Chronology

As for anyone has noticed, I have not posted here for quite some time. Juggling school, work, ministry responsibilities, and a possible relationship consume almost the entirety of one's being. I have not forgotten about this blog and intend on picking up on it again especially in Spring 2014. 

Oh to the struggle of sin in the believer's life. It is something that one who is pursuing Christ can and does encounter on a daily basis. It simply cannot be escaped. Rather, it seemingly finds us with the intentions from its leader, Satan, to kill, steal, and destroy (see John 10:10). Perhaps one issue that is not discussed very often is the sin struggle of masturbation. The issue of masturbation is the act of pleasuring oneself sexually typically in an attempt to appease stress or just for the sake of pleasure. In the Christian worldview though, there are several positions in relation to masturbation. An attempt to give an synopsis about the positions respectfully will be given below. 

Positions on the Issue 

Relating to masturbation, there are several positions that are seen among Christians. Those are the following: it is a genuine sin struggle and should be dealt with accordingly, it is not a sin struggle, and the sole action of masturbating is not a sin. 

Sin Struggle Accompanied with Action

This is the position that is most seen in Christians and what this writer will advocate for. Although Scripture does not specifically speak to the act of masturbating it can be understood to be a genuine sin issue with the baggage that accompanies masturbation in people's minds. When one is masturbating, one's mind will nine times out of ten wonder in pursuit of a stimulating fantasy of the sexual nature. This will find the man in a position of committing lust and adultery against another physically real person or a fictional depiction of a perfect person to have a satisfying sexual escapade with. Thus, this is the focal point of the argument. 

Some that hold to this position will also attempt to find and excerpt from a biblical text to add a nuance to their argument in a hope of better justifying it. The "stock" passage that is typically jumped to is seen in the Old Testament in Genesis 38:9-10 regarding Onan and his brother's wife Er. The passage reads as follows (from the ESV) 

"But, Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also." 

To better understand the passage requires a brief explanation of the context. Earlier in the passage, Onan is commanded to take his brother's wife and to have a child with her following his death. This was a command given by God through Judah. However, Onan thought that this was not a good thing and chose not to have a child with Er's wife. During this cultural period, for a male to lay in bed and masturbate with his wife or lover was not a typical practice. The practice that could have been done here is commonly referred to as the "pull out" method in which the guy removes himself from the female in an effort to orgasim outside of her body thus lowering the risk of pregnancy. This does make sense with the reading of this passage when it says "...waste the semen on the ground..."

Following this explanation, it is clear to see that the practice of masturbation was not likely what was taking place in this passage. The conclusion we can make is that this passage is not specifically discussing masturbation. There are other passages in which people attempt to Christianize their case against masturbation in which they take the passage out of context. Such other passages will not be discussed for the sake of cohesiveness of this entry. More about the dealing with the issue aspect of this position will be discussed later. 

It is not a Sin Position 

The second position that is commonly held amongst Christians is that masturbation is not a sin struggle whatsoever. Most believers who hold to this position make the case that masturbation is not coheriently discussed in Scripture and is a "grey area." Bearing this in mind, people that hold to this position say that such things are not regulated by Scripture and could potentially not be classified as a sin in the eyes of God. 

This is a position that this writer highly disagrees with. As a guy who can attest to this sin struggle, the difficultly to masturbate while not fantasizing about a particular person for the purpose of sexual pleasure  is very difficult and seemingly impossible. Thinking about something other than the objectification of a person is possible per se. However, thinking of an inamment object while masturbating seems to be impossible since our mental capacities are longing for a form of sexual fulfillment. This argumentation at the end of the day thus appears to be a large fallacy and attempts to bring peace to the wrestling sinner's mind longing for justification to masturbate. 

