Sex Belongs to Believers

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Sex Belongs to Believers

In 1 Timothy 4:1–5, Paul confronts certain ascetic false teachers who believed that sex in marriage and eating foods freely were at best for second-class Christianity. Paul called these false teachings demonic.

First, the false teaching, as Paul summarizes it in verses 1–2 and the first part of verse 3:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods . . .
Then, Paul’s response, starting in the middle of verse 3:

. . . that [that is, the marriage and the food] God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
For those who know the truth of the gospel and who revel in the word of God concerning the all-satisfying glory of God, and who pray (Hallowed be your name!) and dedicate everything to God, the sex of marriage and the pleasures of food are made holy — that is, they are set apart from the sinful use of the world and made pure and precious and beautiful by participation in the goodness of God.

Unembarrassed by the Bible

We are not supposed to be embarrassed by the forthright sensuality of sexual love in marriage as the Bible portrays it — sometimes graphically.

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. (Proverbs 5:18–21)
It is no shame that “a man’s ways are before the Lord” as her breasts fill him at all times with delight. This is why God made her that way and him that way. In fact, that this delight in her is “before” the Lord — in the presence of the Lord — points to the truth that all our joy in what God has made is meant to be a delight in God. There is something of his glory in all the glories of the world.

We are not meant to revel in his creation instead of him or more than in him but because of him, and because there is something of him in all that is good and beautiful. The heavens are telling the glory of God. We are to see it. And worship him. So it is with the breasts of our wives. The breasts are telling the glory of God, the goodness of God, the beauty of God, and more. We are to see it. And worship him.




Let the Song Stun You

The Song of Solomon is in the Bible, among other reasons, to make sure that we take seriously the exquisite physical pleasures between a bride and a groom as a picture of Christ and his Church. The point is not that we nullify the physical pleasures of this Song by seeing it as a full-color image of Ephesians 5:22–33. The point is that we let the Song stun us that God would design such a relationship between man and woman — from the beginning — as the image of the covenant-keeping pleasures between Christ and his church.

Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. (Song 4:5–7)

Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus. Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.

How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine.

It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth. (Song 7:3–10)
This is part of what Paul had in mind in 1 Timothy 4:3–5, when he said, “God created [food and sex] to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. . . . It is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Sex is for “those who believe and know the truth.”

The Pleasures of Sex Are for Christians

We might lose sight of this, since Hollywood has ripped the curtains off the sacred marriage bed and turned a luxuriant, holy pleasure into a cheap spectator sport. We might be tempted to think that, since sex is so sinfully misused and is so universally undermining to the all-satisfying beauty of Christ’s holiness, maybe we Christians should have nothing to do with it.




Paul says the opposite. It is the world that has stolen what belongs to believers. Sex belongs to Christians. Because sex belongs to God. “God created it to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” If it is used by those who do not believe and know the truth, it is prostituted. They have exchanged the glory of God for images. They have torn sex from its God-appointed place in the orbit of marriage. But they do not know what they are doing. And the price they will pay in this life and the next is incalculable.

The pleasures of sex are meant for believers. They are designed for their greatest expression by the children of God. He saves his richest gifts for his children. And as we enjoy his gift of sex, we say, by our covenant faithfulness to our spouse, that God is greater than sex. And the pleasures of sex are themselves an overflow of God’s own goodness. This pleasure is less than what we will know fully in him at his right hand. And in it, we taste something of his very exquisiteness.

When the preciousness and pleasures of Christ are supreme, all dimensions of sex, including experiencing pleasure, seeking pleasure, giving pleasure, and abstinence from pleasure, will all find their biblical and Christ-exalting expression.

Everything God made is good. Everything is for the sake of worship and love. And this is true both in the feasting and the fasting. In the sexual union and in abstinence. Sex is made for the glory of Christ — for the Christ-exalting glory of covenant-keeping faithfulness in marriage, and for the glory of Christ-exalting chastity in singleness. It is always good. Sex is always an occasion to show that the Giver of sex is better than sex.

I wrote two chapters on singleness in This Momentary Marriage in which I try to work out the implications of how the sexuality of a non-married follower of Christ is meant to work out for the glory of God.

Related Resources

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

Severe Drought Brings Starving Kenyans to Church Doorsteps

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Severe Drought Brings Starving Kenyans to Church Doorsteps

When her pantry runs dry, Agnes Mwikali walks down a dusty road to the local Roman Catholic Church mission.

There, beyond the metal gate and the church garden where the crops are withering, she steps into the administration building and asks for a 4-pound bag of cornmeal.

