Thursday, November 01, 2007
News Updates: Brittany Spears' CD Pics; Marriage Formula
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved."
- 1 Corinthians 10: 31-33 (NIV)
Peace and blessings,
Below are a few news updates. The first link discusses Brittany Spears' pics for her new album, which includes in seductive positions with a man acting as a Catholic priest. I want to make a couple of brief comments about the pics and why I have issues with them. For one, despite what the headlines say, it should be assumed (unless evidence proves otherwise) that the man in the pic is merely acting as a priest, and is not actually a priest. I know on the surface this disctinction may be seem unnecessary to make (e.g. A real priest wouldn't put themselves in that position to begin with), but I felt that I had to put that out there. Second, I feel that another disctinction must be made between the notion of human susceptibility to temptation, and how that temptation is portrayed by forms of media such as these pics. My problem with these pics is not based on a belief that priests are too "holy" to be tempted. On the contrary, I believe that we are all tempted, and to the extent that we are earnestly trying to follow Christ through our living, we are tempted more. However, the problem with how temptation is portayed in these pics is that Brittany and the priest are positioned in a way to where Britanny (via her "seductiveness") is in control, and the priest is at her mercy. Therefore, people who look at these pics first glance may only see a priest being seduced, and this pic alone is powerful enough to influence some viewers' perspective on God and faith more broadly. In particular, these pics may further contribute to the growing perception of Catholicism as "suspect" given the incidents of the sexual molestation of children. While these incidents are evidence that even priests can succomb to sin, the "big picture" doesn't end there. The big picture is that our susceptibility to sin is more proof that we need God, and that even if there is a time where we succomb to temptation, that God can, in the words of Marvin Sapp, make us "stronger," "wiser," and "better." It's funny how when it comes to people of faith, the moments of weakness are always heavily publicized, but the examples of righteous living (e.g. promoting social justice, representing the faith, healing hearts, minds, and souls, loving and caring for others) rarely gets media attention. But it's cool, because as Jesus' prayer told us what to expect:
"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."
-John 17: 13-15 (NIV)
Furthermore, whether or not it's true that
The second clip is about a mathematician who claims that through a mathematical formula, he can characterize marriages and "predict," with extremely high accuracy, whether a marriage will succeed or fail. I found this funny and interesting. What do you think? Take care, have a blessed day, and speekonit...
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Labels: 1 Corinthians, Brittany Spears, Catholic, God, Jesus Christ, John, marriage, priest, temptation
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Weekly Bible verse(s)
Peace and blessings,
The verse I wanted to share this week is the following:
" Drink waters out of your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship], and fresh running waters out of your own well. Should your offspring be dispersed abroad as water brooks in the street? [Confine yourself to your own wife] Let your children be for you alone, and not the children of strangers with you. Let your fountain[of human life] be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant doe[tender, gentle, attractive]-let her bosom satisfy you at all times, and always be transported with delight in her love. Why should you, my son, be infatuated with a loose woman, embrace the bosom of an outsider, and go astray? For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord, and He [Whou would have us live soberly, chastly, and godly] carefully weighs all man's goings. His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked man, and he shall be held with the cord of his sin. He will die for lack of discipline and instruction, and in greatness of his folly he will go astray and be lost."
