The Pipe-ster has done it again…
John Piper seems to stir up a bit of controversy every few weeks on Twitter. Oddly enough, it seems it usually has something to do with porn. A few days ago he did it again. Here is the “tweet” in question…
“Wives, if you watch movies with your(husband) him containing bare breasts and fondling, don’t complain when he does porn by himself.”
This statement has drawn criticism by many, mostly by folks saying that Piper is blaming wives, or holding them responsible for what their husbands are doing. I even heard one person saying that Piper is victimizing the victims in this scenario. I was on a friends Facebook page just a few minutes ago, and saw many comments and criticisms very similar to what I have already talked about. I made the following statement in relation to what was being said, would be curious to see what others are saying, or thinking as it relates to Piper’s tweet:
“I don’t think Piper is saying the wife is “responsible” or even to blame for her husband’s sin. I think what Piper is saying is that the wife is also in sin. It’s sort of like the, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone” or “speck/log” argument. The wife is responsible for her sin, the man for his.Piper is just saying, if you are watching filth, and any movie with fondling and bare breasts in a movie, I would classify as filth. Could it lead to porn? Maybe, maybe not…It may arouse passions that otherwise may not have shown up..it may not. Either way, if the wife condones it while she is around, or in the open with her…should she be surprised, or even complain when he does it when she isn’t…Just my take”
In His Image: The love of a father.
It has been way too long since I blogged, my apologies to all. This will be a short post(maybe), but it is something I have been thinking about a lot over the last few days. My wife just gave birth to our 4th child(one of the reasons I haven’t blogged in a while) and it has really caused me to reflect on God; His goodness, His grace; fatherhood, and really what it is to be a father.
One of the greatest gifts that God has given me as a result of fatherhood, is that I can identify with God on a level that I could not until I became a father. This may sound a bit “over-spiritual” to some, maybe even a little arrogant, or blasphemous, but please let me quickly explain, by giving a few examples.
- God created man in his own image: We as humans, albeit imperfectly, in some way reflect who God is. In much the same way, our children reflect who we are. This of course entails physical attributes, but even more so, and I’m seeing this more as my children grow, as we interact with our children more, their personalities also reflect, and show a good bit of their parents influence on who they are.
- Unconditional love: The love God has for his children is unconditional, as is my love for my kids. As I hold my newborn daughter, I know there are going to be times when she angers me, and even disappoints me. Yet nothing she ever does will ever cause me to stop loving her. The same is true for all 4 of my children.
- Grace: Very similar to my last example. A very simple definition to the word grace is “unmerited favor”. This just simply means getting something good that you don’t deserve. My kids have done nothing to deserve my love, other than the fact that they are my children, and I love them. They don’t have to earn my love. I love them simply because…well, they are mine. God looks at his children in much the same way.
- Discipline: There are times, and will be times, when as much as it hurts me I must discipline my children. This is hard, and sometimes heart breaking, but it is a necessity of good and Godly parenting. The Bible tells us that the parent that loves his child will discipline him. The Bible also tells us that in the same way, God also disciplines us. Discipline when it is happening is hard, and sometimes hurtful, but ultimately it is, or at least should be motivated by love.
I’m sure if I thought really long and hard I could think of several other examples. Unfortunately though, I’m a bit sleep deprived, which may come across in this post. My apologies for that as well, hopefully the point of the post came through regardless.
I appreciate all of your prayers, as my wife and I embark on this new journey with our 4th child. My greatest prayer, is that I will in some way reflect God’s image, as a father, and love my children with gracious, selfless love, in the same way that He has loved me(exhibited perfectly in the person of Christ). My family is truly one of the greatest evidences of grace towards me that I can think of. I am so thankful, and blessed beyond words.
God bless you all…Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.(Yeah, so it wasn’t such a short post after all)
Death, Tragedy, Glory, and God: Is there more there than we think?
Continuing to add to couple of weeks of tragedy, I heard two days ago about the death of our pediatrician’s 22 year-old daughter due to H1N1. My prayers go out to this family, especially with her 3 year-old little girl.
I read in the news that now this doctor was on a mission to get all children in the area vaccinated. My wife also told me, as we were discussing this tragedy that he and his wife were planning to give out vaccinations at their daughter’s funeral. This got me thinking, how so many times when a family is struck by tragedy or the death of a loved one, there is this innate desire to use it for good. There is this longing within us that a tragedy or the death of a loved one should mean something, can be used for something. How many times have we heard the phrase, “I didn’t want his/her death to be in vain.” How much good has been done, and how many lives have been changed because of someone taking death or tragedy, and using it for good.
As I said though, this got me thinking. Why do we as humans have this desire to turn bad around and use it for good? Why do we so often want to use the tragic death of a loved one, and use it for the good of others? I think I have an answer, or at least a thought on what the answer could be. Could it be, that God has programmed this into the DNA of humans to prepare our hearts for the Gospel? What greater good has come about as a result of a tragedy, than the atonement of our sins, through the blood of Christ? What greater good has come about than the salvation of our souls, as a result of the brutal murder of our Savior, God’s own son, Jesus? (Ephesians 2:13)
The idea of tragedy/death bringing about good, and being used for good isn’t a new, or even unique concept. Just watch any number of movies. Like I said, I believe that just maybe this is something that has been programmed into the hearts, mind, and DNA of humans in preparation for us to receive, or be able to receive the truth of the Gospel. The thing that boggles my mind though, is that God didn’t just decide to use the tragedy of the cross for good, but He planned it. (1 Peter 1:2) He used, no planned the tragedy of the cross for the greatest good imaginable, to bring a people who were once far away, near to Himself. Thank God that His ways are not our ways.
What love does it show that the God of the universe would come down, take on flesh, and die for us? Not because He had to, or needed to, but because He wanted to. He planned to…from before the foundations of the earth. (1 Peter 1:2, Romans 8:29, Ephesians 1:4-14) Simply amazing…
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