In Thatha, her home, about 93 miles northeast of Nairobi, a severe drought has left many families without food, water and pasture for their livestock.

Mwikali, a 40-year-old mother, has watched in consternation, as extreme temperatures have destroyed crops, drained water sources and laid grazing fields to waste.

“We are trying everything,” she said. “There are many of us. Many families don’t have enough food.”

Mwikali has 14 mouths to feed; her children range in age from 23 years old to 3 months. She has supported herself by weeding, herding or fetching water. But that kind of work has become scarce with the advent of the drought.

“The rains are our greatest disappointment,” she said. “Every season, we plant our seeds and watch the crops germinate, only for the rains to leave before they mature.”

At the Thatha Roman Catholic Mission, part of the Machakos Diocese, the Rev. Gerard Matolo increasingly sees more people seeking help.

“You can’t tell them that there is nothing,” Matolo said. “As their shepherd, I have to find a way to ensure they get something to eat. Sometimes I share my own food.”

Matolo estimates that nearly 3,000 people in his parish urgently need food aid. About 30,000 are at risk.

A bag of cornmeal or a bottle of oil would make a difference for a family, but the priest said there is too little to give.

The last time this region received meaningful rainfall was seven years ago. So Matolo has been storing the little food he gets as part of the agricultural tithe that small farmers and others have traditionally given the mission.

But unless things change, Matolo fears, soon cows, goats, sheep and donkeys will start dying.

East Africa is in the grips of yet another severe drought, largely attributed to climate change. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts the continent will be hardest hit by climate change, in part because 1 in 4 people in the region lives in extreme poverty.

The recurrent droughts have taken a heavy toll on religious leaders, as they move to aid communities threatened by starvation. The current drought has hit Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia, disrupting livelihoods for millions of people.

According to religious leaders, the battles against the drought have been fierce and draining and governments are not doing enough.

Agriculture in Africa is underfunded, although several governments in the African Union Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security committed to spending 10 percent of their national budget on agricultural development. Only 13 countries have met that target.

In Kenya the drought stretches across the coastal, north, northeastern and southern lowlands. Even the western region, which has not traditionally experienced severe droughts, is affected. Experts warn that the situation may persist for the next six months.

“The drought is of great concern to us as Muslims,” said Sheikh Hassan Ole Naado, the deputy secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims. “We are praying and we are mobilizing.”

Kenya’s government has been delivering relief food to nearly 1.6 million in arid and semi-arid areas. Officials say the number will surpass 2 million by the end of February … read more 

Source : Christian News Headlines

Christian Women Raped By Muslim Mob In ‘Revenge Attack’ For Pastor Overseeing Conversions

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Christian Women Raped By Muslim Mob In ‘Revenge Attack’ For Pastor Overseeing Conversions

Fifteen women were raped in a church by a mob of Muslims in eastern Uganda as a punishment against a pastor who was allegedly converting Muslims to Christianity.

The pastor is still missing along with eight other Christians two weeks after the attack in which the congregation were locked inside the church and several Christians were beaten, sources told Morning Star News.

A member of the congregation who escaped before the doors were locked heard one of the attackers shout, “Away with the pastor who is converting our Muslims to Christianity.”

The pastor, Moses Mutasa had been outside talking to some visitors to the church when several others arrived shouting, “Away with the pastor,” and he fled, according to Rev Musa Mukenye, who oversees several churches in the district’s Iki-iki County.

“We do not know what has happened to our pastor, Moses Mutasa,” Mukenye told a meeting of local officials, police and other security officers. “He might have been killed or has been kept hostage.”

Around 50 men and 30 women had attended the prayer meeting and the assailants locked about half of the total inside the building, beat the men and tied them up before raping the women, Morning Star News reported.

“Women’s clothing was found inside and outside the church building,” a church elder said.

The abused women received treatment at a clinic in Katira.

Police reportedly arrived about two hours after the assault began.

Several church members were also injured as they were trampled in the rush to get out of the building, and a considerable amount of church property was damaged.

Prior to the attack, Muslims had thrown stones on the roof of the church building to disrupt services at the church, which attract 500 people … read more

Bishop Urges Christians to Buy a Sword to Defend Themselves against Islamic Extremists

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Bishop Urges Christians to Buy a Sword to Defend Themselves against Islamic Extremists
Christians should “buy a sword and defend themselves” against Islamist extremists who threaten to slaughter them.

