Gay Marriage - a Social Justice Issue?

There is a great deal of conversation already floating around the internet about the Christian's response to homosexuality. But it seems to be one of those issues that's prompting me to write, whether I'm weary of thinking about it or not.

I intend to think here about this issue specifically among Christians, and in the church.  However, I also recommend an excellent article by Dennis Prager at http://jewishworldreview.com/1012/prager103012.php3 which addresses homosexual marriage from a more secular viewpoint.  

A couple Bible passages come to mind as a reason to add my voice to the mix.

Ezekiel 3:

17  "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.
18  "When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die’; and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
19  "Yet if you have warned the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.
20  "Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he shall die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.
21  "However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself."

Now, in no way do I consider myself a prophet. :)  (and all the leadership of my church draws a hearty sigh of relief to hear THAT).  But I have the words of God ... in a book ... and I wonder if unwillingness to speak about what I've read, when it seems so relevant, might be considered a grievous error.

The other passage was 2 Timothy

1  I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires;
4  and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.

Now, just as I'm not a prophet, nor am I a preacher (there’s that sigh of relief from backstage again).  But even a lay person, is, I think, called to “rightly divide the Word of truth”  (2 Timothy 2:15), and it grieves me to see the plain truth of Scripture ignored in favor of quirky interpretations designed to support current cultural trends.

I'm responding particularly to this video

which is one of many sources that compare the way people in the past used the Bible to support racism and Christians today who point out the Scriptures’ condemnation of homosexual behavior.

Those making that comparison are completely missing the point.

Racists were trying to twist the Bible to support a sin that was currently socially acceptable.

While this IS happening again today, it is not happening at all in the way they claim.

The current error is looking at the cultural norm of "all consensual sex is acceptable" and twisting the Bible to agree.  This issue goes so much farther than, "is homosexual behavior wrong."  The real question is, "what is God's design for sex?"  Once that question is answered, then we're faced with, "how do we live in response to that answer?"

Looking to culture to answer those two questions is precisely the same approach that gave us the supposed Biblical justification for racism.  Rather we need to look to the Bible, and allow that to be the lens through which we interpret our culture.

The truth is, God DOES treat sex as having a higher meaning than what our world ascribes to it.  Over and over, He emphasizes that it's a blessing that's reserved for marriage.  In Genesis 2, we see God establishing the marriage relationship:

18  Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
19  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20  And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21   So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place.
22  And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23  And the man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
24  For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
25  And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

During the whole creation story, we hear, again and again, that God looked at what He'd made, and it was good;it was good; it was good.  Yet, here, is the first time something is "not good."  Adam, alone, was not good.

God created a partner suited to filling that need.  But beyond simple companionship, we begin to see God expand the meaning of that relationship, using it as a picture of spiritual realities:

• God and Israel (Isaiah 54:4,5, among many others, with Hosea being the most notable example - as the entire book is a long metaphor comparing Hosea's unfaithful wife Gomer with Israel's idolatry against God.)
• Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-32, Revelation 19:6-8, many many others)

Marriage, and therefore sex, if we're going to wed the two (pun intended) in the way the Bible does, seems to be one of those issues that carries more meaning than it originally appears.  There are many parallels drawn between this relationship and spiritual realities.  So when we allow our culture to re-shape our perspective on these things, perhaps we are tampering with a tree whose roots go far deeper than we know.

We live in a world that has been marred by original sin in every way.  Part of that sin-sickness means there are innumerable ways that suffering touches our lives which were not in God's pre-sin plan. And that includes the fact that some people are born with an orientation towards certain sins, including improper relationships.

If we acknowledge that people are born with predispositions towards certain sins, does that mean the church should refuse to speak out against those sins, lest they offend a struggler?  I would contend that if we do not, then we are failing those people.  If we are too delicate to mention that something is a sin, then we are also too delicate to offer hope.

If a person is born with a homosexual orientation ... it seems the question always follows, how can we possibly expect them to find contentment in an opposite sex relationship?

While God did say, "it's not good for man to be alone" we are later told that some are destined to singleness for the furtherance of the kingdom of God.  Marriage is the normal state for most people, but not all. In fact, singleness is commended in 1 Cor. 7 as being a state whereby one can serve God without distraction.

