John Markum

“The VIRGIN Bachelor”

virgin

That’s what the magazine read on my way through the checkout line at WalMart (yes, WalMart, don’t judge me). Not that I’m racing home to catch Sean Lowe picking through two dozen plus women on national television for The Bachelor, but it’s hard to miss all of the buzz as the season is apparently winding down. The cliff notes of the buzz stirring lately seem to be that Sean, “a devote Christian” has been saving himself for marriage, sexually speaking – something difficult to maintain as a contestant of the show, from what I understand.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that The Bachelor is a suitable show, nor am I advocating getting emotionally (or physically) entangled with multiple people for the sake of millions of viewers’ entertainment. I also am not verifying that this season’s Bachelor is a role-model Christian. I don’t know the guy! However, if he has indeed committed to saving his sexuality for marriage, I certainly support such a commitment.

The rub for me, is that many of the news articles I’ve seen are treating Sean as if he has some disability for being an attractive man in his 20’s that is not sleeping with any number of the potentially willing women on his show. Apparently, now engaged to one of the “contestants,” he still insists on waiting until their wedding to have sex.

I’m tired of the way the media, internet, and movies try to brainwash our culture about our own sexuality. To the point that a man who appears physically healthy is criticized for valuing himself enough to save his sexuality for a commitment (a.k.a. marriage) where it can be freely expressed with a trusted person (a.k.a. his wife). If he isn’t “doing it” there must be a reason, right? Because “normal” people don’t wait until marriage for sex… right?!

Listen up men…

  • Having sex does not make you a “real man”.
  • Choosing to delay your own gratification makes you wise, not weird.
  • Having sex with virtually every willing female does not make you a man – dogs do that.
  • Real men commit to keeping their God-given sexuality for their wife alone.
  • Sex before marriage ruins good relationships and prolongs bad ones. I haven’t seen an exception yet.
  • If you’ve made some mistakes in the past, you can be different from this point forward – your past does not have to define you.

Assuming this season’s Bachelor and his fiance do maintain their sexual boundaries, I am very confident that it will all work out on their wedding night. For all the talk of the need for “sexual compatibility,” our culture forgets that their talking about people, not used cars. I know far more people who slept around that regret it, than those who saved themselves and wished they had not.

Be unique. Save your sex… And find something better than The Bachelor to watch, too! Gees, people…

Blessings,
Pastor John

Risk Takers

Risk TakerI’ve known of some people doing some pretty incredible things:

  1. I watched Robbie Madison ride a dirt bike up a ramp, land it on top of the Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas, then ride it back down in a 100 ft. freefall.
  2. I saw Nik Wallenda tight-rope walk across Niagara Falls.
  3. I got to be there live for Darren Taylor – aka, Professor Splash – dive from 35 feet into 12″ of water.
  4. My own father once went cage diving with great white sharks over 15 feet long! Continue reading “Risk Takers”

Earth: Expiration 12/21/12 (?)

TheEndI’m not going to waste my time trying to convince you that the world is not going to end this Friday for one reason:

I don’t know.

Sooner or later, life on earth as we know it will cease to exist. That’s true for all of us individually and collectively. So it could happen Friday. I doubt it, but you never know.

The Bible tells us not to boast of tomorrow – you never know what a day may bring about. Good wisdom. And whether we’re talking about the return of Christ, nuclear fall out, World War III, or simply our own individual demise, the fact is our days are numbered.

We can choose to live in fear of that reality, or we can choose to live each day to the fullest, seeking to discover all that God created us to be as individuals, communities, a generation, a nation, etc.

That full potential is only found when we stop trying to be our own Savior and turn to Christ instead.

The “end of the world” could even happen here and now as I type up this post. But whenever that day finally does come for us, I pray that you will be rea

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