The advice came from Bishop Diamond Emuobor, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria as reported by the Daily Post.

The Christian leader said there is biblical basis for Christians arming themselves against their enemies, citing Luke 22:36.

“Jesus says in the book of Luke that those who have no sword should sell their coats and buy one for the defence of their lives,” Emuobor said.

“We are all human beings. Nobody should catch you like a snail and slaughter because you believe in Jesus Christ,” the bishop said.

Emuobor made the call as the persecution and slaughtering of minority Christians in Nigeria by Islamist extremists continue unabated.

According to the Catholic News Agency, Islamist violence and terrorism has killed more than 12,000 Christians in Nigeria, destroying some 2,000 churches. Boko Haram militants have done much of the killings, but in the past year a new source of Islamist terror has emerged. The group is called the Fulani Herdsmen Terrorists (FHT).

The Fulani terrorists have killed dozens of Christians in just the past few weeks alone, according to International Christian Concern (ICC).

This January the Fulani attackers attacked the predominantly Christian village of Kwayine in Adamawa State, killing 10 people and destroying homes.

The ICC said that although Nigeria has been waging a military campaign against Boko Haram, military authorities have refused to act against the Fulani terrorist group  … read more

The Desktop Reinvented – Pavilion Wave

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The Desktop Reinvented – Pavilion Wave

Don’t be fooled by its compact profile. This desktop beauty packs all the power and performance of a standard desktop in a fraction of the space. Get the performance of a 6th generation Intel® Core™ i processor*, up to 16GB memory, and optional graphics cards in the all new HP Pavilion Wave Desktop.

Fill the room with sound, or web chat with incredible clarity. The fully-intergrated audio experience from HP’s first tower with a built-in speaker and microphone turns your desktop into an entertainment machine.

Find out more here: http://store.hp.com/

The Word of God is the answer to all sex problems?

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The Word of God is the answer to all sex problems?

Over the years I have heard a number of preachers say that the word of God is the answer to all sex problems. It has been my opinion that only naive, brainwashed persons talk like that. Here is why:

1. The Bible says next to nothing about sex except its morality.

2. There is more to sex than morality. There is biology and there is chemistry (or psychology)

3. Sex positions? The Bible is silent. Take note that even the popular Missionary position that many church people live and die by is not mentioned in the bible. They hold on to it because they have been brainwashed to.

4. Contraception and contraceptive measures? The Bible is silent. No; that incident in which that Old Testament dude withdrew and ejaculated outside of the woman and got judged by God was not about contraception. It was about the fact that he violated a law that said he must have children by the woman in question. In withdrawing, he wronged her.

5. Saying the word of God is the answer to all sex problems is like saying the word of God is the answer to all transportation problems. Cars didn’t exist in Bible times and so the Bible says nothing about cars. But Christians ride cars and fly today. There were no vibrators, for example, in Bible times and so the bible is silent about that. Yet, we find many preachers talking bad about vibrators and other sex tools.

6. Our churches are full of sex issues. Often, those involved keep quiet because they see how unrealistic what their pastors and churches teach about such issues are. Many married couples have serious sex issues. Singles have questions that aren’t being answered either for the most part.

7. The standard response to sex issues in church circles is: pray and trust God. Those who have sex issues will tell you that it doesn’t work. Eventually, they find their own practical solutions some other way.

8. It is fact that people who have the strictest religious upbringing are the most sexually inhibited. Often, Christians who have “lived” before embracing the Gospel have a richer perspective and tend to have a more fulfilling sex life.

9. The Bible is also silent about the orgasm. Which explains to a large extent the widespread ignorance in many church circles about this awesome experience. It is biology, not the word of God, that explains how an orgasm is achieved – and how the process tends to be different for the two different genders. As a matter of fact, there are huge throngs of people out in church circles who believe that sex is only for procreation. Their spouses suffer, and then often get tired of being denied sex.

10. Many times, the pastor who has preached from an inexperienced position that the Bible is the solution to all sex problems finally runs into a sex issue and finds that prayer and meditation in the word of God doesn’t solve it. But his reputation is on the line and so refuses to retract and correct the error he has preached.

11. One pastor said that all sex is the same. If you believe that, you must also believe that all pounded yam is the same. Yes; all shawarma is the same too; no? No serious person believes any of that.

12. Where in the Bible is the subject of hormones addressed on the subject of sexuality? Different people have different sex drives. Different things turn on different people. That’s psychology or chemistry, depending on how you put it. What of how different sex positions result in varying emotional experiences and responses? The Bible? Silent.