The following essay was written by Emily Perl Kingsley is about having a child with a disability, but I think it applies equally well to our approach to any large life-circumstance which God has allowed, but yet would not have been our choice:

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by

Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

When God "works all things together for good to those who love Him," it doesn't mean He will bend His plan according to our desires.  But rather it means when we allow Him to bend our desires according to His plan, we'll find there are joys we never expected waiting for us on the other side of that wrenching.

All comments are welcome (disagreeing with me or not), but I'll only approved those that are rated PG, and refrain from personal attacks.  This little bitty blog is the only fiefdom I get ... so I have to make SOME rules. : )

Conservatism is Calling

I'm working on an honest-to-goodness, real, thought-out post.  But it's not ready yet.  In the meanwhile, I found this video to be excellent:

A Brief Moment of Grace

From this morning's One Year Bible reading (New Living Translation - which is new to me):

“O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today.

⁸ “But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery. ⁹ For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery.

- Ezra 9:6-9a

This really struck me this morning.  It's referring to Israel's behavior as a nation, but as individuals, we can't look at our own conduct, motives, words, and not acknowledge that "steeped in sin" pretty much covers it.  

However, God mercifully throws in a "But now" ... we are given a brief moment of grace.  He's brightened our eyes -- allowed us to see our need.  He's given us security -- the offer of deliverance from our sinful natures through Christ's sacrifice.  He hasn't abandoned us in our slavery.

A brief moment of grace ... a respite from the insanity of self-focus, and self-worship to hear Him calling. 

Hate

It seems that Facebook has taken a lot of the steam out of my blogging, but this morning I'm finding myself thinking about hate.

I've noticed in the last few weeks that somehow the meaning of this word has been radically re-defined.

Let's start with the dictionary definition:

hate

 [heyt] Show IPA verb, hat·ed, hat·ing, noun

verb (used with object)
 

1. to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest. 

(examples of usage: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry.)
 

2. to be unwilling; dislike. (example of usage: I hate to do it.)

"Hate" is a nasty word.  And the actual presence of it is at the root of a great many of the world's evils.

So now ... though ... the definition has shifted, and it seems that the word is used more or less to mean "disagree with."  

So, if I take any position on any issue that implies that others are wrong.  Or worse yet, implies that I believe that others are DOING wrong, I'm "hating."

Sorry ... friends ... not only is that NOT "hate", but it cheapens the word.   
  

History has SHOWN us hate.  To lump someone who's expressing disagreement, or even condemnation, in the same camp with those who have committed genocide, is insane.  (so, yes, I suppose I'm "hating" there.  I seem prone to it, apparently).  

 When we use the word this way, we're implying that strong disagreement will automatically lead to animosity, or worse yet, violence.  But if people don't disagree, and don't discuss, then there is no refinement of ideas.  We never realize WHY people hold the positions they do, and we don't learn to know them as individuals, rather than stereotypes.

The fear of "hating" creates far more distance between people, than it would if we simply looked in one another's eyes and said, "I think you're wrong."  

forget about it!

I was looking at Isaiah 54:4 today:

"Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. "

The phrase in blue stood out to me. We all have these memories which, when we touch on them, make us flinch. Stupid things said and done ... sinful (or just dumb) choices made ... being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and seeing what you wish you hadn't ...

When I first read the above verse, I automatically had the thought, "praise the Lord, He chooses not to remember that stuff. And He doesn't cause us to be disgraced ... cause others to remember it."

But it's more than that. He says I will forget the shame of my youth.

He's going to allow it to fade, to the degree those memories won't fling themselves in my path.

I'm thankful for that. There are SO many things it's just so nice to forget!

these defects lend an air of authenticity

I was just reading the label on a pizza tray (thanks Dad!).

I always look for a particular line on labels ... the "this thing is gonna get battered when you use it so don't complain about it" phrase.

This one was a new wording to me ...
Slight scratches caused by the cutting action of knives and forks are normal, and lend your piece an air of authenticity.

Let's put aside for a second how a pizza pan could not be "authentic" ... I don't know either.

Instead, let's think about the Velveteen Rabbit idea ... that slight scratches, imperfections, dents, flaws ... lend an air of authenticity.

On garments, they tell you that irregularities in the fabric are normal, and part of the overall "look."

Hand stitched quilts are beautiful, and stand out because of slight unevenness-es in the stitching.

God chooses imperfect people, and does wonderful things with them.

