Sex God: Book Review

Pause with me just a moment and think. I want you to go back to a place in your childhood when you really and truly felt alive. Think about the defining moment of your existence. For some of you it may be the day you met your best friend. For others it may be a special time between you and your father. Think about your moment, and think about how it made you feel. You were full, you were alive, you were connected. That is what Sex God is all about.

The book Sex God was written by Rob Bell and published by Zondervan in 2007. The book includes nine chapters of separate but related topics relating to spirituality and sexuality. One of my favorite chapters explained the essence of humanity and sexuality. Bell paints the picture that although we are less than angels, and more than animals, we still have a very wonderful purpose for our souls and bodies.

In other chapters Bell intricately describes the ancient Jewish weddings and all of their meaningful customs. As he explains the customs, he explains how this ties into the original meaning of many passages of the Bible, thus proving that God is a very intimate and passionate lover of our souls.

When I first began reading Sex God, I was thoroughly confused and doubtful about the whole thing. Sex and God. Who would think of comparing the two, much less combining them. Although Bell made some excellent observations in the first third of the book, I was still unsure of the message, but after persistent reading I was soon captivated by the book and read the entire thing in one sitting.

Author Rob Bell, is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, a sister ministry of Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church. Bell and his wife Kristen, along with their three children, reside in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bell graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He also graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Three of Bell’s books have been on the New York Time’s Best Sellers list: Sex God, Love Wins, and Velvet Elvis.

The subtitle for Sex God is, “exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality.” This is definitely what Sex God is about. The basic human needs for passion, desire, and connection are made perfectly clear and tangible in this book. The only downfall is the end of the book, because it leaves you wanting to read and learn so much more. This would be an excellent book to study with a group of same-sex friends, or between a married couple. I think the book is more appropriate for post-adolescent minds, simply because the rich content might be hard for a hormone-filled teenager to handle.

I loved this book, and I hope you will too, should you choose to read it yourself. For more on Sex God and Rob Bell check out these links:

http://marshill.org/ 

http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310263463&QueryStringSite=Zondervan,

http://www.amazon.com/Sex-God-Exploring-Connections-Spirituality/dp/0310263468

Article first published as <a href='http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-sex-god-by-rob/'>Book Review: <I>Sex God</i> by Rob Bell</a> on Blogcritics.

Can Men and Women be JUST friends?

I am often asked why I have not posted about male-female friendships and the boundaries within them.  The honest answer is that I do not know.  I have never read a book, found scripture, or been convicted or drawn to this subject.  It does interest me, and I am slowly figuring out what is truth and what is not as I grow older, but I am no expert on the subject.  I do plan on sharing my thoughts with you as soon as I am ready, however.

Interestingly enough, one of my friends sent me this video the other day.  Although it is a secular video, it exposes some deep, yet comical truths between the two genders and their thinking patterns.  I thought I would share it with you all as a means of helping you form your own opinion.  Let me know what you think!

Relationships with Mr. Creflo Dollar

Alright, today's post is an amazing video about singleness, marriage, and everything in between by Creflo Dollar. I know if you're anything like me it's hard for you to just sit and watch a 10 minute video, but if you'll just play this video on your computer while your putting on your makeup, cooking, or searching Facebook, I feel like it will bless you. Creflo has some amazing points and some great reminders for our relationships. Besides who couldn't improve on their relationships a little? :)

True Love Doesn't Just Wait...

"True love doesn't just wait...it plans."

This is a quote taken from Joshua Harris' Boy Meets Girl. The theme in this chapter talks about how to plan for the best night of your life: your wedding night. In all reality, you don't just say you're going to remain sexually pure until marriage and expect it to happen. The devil is smarter than that and our hormones are trickier than that. When put in the right situation any vow will fail.

So how do you keep your purity if you really do want to

save it for your husband? You must plan out the details! You don't just go on a date with your boyfriend one night and randomly decide to have sex that instant, it is built up

tension. Chances are you two have probably been holding hands for a while, kissing a couple weeks or so, and maybe even other things that led you a little farther than you wanted to be physically. If you both decided to go that far, how do you keep the line drawn at no intercourse? Honestly, it's going to be very hard, if not impossible.

As Christians, we are called to a higher standard. You should know by now that God has called us to be PURE. 1 Thessalonians 4:8 says we should AVOID sexual immorality. Not tempt it, not play with it and try it out, but AVOID it all together completely. Similarly, 1 Corinthians 6:18 says FLEE from sexual immorality--that means run as fast as you can in the other direct

ion!

