what do you worship?
"Whether it’s a supernatural being . . . science, money, wisdom, information, ritual, power or love,” says social commentator Hugh Mackay, “most of us assign the status of god to something in our lives.” The truth is: Modern, secular people still worship something even if they’ve abandoned belief in God.
The first chapter of Romans describes this human religious impulse…
casualty hookups
According to Dannah Gresh, casual hookups can lead to casualties. In an article for CNN titled Nothing Brief about a Hookup, the author presents a compelling scientific case for the bonding process that occurs between two people who have sex—a process of special chemicals being released during the encounter. She explains that “there’s nothing biologically brief about a hookup,” and that…
meaning of life
"The meaning of your life is the meaning you give it,” writes philosopher A. C. Grayling in his book Thinking of Answers. He suggests trying to create meaning in our lives through the pursuit of relationships and goals, by developing our talents and interests, and through our hopes and desires. Grayling concludes that life itself is meaningless and the only meaning…
love and hate
There’s definitely a fine line between love and hate. I read of a wife who was so fed up with her husband’s cheating that she said, “I didn’t want to divorce [him], but I wanted him to die.” The adulterous husband said of his bride: “I didn’t love her. I wanted a divorce.”
A disturbing account in the Bible reveals…
run for your life
I will probably never run a marathon. I know this because I ran a 5K race a few years ago, and I nearly passed out after the event. While the contestants ahead of me seemed to glide across the finish line, I approached it huffing and puffing, red- faced, and with burning lungs!
When Paul commands us to “run from…
predator and prey
I watched a ladybug devour an aphid. First, she pierced its midsection and chewed for a while. When her prey was mortally wounded, the ladybug munched up the left side of the aphid’s body and devoured it.
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon described the interaction between a female predator and her sexual prey. Although he wrote the passage to…
safety net
A friend of mine bought a trampoline for his young boys. After he had assembled it, his sons excitedly begged him to let them give it try. He reluctantly let them climb onto it but told them to be careful because he hadn’t installed the safety net around the trampoline. So his boys cautiously crept to the middle of the…
covenant eyes
A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2006 revealed that children who watch media with high levels of sexual content tend to be more sexually promiscuous. Researchers studied 1,017 adolescents, ages 12 to 14, over a period of 2 years. During that time, the teenagers were tracked as they took in varying amounts of sexual content in…
what we worship
We resemble what we revere. When we worship money, we view ourselves and others in terms of our cash value. We see people as creditors, debtors, and customers, rather than as human beings made in the image of God. When we worship sex, we treat ourselves and others as dehumanized objects of sexual pleasure—good for nothing other than the next…
long commute
Michael Hanley traded an 8-minute commute to work for an 8-hour one. When his autoworker job in Wisconsin was phased out, he stayed with the company and took the only position available—in Kansas. His weekly round-trip commute is now more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles). He’s gone from his family each workweek, seeing them only on the weekends. But he chose…
even the women
The mothers in my neighborhood threw a party for the distinctive feature of the male anatomy—one of them even baked a cake in its shape and invited my wife over to see it. My wife politely declined, but the incident reminded us that we’re living in an increasingly pornographic world.
Sexual sin is always wrong, but it’s particularly troubling when…
the joy of sex
The women’s fashion and lifestyle magazine in my mechanic’s office flaunted numerous articles about sex. One story, meant to be especially titillating, recounted the exploits of men who made love to multiple partners at once. The article left me sad. These hollow thrill seekers are not just looking for love in all the wrong places, they’re looking for love in…
sinners alike
As my husband and I sat with our children at the 4th of July fireworks, two lesbian women sat nearby with their young toddlers. Expressive in their affection for each other, what they perceived as liberty, God’s Word defines as bondage. I remembered a young woman I had sat with a month earlier. Listening, I grieved with her as she…
undefiled
My husband and I have enjoyed ministering to young people for the past 15 years. So as I read the local wedding announcements, I often see the names and faces of former students who used to be in our church’s youth group. One day, while reading a random announcement of a couple I didn’t recognize, I became even more aware…
whatever it takes
A province in Indonesia has asked a few of its residents to add a certain fashion accessory to their wardrobe—a padlock. Let me explain. To curb the prostitution that sometimes occurs in massage parlors, masseuses in East Java were prompted to wear a lock on the waistband of their pants.
While this idea seems a bit medieval, it certainly sends…
