Category Archives: Philosophy

Question: All Things For The Glory Of God? Including Masturbation?

Anonymous asked:
is it really possible to do ALL things to the glory of god? say for example, masturbation. i know that sounds weird, but when i masurbate i do not think of anyone else or watch porn. i actually thank god that he created us with the ability to enjoy such pleasure. do you think i am still sinning?

All right, you know that scene in the movies where the undercover cop puts the siren on his car?  I’m doing that to you, buddy.

You’re assuming that 1 Corinthians 10:31 allows any action to be for the glory of God.  No.  Read the context. Verses 23-24 in particular:  23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

In fact, forget the context.  Read the whole Bible.

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Mistakes Vs. Disobedience: The Maturity of Owning Your Consequences

I’ve heard this story before. The husband catches the wife sleeping with another dude and she says:

It was a mistake, honey. I just fell on him.

Fell on him. Naked. And apparently connected like Lego blocks.

I’ve actually heard this story more than once.

I’m not the sharpest bulb in the box, but somehow I don’t think that excuse would hold up very long.

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Quote: Hypocritical


Many people feel that they have played a game-winning hand when they level the hypocrite charge against Christians, and yet Christians who do not understand their identity in Christ do not understand their hypocrisy. … Hypocrisy for Christians occurs when we sin. Out true identity is as children of God, and it is evidenced when we act like Christ or obey the Scriptures. … It is in moments of self-centered living, idolatrous priorities, and bondage to habitual sin that we are acting hypocritical. Yet because these moments feel so natural or are so often our experience, they seem more like our identity, and transformations seems like the act of hypocrisy.

– Bill Clem

“The Satanic Ideology of Photoshop”



A great article by Mike Cosper at The Gospel Coalition.

Excerpt:

A cover photo for Intelligent Life magazine caused a small stir recently because it dared the unthinkable: show a celebrity’s actual face. Cate Blanchett, 42, appears on the cover in little makeup, her smile lines and wrinkles un-retouched. She looks less like an Hollywood star and more like a dignified human being, like someone you might see drinking tea at a neighborhood Starbucks.

To the flesh-and-blood human being, whose body ages and whose face wrinkles, these ageless icons whisper, “You’re not good enough. You too fat, too old, too thin, too flat, to curved, too poor, too pale, too tan. Your Maker has held out on you. You’re a fading, dying thing that doesn’t measure up . . . but you won’t surely die. Follow me, and you can be young, beautiful, and successful forever.”

They hold forth an impossible standard of beauty, and consumers religiously pursue that standard—this dress, that makeup, this Botox, that surgical enhancement, this lipo, that diet, this tuck, that lift—on and on it goes like a sacred pilgrimage where ageless beauty can be yours for a pound of flesh. It rebuts the Creator who made us fearfully and wonderfully, numbering our hairs and our days, and called grey hair our glory because it signifies a life wisely lived (Proverbs 16:31).

Continue Reading at The Gospel Coalition



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The Better Version Of Yourself: Before You Stopped Asking The Hard Questions

I love the intensity of a person who is seeking the truth. The openness, the curiosity, the humility, the sudden flash of understanding, the questions. There’s an endless thirst there that is admirable, stirring, almost naive, bursting with wonder.

It has nothing to do with being Atheist-Muslim-Hindu-Jewish-Buddhist-Pagan-Wiccan-Christian-Whatever.

It has everything to do with posture, attitude, the ferociousness of sculpting out a fresh identity, the fascination of a soul on fire, connecting new things for the first time and still treating old things like they’re new. The discipline, the digging deep, the thrill of revelation and epiphany.

There’s a deep sadness over people who lose that spark. I see it in their eyes. It’s not so much that they don’t care for the truth — but that they lost interest in seeking it. They call it too hard, or too much, or settle for something less. In turn they’d rather not hear anything about themselves either: good, bad, or ugly.

The walls rise, the fog drops, and the fire is put out. A wasted mind.

At some point they just gave up; their conversations full of shallow, surface, thoughtless, bland statements that have nothing to do with anything. The only urgency is for what time the movie starts.

I can’t help but think, You used to be a better version of yourself.

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Confusing Nostalgia With First Love: You’re Growing More Than You Think

A lot of preachers tell you, “Remember when you first came to Jesus? Remember how awesome that was? Wasn’t there a time when you were more spiritually high than today? And look at you now.”

I understand what they’re saying. They always quote Revelation 2:4-5, because that’s a scary book with a scary name with scary verses. What they mean is: You’ve grown cold to this whole thing, it’s become a routine to pray and praise, you’ve seen all the Christmas plays and Easter revivals, you’re getting jaded to the dress-your-best on Sunday thing. So get back to where you were.

Wasn’t there a time when you were more spiritually high than today?

Well — of course. But that’s a dumb question, graded on a dumb scale, assuming dumb emotions are equivalent to “first love.” We can look back on the glory days of Sunday school and call that legit, but a lot of times we’re confusing childlike faith with childish feelings.

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The Obvious Truth: Scripture, Our First And Final Challenge, And Why You’re Not The Exception

I get tons of questions that are ploys for justifying a preconceived opinion. A Trojan horse assault as if I can’t see the motive inside.

Questions like:

I don’t lust when I masturbate. I think of farming equipment. Why can’t I?

My boyfriend and I are sleeping together, we’re going to get married anyway. Why is it wrong?

What sexual activities are a sin? Isn’t oral sex morally better than intercourse? Can’t it help calm down my urges?

My parents won’t shut up. Why should I obey them?

I can prove that the Bible condones homosexuality. Why do you hate gay people?

Allow me the humility to ask you: What is the obvious truth? I mean the downright, stripped down, all-ugly, no-nonsense, bottom line truth?

If you were to step outside your own body, just a single step back, to observe your own Facebook page and daily schedule and secret activities and moods and attitudes and intentions and goals, to stand over your body while you do the things you do — wouldn’t you see a lot of rationalization and excuses and denial?

Just switch out your name with another name, keep it the exact same situation, and you’d say that person was denying what’s happening in front of them (if not, you’ve proved my point). Totally blind. Then step back inside your own body: what do you see now?

When Jesus said, “No adultery,” he didn’t also say, Except if you really love each other and keep it oral sex and if you only think about shovels and lawnmowers. There are not a bunch of escape clauses and emergency exits and exceptions. Would there be exceptions to certain things? Sure, I suppose, but you’re not it.

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Question: My Friend Turned Atheist, Now What?

Anonymous asked:
Three things, number one: Your blog is great, you have an anointing that not many pastors have today. No. 2: My dad died about a month ago and i am really struggling, i could use prayer. # III: Being a former atheist, how would you say is the best way to witness to them. I have a friend who was raised in the christian church an decided to stop believing.

Thank you so much for that.  And I will certainly pray for you.

I’m not sure there’s an exact science in talking to atheists that would be different than talking to any other human being.  No matter how much you tell people there’s an incredibly awesome party next door, there are always a few who won’t believe you.  They might call themselves atheists, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindu, Wiccan, or Jedi, but stubbornness runs through all of us. 

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Why Do I Use Porn? Why Can’t I Stop?

An ongoing discussion about victory over sexual addiction.

The introduction here.

Part One, excuses and myths, here.

Part Two, the science, here.

Part Three, the soul, here.

Part Three and a half, the soul, here.

Part Four: I’m Ready To Cut It Off. Here.

Part Five: Quitting Isn’t Enough. Here.

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Unless you’re in denial, you don’t just use porn when you’re “bored.”

A life overwhelmed, a mind undisciplined, and a heart calloused will find the quickest path to escape, and for men that’s usually going to their room with the lights off and pants down and laptop open. In that private dark space where at last you’re in control, that’s when you’ve lost it the most.

There’s a mess of reasons you turn to it and can’t seem to stop, and unless we dig through the cycle together, you’ll only be scratching the surface with behavioral clean-up. Triggers, trauma, upbringing, worldviews, and your sense of self-worth will all play into why you use porn.

It’s never about the porn. Let’s dig deep.

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Quote: Shaped


The measure of a Christian is not in the things of the world which we give up, but in the things of God which we take hold of. It’s what we do that counts, not what we avoid. A willing sinner will be shaped into the very nature of God Himself, a right-living but unwilling Christian is utterly lost in the darkness of their own pride.

– Unka Glen

Clicking The Like Button: Our Shorthand Culture Of Pseudo-Connectedness

Admit it: About 90% of the time you “Like” a post, you don’t read it all.

I mean who has time?

Really we just click “Like” so they can check out our own blog or to stamp approval on theirs or to promote ourselves across the blogosphere.

We click “Like” on Facebook to give a half-hearted nod of contribution to someone’s trivial complaint. Or a half-hearted nod to a social cause about animal-killing, oil-drilling, corporate scheming, and some guy named Kony. Or we’re just bored. Or the Like button is really saying, “Look at me.”

You can pretty much Like anything and never really invest a single thought towards it.

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Quote: Surprise


“The Internet has co-opted the word “browse” for its own purposes, but it’s worth pointing out the difference between browsing in a virtual realm and browsing in the actual world. Depending on the terms entered, an Internet search engine will usually come up with hundreds, thousands, or millions of hits, which a person can then skate through, clicking when she sees something that most closely echoes her interest. It is a curious quality of the Internet that it can be composed of an unfathomable multitude and, at the same time, almost always deliver to the user the bits that feed her already-held interests and confirm her already-held beliefs.