So think about the following situations, which ones are following God's Avoid & Flee policy and which ones are following the world's tempt & try strategy?

• Hanging out alone with your significant other in your bedroom.
• Side hugs only
• Hanging out at the mall with lots of friends
• Make-out sessions..
• Having a mentor regularly check up on your relationship with your man
• Sitting alone in a parked car
• Talking on the phone late at night

Some of these sound extreme, some of them make per

fect sense, but you should stop and think about how one thing leads to another. Even if you haven't had the chance to be in that type of situation yet, we all know you watch movies and the way sex progresses in the movies is the exact same way it progresses in real life. Your sitting in the car just having a nice chat, when the next thing you know...well, you know how the story goes.

The point is, you can never be too careful! The more you deny yourselves now, the more pleasure and enjoyment you will get to have on your wedding day! If you try all the crazy stuff now you will have fun, but you will also suffer long-term consequences afterwards. Stuff they don't tell you about in the movies or in the heat of the moment. Here are just a few examples of real women I have talked too:

• Of course, the obvious- STDS. not fun at all.
• pregnancy
• abortion-talk about a heartbreaking story.
• Regret- this one's the killer.
• Shame- And this one trumps them all. How are you supposed to go into a marriage knowing you can't even show yourself faithful before? (Don't worry, I will cover this issue soon.)

On top of these issues, there is also the horrible effect that sex has on your relationship. After sex couples are more likely to break up. Trust issues start to take shape, and the relationship tends to become mostly physical, throwing all the talking and really getting to know you stuff out the window.

Take it from someone who has heard all the stories and cried with all the friends. It's not worth it. Plan ahead and write out a list of boundaries for you and your boyfriend, or if your single, write it out for your next relationship. You know what tempts you, what causes your mind to wander and hormones to surge, nip sin in the bud and take yourself out of the dangerous situations. 1 Corinthians 6:18-FLEE FROM IT GIRL!!

Plan it out. Tomorrow I will give you some more ideas on boundaries.

If it Causes You to Stumble..

I LOVE me some country music! Last night I went to the Miranda Lambert concert here in town and I had a blast! I love the beat, the words, the people, everything about country music except for one thing...the message. Now I'm not talkin' about every country song, but most of them. Most of them have underlying messages that are not biblical, such as drinkin, cheatin', and sleepin' around.

I say this not to give you my opinion on country music, because that was an older post. lol I say this to bring up something else...self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."

As much as I enjoy country music, I strictly limit the amount of time I spend listening to it. Why in the world would I do that? Because it causes me to stumble. When I hear about drinkin over and over again, I want to go drink. When I hear about romance, I want romance. When I hear about the red dirt roads, I get homesick and forget my purpose here in the city.

2 Timothy 2:22 says "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." It says FLEE, not fight it or pray about it, but FLEE the evil desires of youth.

This isn't a bash against country music, I also love rap music, but it causes me to lust. I love romance movies-but they cause me to have impure thoughts. I've heard it said that in your walk with Christ you are either moving towards God or away from God, you are never standing still. What do you love that causes you to fall away from God?

I have several good friends who struggle with contentment in being single...yet they watch romance movies, read the love stories, and listen to music that suggests everyone have someone special. Girls, as long as you surround yourself with that you WILL struggle. Trust me, I tried fighting it for a long time. In order to live a life fully devoted to God, you have to surround yourself as much as possible with things that honor God and cause you to reflect on Him.

I also have friends who struggle with going too far physically with the opposite sex. Can you guess why? If it's not the stuff causing their thoughts to sway, then its the situations they put themselves in. If you hang out alone with a guy repetitively YOU WILL HAVE SEX. I don't care if you promised your family and your preacher that you were going to wait until marriage, if you put yourself in that situation it WILL happen. You are human, and not one of us is strong enough to resist that temptation after a long period of time. Don't be alone with your boyfriend. I don't care if your 16, you don't need to put yourself in that situation. (Which, by the way, I will be blogging about dating boundaries in the near future so keep an eye out for that.)

So is it a movie? A TV show? A boy? A game? A habit? A hobby? What is it that causes you to stumble?

Examine your life and see what causes you to stumble. Pray about it, then FLEE from it. Run towards God with all your energy and will. No one can make the choice for you though, it's up to you.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

"It is God's will that you would be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit."