessings and I get disaster. Why is it that the most pitiful moments
of our existence are the moments that immediately follow the our
greatest? This balancing act is ridiculous. Yesterday's thoughts
included my maxim that it is good to be alive, but today's theme is
defeat--for that is all I feel right now.

I just want one moment of honesty to not feel guilty about calling out
bullshit. Bullshit is having some of the best days of your life and
the very next moment being on a trolly that struck that poor girl.
Bullshit is being stuck on that trolly for 40 minutes having to watch
them try to save this girl. The crazy thing is that I go between
moments where I am upset and moments where I feel so unnerved that I
want to care less. I suppose my proximity to the situation predicts a
lot of my feelings, but I am still just really impacted by how fragile
life is, and for some reason I am not as optimistic as I was
yesterday--and this makes me feel defeated. God help me.

I feel defeat creep into my life in nearly everything else I am
involved in as well. Defeat in work, defeat in relationships, defeat
in health... I just feel so defeated right now that I fear I might
stink of it.

Then the sun rises and it dawns on me: have I not already conquered
this? The answer is a resounding Yes! I have found freedom from the
sting of not only death, but freedom from those forces that seek to
turn my heart sour to the Lord. I am not defeated, I am not
finished. These stings may hurt, but they are attempts of desperation
from an evil that has nowhere to hide.

Defeat sucks and I know it, but I am not and will not be defeated.

I will continue trusting. I will continue believing that God has a
plan for me and for this life I so courageously want to live. I pray
for blessings, and blessings I do receive. I still feel the hurt, but
that only makes this whole thing more worth it. This world is not an
easy water to navigate, but I have a God who lights the way for me.

God, bless me and put your desires close to my heart. Continue giving
me a taste of your kingdom and continue to produce fruit through my
life. Use me for your will father, so that you may be pleased by the
gentleness of my heart and my willingness to boldly go to the ends of
this world for you. Give me peace, give me rest, give me wisdom, and
give me a love that abounds in your righteousness and rejoices in the
truth you've so expertly breathed.

IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE

I am so simply in awe of life right now, and one thing that stands out
so clearly to me is that it is good to be alive. It really is just
good to be alive right now. So often we think about how the world is
at war, how people are dying everywhere, and so many other horrible
things--but we never stop to look around and see how beautiful a thing
it is to have life at all. If there was one way I could end all wars
and sin, I wish it would be that the world would learn to love the
beauty of life. If the whole world stopped for a moment long enough
to see how great it all is, this world would be a different place.

I'm just a happy person this week I guess.

The funny thing is I am scared sh!+less about life, but at the same
time I am so excited for all of it. There is so much opportunity
around the next few corners and I can't wait to take my next few
breaths.

There is so much for me to write, so much for me to say, so much for
me to do, so much for me to sing, but I just want to step back and say
it's good to be alive, it's good to be alive.

It's good to be alive.
It's good to be alive.
It's perfect to be loved.

IN*VENTURE

I love that my latest adventure has been exploring who I am, and not
to be egotistical, but I like what I'm finding.

Yesterday I finally did what I have been wanting to do for quite a
long time: I told Sarah my feelings for her. If you believe that this
was a momentous event in my life then we will of course agree.
Telling Sarah that I had strong feelings of attraction for her was
exactly what I needed to do, and now that it is over I feel a
tremendous weight lifted off my shoulders (notice that I did not say
burden). I am so pleased with this decision that I have been smiling
since, and for some strange reason I find myself overwhelmingly excited.

I brought her over to give her a cheap Valentine's Day card I had made
her. I made up some story about making one for all my gal-pals
because I didn't want to break the ice quite so soon, but after a few
minutes of small talk I finally decided that the timing was perfect
for me to spill. We were small talking, as I said, and I looked right
at her and she was absolutely stunning. I said "Sarah, I like you"
and as I took a short breath to continue speaking but she piped in
"awe Geoff I like you too..." and it killed me. She meant it as a
friend, and I didn't (it made me laugh, not sad)--but I jumped right
back with "no, but I mean I have a crush on you, I am really attracted
to you." I watched her face for the slightest bit of discomfort, but
she was all smiles and was very surprised. Thank God it was Sarah
that I like because any other girl would have made the situation so
awkward, but not her. She was so easy with the whole thing and very
understanding. I continued to spill my guts about everything and I
made sure she knew there was no pressure on her and that she wasn't
going to lead me on because immaturity like that has no place for a
growing young man like me!

The outcome was not the one I had hoped for, but definitely the one I
had expected. My only concern is making sure that she won't feel
uncomfortable around me, and won't feel like she needs to watch
herself around me for fear of hurting me. I hope and believe she
understands that all will be just fine.

I come down now to the question of: "where do I go from here?"
Seriously though; what now? I told her my feelings about her and I am
glad I did because it was something we both knew about but had never
spoken of, but what do I do now? I suppose I will just keep on doing
what I have been doing: trusting in God. I don't know what's going to
happen, and if I had to take a guess I would probably say nothing, but
these things are unknowable and mysterious. Do I wait around for her
to probably never like me--or do I try to get over these feelings in
my heart? Neither are very wise I would say. Where is the line
between trusting God and taking action into our own hands? The last
thing I want to be is untrusting, but I would hate to be idle just as
much.

For the moment I just revel in the excitement of doing something that
only happens a few times in life (for me at least). I can only hope
that I have handled it like a man, and that God is pleased by my
faithfulness. I have felt his encouragement to speak up: not in any
direction or to any end, but just to be brave and do it. I have
learned so much already, and I can only imagine what blessings God has
for me ahead. Bless me richly, Father!

ANOTHER CLIFF

Over the summer I discovered my love for jumping off cliffs into deep
pools of water. It's the adventurer in me that loves taking the risk,
despite the fact that I am scared as hell the whole time. Every time
I approach the edge I find myself shaking at the knees wondering If
I'll commit or not.

Amber Rosemoon said "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather
the judgement that something is more important than fear."

I think that is one of the truest statements to ever reach my ears,
and for that matter, circulate through my blood like oxygen. It is so
true. Sometimes in life there are things so important for us to do
that we act in despite of fear, not without it. Fear puts things into
perspective, fear makes us realize the things we hold true, those we
love, and reasons we care.

I find myself standing at a new cliff, and though this one is not made
of stone, the leap may be further and have consequences greater than I
have seen or predicted. I'm the kind of person who calculates then
reacts. I analyze, I think, I write, I question, and I calculate
every angle, every avenue or consequence that will result from the
leaps that I take.

This new cliff seems so high, but the one thing tantamount to my
courage is my trust in God. I'm still confused, but I know he is in
control. When I say I am going to trust God I mean it, and while
there are times I get sick of reminding myself to do so, here I am
again committing myself to the Father who has the best of this world
for me. For me the result of the risk I take is not the point, but
rather the fact that I challenged myself to leap at all. I know how
this is going to end, it is not a surprise or an uncertainty. I
simply must because sometimes the whole journey is taking the leap.

... of faith.

The greatest cliffs lay ahead, right on the horizon.