I can go on a little bit more, but what’s the point? At the end of the day, people are free to preach whatever catches their fancy. I only worry about impressionable people who will swallow the lies hook, line and sinker and then get caught in the Matrix. I am sorry to offend you church guys who believe this statement, but the truth is that the word of God is grossly inadequate in dealing with most sex problems. That is a truth that will set you free if you embrace it.

Written by Mister Mo of  Houseofmo.com

Animated Explanation of ‘Heaven & Earth’

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Animated Explanation of ‘Heaven & Earth’

An animated walkthrough of “Heaven and Earth”

The theme of “Heaven and Earth” begins in the first verse of the BIble: “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.”

The Bible Project is a non-profit creating animated videos that explain the narrative of the Bible. These videos are free to use for personal and educational purposes. Download a full resolution version of this video along with a study guide at www.jointhebibleproject.com.

Support us so we can make more videos! You can give to the next video at www.jointhebibleproject.com.

Help us translate this video into other languages. You can find a transcript below. Email your translation to [email protected]

Heaven and Earth Transcript – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hjEQJbfQcBTDIdK480HiE1hZUAeZrHeVoAZzKgZBomw/edit?pref=2&pli=

About the authors:
Tim Mackie is a Pastor of Door of Hope church and a Professor at Western Seminary.
Jon Collins is a founder of Epipheo and Sincerely Truman and a veteran explainer video producer.

God Recognizes False Worship When He Sees It – Do You?

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God Recognizes False Worship When He Sees It – Do You?
“It is appropriate to ask whether there is much genuine, deep, heartfelt worship in our churches. In many evangelical churches people do not truly worship God. … If genuine worship is lacking in our churches, we should ask how we can bring ourselves to experience much more of the depth and richness of worship, which is the natural response of the believing heart …” (Wayne Grudem).
Dr. Grudem is spot on—many who attend church are not worshipping God, they simply go through the motions. But what is genuine worship? Worship is a combination of attitude and acts focused on reverence to God. The Hebrew meaning denotes a “bowing down, or prostrating oneself”; it is a posture reflecting homage and reverence toward the one true and living God. If there is a problem with worshipping God, the problem isn’t with God; the problem is with us. Worship serves as the thermometer of the heart by measuring our spiritual condition … are we hot, cold or lukewarm? Granted, worship isn’t necessarily measured by actions such as jumping up and down; it’s measured by the condition (temperature) of our heart—is it rejoicing for joy and breaking and submitting to God?
Sadly, many confuse false worship with genuine worship. According to numerous theological resources, false worship is when an entity, person or object is worshipped instead of God—our passion for “something” outweighs our passion for Him; it draws us away.
Most don’t have idols on the shelf because they are parked in the garage. We don’t pay homage to a statue in the living room because we are memorized by a 44″ box affectionately known as “the entertainment center.” We don’t sacrifice things on the altar, but we do sacrifice our time (and time with of our children) on the altar of misguided priorities.
Of course cars, televisions and the Internet are not evil, they are neutral; but it is our love for them that tilts the scale away from God. We find hours a day for entertainment, but have little time to worship. Do we honestly believe that this misapplication of priorities doesn’t affect our spirituality? Think again.
False worship also includes inappropriate and improper acts supposedly directed toward God. Many simply go through the motions at church. They attend as if they are doing God a favor. The heart is not engaged and the soul is not lifted up … they are bored.
Here is a test to measure the spiritual condition of the heart: Do we want the worship time to hurry and finish? Are we dreading another song as our eyes glance at the clock? Do we come late to miss the boring worship? If so, I would seriously encourage heart examination.
I am not suggesting that if the worship seems dead it’s our fault … not all of the worship taking place is heartfelt and Spirit-led. There is dry formalism and dead ritualism taking place in the church today. Many sing “about” God but they have never truly experienced Him—head knowledge without heart knowledge.
He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He is not a cosmic force, universal love or a doting grandfather, He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We must worship Him. He created, redeemed and saved us. One of the countless hymns states it well, “O’ the Blood: washes me; shed for me … what a sacrifice that saved my life, yes the blood, it is my victory!”
Luke 19:10 records, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” John 1:29 passionately declares, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” And 1 Peter 2:24 reminds us that “He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” These facts demand worship. Many go ballistic when a favorite team wins, but appear handcuffed and bored in church. How sad.
Worship must be a priority. This is not optional, it’s vital. “Therefore I desire that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands …” (1 Tim. 2:8). We cannot live like heathens all week and expect heaven to fall during worship. We cannot fill our mind with darkness all week and expect the light of Christ to shine during worship. We cannot worship ourselves and things all week and expect to turn our affections toward God on one designated day.
Worship is a lifestyle! Worship and holiness are interwoven. 1 Peter 1:16 says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” Holiness is not a strange, outdated word. Holiness is being set apart or separated from anything that causes us to sin, whether mentally (in what we think) or physically (in what we do). Holiness begins in the heart: “The Holy Spirit is first of all a moral flame. It is not an accident of language that He is called the Holy Spirit, for whatever else the word holy may mean it does undoubtedly carry with it the idea of moral purity” (Tozer).
Watch sermons at wcfav.org. 
Shane Idleman is the founder and lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Lancaster, California, just North of Los Angeles. He recently released his 7th book, Desperate for More of God at shaneIdleman.com. Shane’s sermons, articles, books, and radio program can all be found at wcfav.org. Follow him on Facebook at:facebook.com/confusedchurch.

