Month: February 2024 (Page 2 of 3)

In the coming days we will need to stand with fellow brothers in the Lord.  Denominational distinctions will become secondary.  Who will stand with us?  Paul exhorts us to stand firm:  “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:11).  There are many Catholic brothers who are standing bravely.  One is Ralph Martin, who recently said, “We need to wake up to the spiritual battle going on and recognize that it’s not just against flesh and blood, governmental powers, educational powers, or technological powers.  It’s against the evil one, and we need faith and prayer to resist that power.  Jesus is the only hope… He is the only one that can save us.”     

Recently, Naomi Wolf (a prominent liberal and outspoken critic of restrictions on religious faith) wrote, “I don’t think there’s any explanation for how quickly things have reversed in our society other than supernatural power.”  It is surprising to hear people from all walks of society reacting as biblical believers might.  How else can one explain the rapid change in our culture?  Men, we need to be spiritual alert in these days. Jesus warns us, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matt. 24:4).  He then goes on to say, “All these are the beginning of birth pains” (Matt. 24:8).  Men, we need to be listening to the watchman on the walls. 

After Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, he attempted to identify during an interview the spiritual power at work in Western culture.  He said, “One hundred years ago, everyone would have considered it absurd to speak of a homosexual marriage.  Today, one is being excommunicated by society if one opposes it; one is being punished by society with excommunication.  The fear of this spiritual power of the Antichrist is then only more than natural and it really needs the help of prayers on the part of entire dioceses and of the universal church in order to resist it.” 

Archbishop Gomez, another Catholic leader, had this to say about the influence of woke culture: “An elite leadership class has risen in our countries that has little interest in religion and no real attachments to the nations or cultures.  This group, which is in charge of corporations, governments, universities, the media, and in the cultural and professional establishments, wants to establish what we might call a global civilization.  In fact, as they see it, religion – especially Christianity – only gets in the way of the society they hope to build.”

In these dangerous and uncertain times, here are some commitments to make as men:

First, give your mind and soul to the Lord – literally.  It is vital to think clearly, applying God’s Word to contemporary dialogue, while being wary of the idols hidden in our souls.  In Ezekiel 6:9 the Lord says, “How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols.”  Keep a check on what’s happening in your soul.  Don’t become preoccupied with the preoccupations of our culture.

Second, realize that we are in a fierce spiritual battle.  Only spiritual weapons can defeat the prince of darkness.  Psalm 149 encourages us: “May the praise of God be in their mouths, and a double-edged sword in their hands.” (Ps. 149:6).  And our enemy knows his time is short: “He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Rev. 12:12).

Third, find a group of men who are willing to stand with you.  Spend time praying and learning to resist.  Make Jesus and his kingdom primary.

“Situationships” is “slang for relationships of an undefined nature. They solve some animalistic need for intimacy or companionship with potentially zero strings attached,” writes Andrea Mew of the Independent Women’s Forum.  Mew calls our attention to the selling of Sweethearts candies traditionally sold for Valentine’s Day.  She informs us that the Sweethearts candies with their cute sayings (though sometimes smudgy and illegible) have been reintroduced in a new marketing campaign.  Sweethearts are now being sold online as “Sweethearts Situationships,” and touted to display “messages as blurry as your relationship.” 

Mew tweeted, “This Valentine’s Day, feel reaffirmed by your holiday candy selection to ditch the commitment and romanticize having shallow, casual relationships that provide short-term satisfaction at best, and damaged attachment styles at worst!”  Situationships, she warns, are a “modern rebrand of ‘friends with benefits.”’  Sweethearts candies essentially capitalizes on a mediocre product by repackaging and rebranding it as “Situationships.”  Another tweet had this response: “Filled entirely with sweet, meaningless nothings and literal mixed messages, this special box of candies is blurry enough for any undefined relationship.” Mew warns us, “We’ve cheapened sexuality by erasing the mystery of promiscuity and destigmatized what was once a normal dose of taboo and shame.” 

In the end Mew ponders, “Is it any wonder why people seem so down on dating when they’re not really getting to know each other on an emotionally intimate level, there’s no consistency and expectations, and there’s no talk about a future together to look forward to?”  

When I read about “Situationships,” I thought of Paul’s words in I Thess. 4:3-5: “Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity.  Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God” (Message).  It is well known that the Gospel flourished in a culture that was every bit as promiscuous as ours.  The growing church brought about a significant cultural shift in how men and women related to each other.

As one who lived through the sexual revolution and has now been married for 58 years, I give testimony to the blessing of having been a “one woman man” all my life.  I identify with the words of Proverbs 5:18-19, “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.  Rejoice in the wife of your youth.  She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.  Let her breasts satisfy you always.  May you always be captivated by her love” (NLV).  Having an unblurred 58-year relationship has been both a great blessing as well as a great commitment to savor.

I take issue with a candy company reinforcing the idea that an intimate male-female relationship can be “situational.” No – the relationship is holy, established by the Creator and meant to last for a lifetime.  God made man and woman in his image, and has given us the sacred relational gift of “marriage.”  It is meant to be a covenant relationship lived out in the presence of God. Jesus reminds us that “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.  So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matt. 19:5-6). 

My advice is the same as I shared with students at Drake University in the mid-1980’s. The secret to a successful relationship is prayer, because three vital elements of relationship are then put in order.  First, the spiritual; second, the emotional; and lastly, the physical.  A blurred relationship messes up the order, with the physical being first, and thereby blurring what God intends to be holy.