It points to a paradox that is, perhaps, one of the most critical of our time: To have access to everything may be to have nothing in particular. After all, what good does this access do if we can only find our way back to ourselves, the same selves, the same interests, the same beliefs over and over? Is what we really want to be solidified, or changed? If solidified, then the Internet is well-designed for that need.

But, if we wish to be changed, to be challenged and undone, then we need a means of placing ourselves in the path of an accident. For this reason, the plenitude may narrow the mind. Amazon may curate the world for you, but only by sifting through your interests and delivering back to you variations on your well-rehearsed themes: Yes, I do love Handke! Yes, I had been meaning to read that obscure play by Thomas Bernhard! A bookstore, by contrast, asks you to scan the shelves on your way to looking for the thing you had in mind. You go in meaning to buy Hemingway, but you end up with Homer instead. What you think you like or want is not always what you need. A bookstore search inspires serendipity and surprise.”

– Nicole Krauss

Guest Post: Knowing good preaching when you hear it

My brother Unka Glen once again comes out swinging about discerning good preaching.

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followandreblog asked: There’s this pastor / church I really like listening to, but I think a lot of other pastors are saying he’s a false prophet (twisting the Bible, not using Biblical Truth, preaching about himself rather than Jesus, etc.) but I do enjoy listening to his messages and feel blessed by them. Is there a way of choosing “the right Church for you” apart from feeling God’s presence, power, and love though their messages? Well, is there such thing as a right / wrong Church?

Unka Glen answered: This is one of those tricky situations. On one extreme, a person could easily begin to be more and more picky about smaller and smaller points of doctrine, and end up rejecting nearly everything they hear. But on the other extreme, you could end up taking on some point of bad doctrine, and really damage the health of your relationship with God.

No wonder 1 Timothy 4:16 says, “watch your life and doctrine closely.”

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Making Fun Of Women To Flirt With Them: Because You Think It’s Cute When It’s Just Disrespect

I love you bros, but real men don’t make fun of girls to flirt with them.

If you’re that dude: God help us.

You’ve seen it: The guy making fun of her weight, her voice, her arms, her hair; finding the girl in a crowd and almost yelling for attention; pulling her purse, poking her stomach, pinching her sides; and anything goes online.

That trashy, low-class, pseudo-funny brand of comedy is only exposing what’s really inside. I’ve been there, so I know.

Say it with me: Lust. Breathe out now. You’re free.

Really now, why else would you dress a girl down with your words? To build them up? Encourage their life goals? Make a woman feel like a woman?

No. Because those words are a way to get into her pants.

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Quote: Disfigure


Fame, fortune, and adulation are generally based on measurements that serve only to disfigure reality and make the imagination king over common sense. Common sense ought to tell us that there is no guarantee that a person with a gifted voice and musical genius is any better a person than someone who cannot sing or write music. Common sense ought to tell us that a world without heaven or hell in the future generally leads to one or the other in this world. But a gifted voice and an errant imagination can angle a lie to fit into the worldview one wants to believe.

– Ravi Zacharias

Prioritizing Your Outrage: Passion For All The Wrong Things

If you walk by a kid who’s punching a wall, very rarely will you hear:

“I’m so angry about the poverty in Thailand!”

Instead it’s:

I didn’t get an iPhone for Christmas. Someone stepped on my new Nikes. My parents won’t let me go to Jenny’s drug party. Am I the only one who can’t go to the concert?

God made us with a righteous fiery anger to do justice in the world, but we’ve curved it inward into a selfishly suicidal sin-monster for our own ridiculous “needs.” Our emotions are broken.

But our anger turned Godward — just as He designed — could ignite a war for peace.

Where is our anger now?

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Quote: Meaning


‘Enlightenment’ has a whole new meaning now, each person in front of his or her own screen deciding for himself what is truth and what is fancy. … The end result is spirituality without dogma, religion without God, argument without substance, rationalization without rationality, and tranquility by transfer of funds from the seeker’s bank account to the company that makes the best offer of nirvana, at the same time producing dogmatism about relativism in matters of ultimate meaning.

– Ravi Zacharias

But I Don’t Have A Good Testimony

Don’t ever say this.

He’s got a crazy testimony. He was doing meth and punching babies and racing cops and kicking animals but then he hid in a church from the Feds and a monk popped up from the floor and — I just grew up in church and got saved.

Yes, you got saved.

You were brought from death to life.

It’s not a competition.

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