British Broadcaster Sky unveils new environmental campaign – Sky Ocean Rescue

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British Broadcaster Sky unveils new environmental campaign – Sky Ocean Rescue

Sky, one of Europe’s leading entertainment company, has reveals details of its new environmental campaign, Sky Ocean Rescue, which will bring to the fore the dire health of the planet’s oceans to millions of people across Europe. The campaign, as reported on their website was initially led by the News department, which aims to educate and inspire people to change their behaviour to help protect our oceans and dramatically reduce the amount of plastic waste produced every day that end up in them. Their objectives are as follows:

  • Aimed at educating and inspiring customers and the wider public about the impact that humankind is having on ocean health, starting with a focus on the need to reduce plastic waste
  • Launches 24 January 2017 with two days of coverage on Sky News and TG24 including  documentary “A Plastic Tide” looking at the problem of single-use plastics
  • Sky News poll shows that 84% of people are concerned about the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans
  • HRH The Prince of Wales, long term environmental leader, lends his support to campaign

The campaign called “Sky Ocean Rescue” will encompass a range of initiatives to highlight the issues affecting ocean health, starting with single-use plastics.

Christian Mail welcome this initiative by SKY, addressing Health and Environmental issues

Sky News reaches 107 million people per week and by bringing the issues to life through its platforms hopes to inspire millions of people to take action, discuss solutions and join the organisation in making a difference. This will be achieved by helping people to see how they can help reverse the damage being done to our oceans in a way that is relevant to their everyday lives and asking them to make simple behavioural changes.

It will also ensure that action inside Sky’s business matches this ambition. The company is dramatically reducing single-use plastics across its sites, starting by removing all single-use plastic water bottles, plastic straws, cups and micro beads in cleaning products.

Sky Ocean Rescue will officially launch at 6am on 24 January on Sky News with two days of special coverage to show the magnitude of the issues around ocean health, the impact it is having on the world, and how we can all change our behaviour to make a difference by reducing our reliance on single-use plastics.

Below are comments (culled from SKY website) from SKY CEO, Jeremy Darroch and The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, who are both strong supporters of the campaign.

Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive of Sky, commented: “At Sky we want to make a difference to issues that really matter, particularly for our customers. We have, I believe, a strong history in using our voice to make an impact when it comes to environmental issues. The health of our oceans is in a dire state and we ignore it at our peril, so we are asking all our customers around Europe to help us to bring ocean health to the fore. We will put the full weight of Sky behind the campaign and I firmly believe together we can make a meaningful difference.”

HRH The Prince of Wales, a long term environmental leader, has lent his support to the campaign and when speaking to Sky News on the release of the new Ladybird Expert Guide to Climate Change that he authored, said: “I find it sobering to think that almost all the plastic ever produced is still here somewhere on the planet in one form or another and will remain here for centuries to come, possibly thousands of years. Sky’s ocean plastics campaign will hopefully create further awareness of this incredibly serious issue.”

Single-use, disposable product accounts for 40% of all plastic. This includes drinks bottles, cotton buds, straws, coffee stirrers and plastic cutlery. This kind of plastic is used for just a few seconds and will then remain on our planet for centuries.

A Sky News poll shows that 84% of people are concerned about the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans yet the problem is at crisis point.

This is a global issue, but also one that is keenly affecting the health of the beaches in the UK.  On 24 January the Sky News team will report from different beaches around the world – from Mumbai to Weston-super-Mare – and look at plastic waste in the ocean and the devastating impact it has on the environment, marine life and how it is infiltrating the human food chain and entering our systems.