This week, I was reading Streams in the Dessert and the following quote jumped out at me:

Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory. - J.R. Miller

As we sit here, the day between Good Friday and Easter ... isn't it a glorious thing to think about the One, who went willingly to the cross, to pay our debt? And then, rose again, in proof that payment had been accepted, and we would, one day, be raised?

Since this one turning point in history, God has, for 2,000 years, been gathering His church together ... His little collection of battered, ragged, and moth-eaten people. changing them. USING them. He's not like us. He doesn't go for the pristine, and perfect. When He starts a project, He looks to use the workers, and ingredients, that have fallen to the bottom of the barrel ... so when the work is done, the glory goes to Him.

To repeat a message that never tires those who have heard it most often ... have you accepted what He offers? He's calling the wretches, the sinful, and the failed ... and He offers forgiveness, new life, and hope. Have you taken Him up on it?

my nephew, the antidepressant

How can you NOT smile at this little fellow? :)

so ... I'm told my blog is boring ...

One of my faithful readers (out of a grand total of five), and also a family member, has declared my blog "boring."

This is the problem with obsession. I'm fascinated by bookbinding right now. Whenever anyone asks me in real life, "so how are you doing?" the question is bound to be answered (snicker ... "bound" ... snicker) sorry ... is bound to be answered with some account of whatever tome is currently in pieces on my workbench.

You know how a friend, with whom you ordinarily enjoy spending time, becomes the world's most tedious person when in the throes of infatuation? Their whole world revolves around potential-boyfriend-to-be, and you've heard enough about him to be able to write his unauthorized biography? Yeah ... that's me and bookbinding right now. :)

So ... if you want a non-bookbinding topic, you'll have to suggest it yourself. Ask a question, and I'll answer it. Though it better be VERY far afield from books, or you KNOW where I'll take it.

So ... about that calf-skin bound copy of William Cowper I'm working on right now. I started sewing last night, and I can't WAIT to get home from work to spend more time with it! :)

Next Project

A family at church brought in this Bible to be worked on. It's a big one! Maybe 10 pounds? Heavy enough that you don't sling it around lightly!
Fortunatley the leather is in good shape. The front and back hinges need to be re-done, and the outside signatures re-sewn.
I have the cover off, and am hoping to re-sew the signatures this weekend, and start repairing the cover.

Because it's so big, and so nice, I'm finding the idea of putting a needle into it very intimidating! The text block is sitting on my sewing frame right now ... and I go over and look at it periodically. But at some point, I am going to HAVE to poke some holes and start sewing!

Maybe tomorrow ...

On the other hand, I AM getting some housework done, as I'm avoiding the scary Bible. Normally it works the opposite way ... the books get done, and the house gets ignored!

Dave's Bible, part 2

This is what I started with - putting the detatched pages in a sealed container to try & get some moisture in them.

And a picture of the biggest flaw - it doesn't open as freely as I wish it would.

Dave's Bible Done

Another learning experience ... There are a few things I'm not pleased with, but I see progress.

This one was the most dilapidated that I've worked on so far. It has an adhesive-bound text block, and the last 1/4 inch or so of the pages were all ripped out and completely separated from one another. So getting them all back in place was a bit of a challenge.

The cover doesn't open as freely as I'd like, and that seems to be an on-going problem I need to address.

Still like doing it ... still learning!

Next Project - Danielle's Bible

A college student from church asked me to work on her Bible, and it's the next one in line.

Here's how it stands now. I've smoothed out the wrinkled pages with a bone folder, and it's in the nipping press now, hopefully getting them to stay smooth.

The text block is intact, but the cover is loose on the front.

She choose some fabric (the pretty big dots pictured at the end of this post) for the cover. So I'll be attaching double-sided interfacing to the fabric, and then paper to the interfacing, and using that to re-do the cover. Need to do a bit of research on how to get the cover corners nice and flat before re-covering it.

Fun!!!!

(To those family & friends who are bored with all the book-binding posts ... yeah ... sorry about that. It's kind of an obsession these days. Ignore me without guilt!) :)

Dave's Bible - so far

Current status of the Bible originally pictured here:

The linen is drying on the boards. Next step is to trim the cloth & leather, fill in the inside of the cover, and attach end papers. Then done! He's been very patient, and I hope to have it to him on Sunday!

Leather-wrapped tool handles

I've been wanting to wrap the handles of my tools with leather. I found a product online that worked really well for this, and I wanted to give them a plug!

