like a fire

Yesterday, YSMarko decided to open a can of… debate on his blog. I was a little surprised at how many people were polarized by his thoughts. I didn’t really see any issues with what he was proposing other than making it his decision over possibly just trying to cater to others. Anyway, I was thinking about that and then talking to Johnny (best friend and counselor buddy) who started a similar train of thought.

Johnny is probably one of the best counselors out there on sexual addiction and is leading a group of counseling students in a process/info group. The subject of gender roles came up and he was pretty clear that the Bible just isn’t clear enough for him to try to state any specific roles per gender.

I was reminded of a conversation I had at a previous church where some people felt like we ought to delineate gender roles from the Bible. We never got anywhere. John Eldredge has some ideas about it, but, like Johnny, I have yet to see any real Biblical model for gender roles. There are a few ideas in the Bible about what men and women do and even some on what they tend to resonate with, but I see very little characterizations for gender.

So I wonder how it is that we can use finite words to describe an infinite God in terms of gender when the Bible just isn’t that clear about how people differ. I don’t expect to get the response that Mark got, but I would love to hear thoughts from anyone reading.

OK, I was looking for images for a project and came across this site. Apparently there is a market for hand made fairy wings (and possible pointy ears). I know that some adults like a little fantasy in their lives, but I just thought this was a little funny.

Feel free to post your own punchline here. I am throwing the gauntlet down on this one.

OK, if you get the YS newsletter, then you should have already seen this, but many of you don’t. So this is something for you to totally disregard unless you need a laugh.

I don’t talk a lot about Jane on here, and I realized that I really should. She is just this really sweet girl with a big heart. She loves her family, as evidenced by the picture, and she is generally just lots of fun.

Jane is also very spiritually tuned. She often says things that make Cathy and I think. She’s the first to say, “This song is about Jesus.” So we are fairly used to her spiritual side.

Lately she has been praying prayers that are a bit mature for her age. She prayed for Cathy to get better the other night and for her sister, who hasn’t had a BM in about a week, to be able to go. She also prayed that God would take all the monsters from her room.

So it was a bit strange yesterday when she wrote “No” on her hands and arm. She has been a little irritable after being sick and that is probably contributing to her mood, but that was just a little scary. As her father, I feel so bad for her. I can’t imagine what possessed her to do that, and the symbolism of it really hurt us to think about what she might have been thinking when she did it. If you get a moment this week, pray for Jane.

Well, after a great start, I have fallen off the blogging wagon again. Here is a part of the why:

• Cathy is very sick, although she is having a hard time admitting it to herself.
• We were without power for a large chunk of Saturday and without phone, cable or internet until  afternoon  Sunday.
• I have switched my effects set-up for my guitar rig and am in the process of setting it up. (I got my new guitar today, yippee!)
• I am planning lots of stuff for the youth ministry and meeting with leaders more to get some input.
• I have been traveling and doing some marketing work for Yamia and some friends.
• I was constipated most of last week.

That is all the excuses I can come up with. I repent and will try to be a better person in the future.