Proverbs 5: 15-23 (KJV-AMP)
In my opinion, this verse speaks to four themes. The first is importance of remaining faithful in marriage and resisting the temptation to "dip out." The second is consequences that "dipping out" in marriage can have on the married couple's children. The third theme is the sanctity of marriage. That is not to say that everyone is supposed to get married (because God may have not called some people to get married), but that for those God calls to marriage, it is imperative to use that union as a testimonty to God's love and grace. This testimony is for the benefit of the couple, the couple's children (their children, etc...), and for others. Therefore anything that threatens that union (i.e. "dipping out"), inevitably thwarts are ability to realize and actualize God's purposes for the married couple'd lives. Further, children often shape their perceptions of and reactions to relationships based on that of their parents (or guardians who fulfill that parent role), therefore married couples have a moral responsibility to their children in that respects. The fourth is less of a theme and more like an application for today's times. American society prides itself on effieciency and variety, and their depictions of relationships is no different. Epecically with regards to men, there's this dominant idea that the more women the better (at least when you're young, because eventually when you get older you'll settle down). I argue that this is especially true for Black men, as we are constantly being fed images and messages (e.g. music, videos, other aspects of popular culture, etc...) that having many women is the signifyinf marker of what it means to be a man. However, I urge us a Black men to be men of God and to not to succumb to societal pressures. I am in no way saying that this would be easy. By the fact of simple demographics alone, black men are disproportionatley dead or incarcerated, creating situations in society where in various institutions (schools, churches,e tc...) and places of employment, the women heavily outnumber men. So in essence, black men have a large pool of women to choose from, making it that more difficult to maintain a one-woman relationship. This temptation is what makes the reliance upon and word of God so critical to our (and everyone's ) approach to relationships. Let's pray that God will revolutionize how this country values relationships and the sanctity of marriage, so that male and female relationships reflect God's image, and not ours. Until next time, stay blessed and speekoinit...
The verse I wanted to share this week is the following:
" Drink waters out of your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship], and fresh running waters out of your own well. Should your offspring be dispersed abroad as water brooks in the street? [Confine yourself to your own wife] Let your children be for you alone, and not the children of strangers with you. Let your fountain[of human life] be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant doe[tender, gentle, attractive]-let her bosom satisfy you at all times, and always be transported with delight in her love. Why should you, my son, be infatuated with a loose woman, embrace the bosom of an outsider, and go astray? For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord, and He [Whou would have us live soberly, chastly, and godly] carefully weighs all man's goings. His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked man, and he shall be held with the cord of his sin. He will die for lack of discipline and instruction, and in greatness of his folly he will go astray and be lost."
Proverbs 5: 15-23 (KJV-AMP)
In my opinion, this verse speaks to four themes. The first is importance of remaining faithful in marriage and resisting the temptation to "dip out." The second is consequences that "dipping out" in marriage can have on the married couple's children. The third theme is the sanctity of marriage. That is not to say that everyone is supposed to get married (because God may have not called some people to get married), but that for those God calls to marriage, it is imperative to use that union as a testimonty to God's love and grace. This testimony is for the benefit of the couple, the couple's children (their children, etc...), and for others. Therefore anything that threatens that union (i.e. "dipping out"), inevitably thwarts are ability to realize and actualize God's purposes for the married couple'd lives. Further, children often shape their perceptions of and reactions to relationships based on that of their parents (or guardians who fulfill that parent role), therefore married couples have a moral responsibility to their children in that respects. The fourth is less of a theme and more like an application for today's times. American society prides itself on effieciency and variety, and their depictions of relationships is no different. Epecically with regards to men, there's this dominant idea that the more women the better (at least when you're young, because eventually when you get older you'll settle down). I argue that this is especially true for Black men, as we are constantly being fed images and messages (e.g. music, videos, other aspects of popular culture, etc...) that having many women is the signifyinf marker of what it means to be a man. However, I urge us a Black men to be men of God and to not to succumb to societal pressures. I am in no way saying that this would be easy. By the fact of simple demographics alone, black men are disproportionatley dead or incarcerated, creating situations in society where in various institutions (schools, churches,e tc...) and places of employment, the women heavily outnumber men. So in essence, black men have a large pool of women to choose from, making it that more difficult to maintain a one-woman relationship. This temptation is what makes the reliance upon and word of God so critical to our (and everyone's ) approach to relationships. Let's pray that God will revolutionize how this country values relationships and the sanctity of marriage, so that male and female relationships reflect God's image, and not ours. Until next time, stay blessed and speekoinit...
Labels: Bible, children, God, marriage, Proverbs, scripture
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