What I ordered was the original version of these leather bicycle-handle wraps. Don't let the price deter you. The charge he's quoting is for enough leather to cover bicycle handlebars. He will sell smaller pieces for WAY less.

If anyone out there is interested in trying it. I did some instructions, and took pictures.

1. Beginning at the bottom, wrap tool handle with product such that the leather wraps overlap the pared (suede-free) edges, and a small triangle is created just below where you want the wrap to start.

2. Mark inside of leather at the level where you want the wrap to stop.

3. Lay leather flat, and cut at 45 degree angles as follows: the top angle having its highest point where you made your mark in the previous step. The bottom angle such that it is parallel with the top. (see photo).

4. Pare down suede at top and bottom of strip, creating a bevel. This wouldn't be absolutely necessary, but it does create a nicer finish.

5. Paint with PVA (It may be possible to use regular Elmers, but I used PVA since I had it).

6. Wrap handle as you did previously. The 45 degree angle you cut will make a straight line at the handle bottom, and then it will naturally wrap from there on. I pulled a bit to keep it taut. It might stretch a bit, so you may have to re-trim the top.

7. Smooth the leather, and let dry overnight.

The tools that I wrapped (except for the one on the far left, which I chose not to.)

Strip which I cut to wrap the scalpel handle.

Bevels at the top and bottom of strip.

Scalpel handle immediately after wrapping.

All the tools wrapped.

when confronted with a snowbound vehicle

I posit that a great deal can be known about a person based upon his/her reaction to a vehicle buried in snow.

Discuss.

LOOK what I can do!

The adorable nephew has just discovered that he can stand up.

The look on his face just makes me grin!

Thoughts on Boredom ...

In the last year or so, I've thought a good deal about the distinction between the basic introvert and extrovert personality.

Growing up, I tried to turn myself into an extrovert, because that's what I thought the Christian was supposed to be - outgoing, vivacious, always going going going and doing doing doing.

Later, I realized that I found that life exhausting. I've heard someone say that the distinction between the introvert and extrovert personalities weren't how outgoing someone was, but rather where they found that spending time alone, or time with others, stoked their energy level or depleted their energy level.

I've definitely found that I'm renewed when I'm alone. While I enjoy times of community, it's always like a glass of cool water when I come through my solitary front door, and hear the latch click shut behind me.

I was thinking this morning about how that relates to "boredom." I was telling someone the other day that I honestly can't remember the last time I was "bored." But then I wondered this morning if that's not true.

People normally think of boredom as something that happens when one's alone, with nothing to do. But I wonder if what the introvert experiences as boredom is exactly the opposite. Perhaps for the introvert, boredom is that antsy, restless feeling that comes when you're ready to seek out solitude.

An extrovert's boredom happens when he or she has had too much of what doesn't come naturally, and wants to get out into the world. Perhaps an introvert's boredom happens, also, when he or she is ready to seek the place where they are at rest.

So while my extrovert sister-in-law may be bored after too many days at home without anything fun to do. Maybe my boredom is when I've spent 3 hours at the happy-fun-party, and feel myself eager to hide in the ladies' room for a while for a little quiet!

Interested in opinions, if anyone else finds the subject interesting!!!

Happy New Year!

Just finished celebrating London New Year (which happens at 7:00 our time), with my brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew. Here's a picture of the younger members of the party. :)

Well of COURSE it's legit!

Dear User,
 
    We are sorry to inform you that we are currently working on securing our
    server for the year, during this process accounts which are not manually verified by us
    will be deleted, Please confirm and submit your information for manual
    verification.
 
    Information which is to be provided is below:
    User Name:
    User Id:
    Password:
    Date Of Birth:
    Occupation:
 
    Upon confirmation of information from you, we will manually verify your
    Hot mail! Account and reserve it from being deleted, we are sorry for any
    inconveniences this might have caused providing your information over the
    email.
    Warning Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two
    weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
    Thanks  Hot mail.. 


Spammers would be greatly benefited by some self-study on grammar and punctuation.  :)

Decorated Paper

In my class last fall, we learned to make decorated paper out of torn-up magazine pages. You layer them, sand them, then paint and wax them. I was working on a sample of this with a friend, and we finished ours today. Here's what I came up with.

It was great fun!

As with a lot of what I'm doing right now, it was a learning project. Next time, I'll definitely use smaller pieces, and will sand a bit more, and use paint with more color. But it was encouraging.