The coverage will also feature  a special one-hour documentary “A Plastic Tide” airing at 8pm on Sky Atlantic focusing on the devastating effects of plastic pollution in our oceans, and the impact it could be having on us all. Viewers will have a chance to catch the documentary again the following day on Sky News and its multiple digital products.

On the day of launch and throughout the course of the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign members of the public will be asked to join the campaign and make lifestyle changes to reduce the amount of plastic they use. More information and details on how to join the campaign are available at www.skyoceanresue.com

 

… read more here

About Sky
Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company, serving 22 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.
Sky has annual revenues of £12 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of £5.2 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).
(c) Sky News 2017

Is Oral Sex Okay for Christians ?

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Is Oral Sex Okay for Christians ?

In the last month ten questions have arrived on the question of oral sex. The question is always the same: Pastor John, is this practice permissible in a Christian marriage, or is it always sinful?

Questions relating to sexual intimacy should, I think, be handled with what you might call verbal modesty, rather than shocking or crass words. I think dressing and talking in immodest ways are both ways. So that is kind of governing some of my language now.

These are real concerns. I am ok with this question. It is a little bit, you know, difficult and sensitive, but it is ok. People want biblical guidance and so here is my effort at biblical wisdom. First of all I am assuming the question is only relating to people who are married when I give this counsel. I think it is wrong outside marriage. And we can talk about that another time more extensively. But here is the short answer. Why? Oral sex is even more intimate and delicate, it seems, then copulation. And we know this because even married couples are wondering if they should go there. It is as if it is a stage of intimacy that may not even be proper for married people. And so to think it can be an innocent substitute for copulation so people can obey the letter of the law outside marriage is a mirage. That is the first observation.

In marriage here is what I would say. If oral sex is wrong, I can think of four possible reasons it would be wrong. I will name them and then I will ask this question. Do those four things exist?

  1. It would be wrong if it were prohibited in the Bible.
  2. It would be wrong if it were unnatural.
  3. It would be wrong if it were unhealthy or, that is, harmful.
  4. It would be wrong if it were unkind.

So let’s take those one at a time.

Number one, I don’t think oral sex is explicitly prohibited in any biblical command. If the Bible pro-scribes it, it would have to be by principle and not by an explicit command.

Number two, is it unnatural? This is a tricky one. The male and female genitals are so clearly made for each other that there is a natural fitness or beauty to it. What about oral sex? Now you might jump to the conclusion and say: Nope, that is not natural, but I am slow to go there because of what the Proverbs and the Song of Solomon say about a wife’s breasts. This is kind of an analogy. So consider this. It seems to me nothing is more natural than a baby snuggling in his mother’s arms drinking at her breast. That is what breasts are. They are designed to feed babies. So is there anything physically natural about a husband’s fascination with his wife’s breasts? Well, you might say no. That is not what breasts are for. But Proverbs 5:19 says: Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight. Be intoxicated always with her love. And Song of Solomon 7:7–8 are even more explicit, speaking of the woman: Your stature is like a palm tree and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine.

Well, even though there is very little anatomical correlation between a man’s hands or his lips and his wife’s breasts, it surely seems to be, quote, natural, in another way, namely built in delight and desire that God in his Word seems to commend for our marital enjoyment. So I ask: Well, might there be similar desires for oral sex or other kinds of sex? So I doubt that we should put a limit on a married couple based on the claim of it being unnatural. That is risky, but that is where I come down on the naturalness of it.

Here is number three. Is it unhealthy or harmful. Well, it certainly might be if there are any sexually transmitted diseases present. And it could be performed in harmful ways. And so the couple needs to be very honest and caring by not taking risks that would be unloving.

Which leads to the last one, number four: Is it unkind? Now I think this one is probably the one that touches the rawest nerve and the one that has the greatest impact. Will you pressure your spouse for oral sex if he or she finds it unpleasant? If so, then you are unkind. And it is a sin to be unkind. Ephesians 4:2. Be kind to one another. But the key word here is pressure. I know that 1 Corinthians 7:4 says the wife does not have authority over own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. And the context there is sex. So what does that mean practically? Well, it means that both the husband and the wife have the right to say to the other: I would like to blank. And both of them have the right to say: I would rather not blank. And in a good marriage, the biblically beautiful marriage, both of them seek to outdo the other in showing kindness.

So those are my principles, Tony, that would guide, I think, the Christian couple in this matter of oral sex.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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