Sole Action of Masturbating is not a Sin 

Out of the three possible positions, this one seems to be the next logical one. Yet, it does have pitfalls as well. Referring back to the "grey area" seen in previous discussion, Christians who hold to this attempt to say that masturbating itself is not wrong. Rather, it is the thought processes that occur which is the sin element of the issue surrounding masturbation. This writer thus agrees in that regard. Yet, the act of seeking after physical pleasure rather than taking that allocated time and energy to seek after God seems to be idolizing the fulfillment of physical pleasure. Hence, one can be committing an act which does not bring glory to God but rather glory to oneself. Scriptural foundation for this though cannot be given, but can be drawn from several passages which discusses how people sought out fulfillment in physical pleasure and even idolized the practice in which God proclaims the dishonest nature of their seeking. Perhaps one passage that can be used to debunk this position can be seen in Ecclesiastes 1 in which the Preacher states that any and all things that do not bring glory to God is vanity or pointless. 

Overcoming 

No matter one's position on this issue, it is clear that it is an action in which seems really difficult to justify how it brings glory to God. So, how can one rid this issue or sin issue from their life? Perhaps the first step is confession. Confessing your erroneous way to the Lord and seeking forgiveness from Him should be one's first priority. The next step in confession should be confessing unto other believers for the sake of accountability. Being held accountable in relation to issue is crucial for overcoming the problem. The only way to rid this addicting habit from one's life is to shine as much attention and light on the issue as possible. It should also be noted that such information should only be confessed in an appropriate context. 

Discipline is another way in which one can overcome masturbation. The form of discipline being discussed here though is Spiritual disciplines. Whether it is fasting, silence, solitude, prayer, or any other discipline if we do them with the sole intention of growing closer to our Lord and Savior then He will honor such longings. 

This is perhaps one of the more difficult entries I have ever written here given the fact that I am writing this to myself as well. If you are a generally young Christian or know a Christian leader of some kind odds are that they have a blog even if its just the writing of notes on Facebook. Professors have them. Students have them. Adults have them. The outlet of blogging has proven to be a beneficial outlet to cause people to examine things from a unique perspective or even from the Christian worldview for the first time. Yet though, I feel we all have a somewhat disconnect when it comes to daily life as a Christian and writing a blog discussing subjective material in an objective way. 

Back in January 2013, I wrote an blog entry here entitled The Intolerant Tolerant: Culture Wars 2.0. The entry highlighted the ongoing and very visible battle in our country over same-sex marriage. My thesis behind the entry was that the very people whom claim to be in the name of tolerance were the very first people to become angry or violent when anything opposing was said. I am sad to say that this has come true. 

The place is Seattle. The founding city of Starbucks. Home of the Space Nettle. The city in which Mark Driscoll has an remarkable Church. During an Pride rally in front of the Space Nettle, two street preachers were delivering the message of Christ. They communicated that homosexuality is a sin but it could be forgiven by Christ. Now, it is presently unclear what exactly the preachers were saying but that should not negate what took place next. Here, in this video via KOMO-TV, you will see how the preachers were peacefully delivering their message and were then ambushed by supporters of same sex marriage. The videographer's video was critical evidence in establishing charges against the criminals.  While Justice will be administered to this situation through its due process, it is something to note that people are becoming more and more intolerant of Christian's voice on things. However, there is still a somewhat majority of believers that live in this country. Thus, the ongoing cultural struggle. 

Although we may attempt in any way possible to elude death's grip, humanity has continuously failed to escape. Whether one's death is a deliberate action (i.e. suicide) or by accident we can see the harmful affects that death has on persons. We must note though as we view death through the Christian worldview we can see a clear depiction to two realities. 

Typically, entries as such do not entice myself to post onto this site. This on the other hand was something that was fundamental which would change how computing was achieved in my life. Ever since I was in Pre-K, I was attracted to the computer specifically PC's. The time was around 1993 or 1994 and MS-DOS was still supreme. Sure, you had Macs around but no one really used Macs because of their limited selection of software and compatibility. As I was going into Kindergarten, an revolution took place known as Windows 95. Little did I know that this was the beginning of a long relationship.

