Sex & Relationships
Sex and relationships can take up a lot of our thought time and emotional energy. Within the following blog posts we attempt to look at these topics from a fresh perspective seeking to understand not only how God desires us to live, but to also find out what our sexuality tells us about God and ourselves.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011 15:36 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
Imagine if Joseph had not forgiven his brothers. Imagine if he had refused them grain and sent them packing as the bunch of persecutors “deserved.” It would have brought God’s purposes through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to a grinding halt. The family could have died out.
But forgiveness changes everything and it allows God’s purpose to move forward. The brothers return to their father and explain everything, including presumably an embarrassing confession of their part in how Joseph arrived in Egypt in the first place! Their father is absolutely over the moon; the son he thought was dead is actually still alive.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011 13:56 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
Jealousy, anger and revenge can wreck relationships. The story of Joseph certainly shows that, and then some! It gives us a lot of incentive to stay clear of anything that will cause relationships to be broken. And that ties in with Jesus’ teaching that if we have something against someone else we should deal with it immediately. In Matthew 6:23-24 Jesus tells his followers that if you are about to worship and remember a broken relationship, go there and then and sort it out even before you worship.
Friday, 05 August 2011 14:23 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
Once hatred and revenge have got into a relationship it takes some untangling. That seems to me to be what the story of Joseph in Genesis 42 and 43 teaches us. After the brothers had had it up to here with Joseph, they sold him as a slave and he arrived in Egypt. You may remember the prison to Prime Minister story that then saw Joseph become second in command in the Egyptian government.
Meanwhile his brothers were in a famine and were forced to go to Egypt to find food. Ten of them arrive in Egypt and have to negotiate with Joseph. The thing is, they didn’t realise it was Joseph; so there they are bowing and scraping to this ‘Egyptian’ ruler, completely unaware that Joseph’s dreams were coming true!
Monday, 18 July 2011 16:54 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
I don’t know if you ever watch Super-nanny, where Jo Frost sorts out the behaviour of unruly children. One of the things she likes to get straight with parents is that their children make choices. If a mum says, Denise can’t help it, she’ll say: ‘Yes she can, she can choose to be different’. I don’t know if you agree with that but it certainly underlines that a lot of life is about the choices we make.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011 10:46 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
For a while in my church, a long time ago, we sang a song called “A Naggy Mum”, it went something like this…
“A naggy Mum, a grumpy Dad,
A brother who’s a pain,
A sister who takes toys and never gives them back again,
All the same all the same
In sunshine or in rain
No matter who we are you know
God loves us all the same!”
Families can drive us mad. When I get in from work, tired and weary and carrying bags of shopping, what awaits me in the house can just tip me over the edge or calm me down and relax me. Dishes piled up at the sink, the carpet covered in crumbs, the bins full and the dog barking because he hasn’t had his dinner – get me very grumpy. I am the naggy mum!
Wednesday, 23 March 2011 16:48 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
I honour my iphone. I need it. I make sure it is charged every night. I always know where it is. I make sure no harm comes to it intentionally or unintentionally. Three or four times a week I run with my iPhone and I make sure it is safe and secure each time I run. I really think I couldn’t run if I didn’t have my iphone!
To honour something is to give it a special place, to care for it, be aware of it, and ensure its safety at all times.
God wants us to honour our parents, but how do we do that?
Tuesday, 15 February 2011 06:51 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
Imagine you went to your Youth Pastor and said, “Youth Pastor, I’m struggling with lust, do you have any advice for me?”
And they replied, “Yes! As a matter-of-fact I do. If your right eye likes to lustfully rove up and down the body of the opposite sex then I recommend gouging it out and throwing it away.” You would, undoubtedly and somewhat understandably, seek advice from elsewhere.
The intriguing thing is if your Youth Pastor actually did say this to you then all they are doing is paraphrasing Jesus.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011 11:42 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
How do you feel about your sexuality? Are you trying to live for God despite it, or with it? I don't think God wants us to lock our sexuality away or to be frightened of it. Sexuality was his idea after all! He created us male and female - with sexual feelings and needs – and all our 'delicate innermost parts' are perfectly made (see Psalm 139:13).
As you grow into the man or woman God designed, how are you going to live for Him, with sex drive? Here are some of my thoughts:
Monday, 06 December 2010 19:46 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
I've just had one of those really bad days; I didn't look my best, I couldn't get anything done and to top it all NO-ONE TEXTED! By lunch time my thoughts had taken a turn down Self Pity Street (which, as you'll know, is a dead end), and I was wondering if I'd ever be happy, if I'd ever do anything right, or if I'd ever be loved!
My identity takes regular knocks. Where do you get your identity from? Parents? Friends? The opposite sex? Achievements? God?
Wednesday, 03 November 2010 00:00 | and posted in Sex & Relationships
The Genesis 1 creation story unfolds with one work of art after another. Each stage is more beautiful than the last until the narrative crescendoes, not with Adam's creation, but with the creation of Eve.
Can there be any doubt Eve is the crown of creation?