Monday, May 20th, 2013 began just as any other day would for millions around the country. Parents woke up to alert their kids to the start of another school day, people went to work, and others spent some much needed time off. Little did anyone know that for those in Moore, OK the magical utopia known as life would get turned upside down in an instant. An simply massive, EF-5 wedge-shaped tornado touched down in the plains causing mass devastation and taking 24 lives with it. Nine of the lives taken were elementary school students. 

Over the course of the next few months, the local Church of which I am apart of is studying the attributes of God. Today's message was discussing the goodness of God along with all of the theological/philosophical baggage that comes with it. We examined the text from Psalm 34 exegetically and the message was great to say the least. 

Less than one week following the 2013 Passion Conference in Atlanta, GA, Louie Giglio was met with a wall of controversy. Giglio, who founded the Passion movement and is the Senior Pastor of Passion City Church, was invited to pray at President Obama's forthcoming inauguration on January 21st. According to several reports, the inauguration committee selected Giglio due to his strong stance and vow to put an end to human slavery which affects over twenty-seven million people daily.

Yet, there is just one factor that changed all of Giglio's plans. Think Progress, a liberal web group, found a message delivered  by Giglio in the 1990's in which he calls homosexuality a sin. The group as if in typical fashion began to label Giglio as "anti-gay" or a "biggot" for his stance on the now socially accepted issue of homosexuality. Due to the whirlwind that began less than twenty-four hours of his acceptance of the invitation, Giglio withdrew his acceptance with the following press statement to the White House: 

I am honored to be invited by the President to give the benediction at the upcoming inaugural on January 21. Though the President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably, ending slavery in all its forms.

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

Neither I, nor our team, feel it best serves the core message and goals we are seeking to accomplish to be in a fight on an issue not of our choosing, thus I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the President, and urge the nation to do so. I will most certainly pray for him on Inauguration Day.

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever we need God’s grace and mercy in our time of need.

Some have already began to criticize Giglio for backing out of giving the prayer. On the other hand tough, Giglio has triggered a lot of action recently by rallying over sixty thousand people to give $3.1 million to various organizations. These said organizations work to end human trafficking both nationally and internationally, a core ideal that both President Obama and Giglio agree upon. What we see transpiring is all too familiar territory for the American culture at large and Christian evangelicals. 

Let us take a look back to late July and early August 2012. Controversy was growing wildly over a stance that was set forth by Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A, Inc. Cathy delivered a similar stance towards the issue of homosexuality labeling it as sin just like Giglio. Cathy delivered this personal statement of belief which filtered onto his ever growing business chain that placed the quick service restaurant at ground zero for this culture war. Thousands of people rallied together at their local Chick-Fil-A locations to eat and in turn show support for Cathy being allowed to state his beliefs. In the months that followed the controversy has subsided. The topic of homosexuality appears though in the American culture to be the one social issue that if anyone opposes, themselves (or anyone associated with said person) immediately becomes viewed as toxic or worse labeled using harsh language. 

From the Christian perspective, we are sitting at an very interesting intersection. We can express our views and hold firm to the Gospel even to the point of being interviewed for such responses. Although, when we give a response that is not compatible with the culture at large, we are immediately revoked from speaking engagements, interviews, maintaining a business, or even just delivering a simple prayer. It is so tempting for the Christian to become angry and full of rage against the culture. But, this is not the appropriate response that should be given by the Christian. We should, yes, stick to what the Gospel says and continue to relay that message of truth to others whom do not know Jesus. Yet, when people begin to question and describe one in less than acceptable terms we do not need to immediately dish out more hate. Rather, we need to be willing to give a firm and yet graceful response. Doing anything other than this will continue to lessen our abilities as Christians of having hope to outreach to the lost masses. 

It is blatantly obvious that a core concept of worship since the founding of the Church is singing praise to God. Through this, we are taking part in not only one of the most beautifully sounding chorus, but we are showing a depiction of our hearts in relation to worshiping God. If there is a such direct correlation between these two concepts then it is clear that we have a lot of poor people spiritually. 

Silence from the Congregation