Month: September, 2015

Pastor Peter’s “Letter to My Grown Children: Good News!”

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An open letter to my grown children

Hi guys,

Last Sunday, I spoke about something close to my heart. My guess is that you are not really listening to my sermons. I hope you are reading this though. I know it’s an uneven playing field. Kids will find it hard to forgive their parents for not reading a letter they took hours to write, but cannot imagine they need to read their parents’ letter to them. Krystal, thanks for letting me know you’re reading my letters. That is a great encouragement to me. Today, I will pick up a point I spoke about on Sunday in the hope that this redundancy will somehow increase the chance of you getting the message.

When we talk about the “Gospel,” some long time Christian begins to yawn. “I’ve heard that before. It’s a repetition of old stuff.” And I don’t blame them for thinking that way. I did too! After all, my place in heaven is secured, there is no more need to talk about the Gospel.

I prefer the parsed version “Good News” rather than “Gospel” because meaning is lost in the symbolic word “Gospel.” First, we’ll talk about the “News” aspect of Good News.
War is Over!

On 15 August 1945 Emperor Hirohito of Japan broadcast Japan’s surrender to the Allies. About one month later (12 September) the Instrument of Surrender was signed in Singapore’s City Hall for the surrender of Southeast Asia, and the Japanese troops were demobilized or taken prisoners. I want to take you back to that time between Emperor Hirohito’s announcement and the formal surrender in Singapore.

Can you imagine the jubilation in Singapore when the people heard the surrender of Emperor Hirohito? That was NEWS. GOOD NEWS! People in Singapore may or may not run out into the streets to celebrate because the Japanese soldier could still shoot them. And General Itagaki could still order his 70,000 soldiers to fight on. But there is no mistake, the emperor’s surrender marked the end of the Japanese occupation of Singapore – almost.

That NEWS demanded a response from everyone. Most people in Asia were ecstatic. The Japanese informants or collaborators were fearful. Many Japanese soldiers were incredulous.

15 August was not the announcement by an academic about why he thinks Japan will lose the war. It was news that Japan had surrendered. It was not private good news that a person found an abandoned fortune. It was news that demanded a response. It was news that would change who was in power, it would change society in ways not yet understood, but it was unmistakable good news.

The Good News of Jesus Christ is news that demands a response in our life. The NEWS is this. God’s Savior of the world has come. He did not overthrow the Romans as we thought he would. He overthrew the ultimate enemy of all humanity and all creation – death. He defeated death by rising from the dead. After 40 days, he ascended into heaven. He shall return to create a new heaven and a new earth. Get ready for his return.

The “Good” part of Good News is this: Regardless of where you stood in relation to God, he invites you into his Kingdom. So, come now, repent of your rebellion against God. You will be forgiven. Come quickly before Jesus returns to judge those who rebel against God.

The partial message

The Gospel is often presented partially as “Jesus died for your sins. If you accept him, you will go to heaven when you die.” This is not really Good News. It is more like an option to take up eternal life insurance. When the GOOD NEWS of Jesus is received in this way, there is no need to respond to it other than mutter our one time “sinner’s prayer.” The Good News is not about whether we “accept” Jesus. The Good News is objective declaration regardless of whether we appropriate it for ourselves.

When Emperor Hirohito surrendered, some Japanese soldiers occupying the Philippines refused to accept the news that Japan lost. They went into the jungle to hide out until Japan becomes victorious. Decades later, they were discovered. Their refusal to accept does not change the good news of Japan’s surrender. They still had to accept the news eventually.

The real message

On Resurrection Sunday, Jesus defeated death. He has brought in the everlasting Kingdom of God. All who belong to Jesus belong to God’s Kingdom. All who do not belong to Jesus belong to the Kingdom of Satan. We are asked to choose: “Do you want to belong to the Kingdom of the evil defeated foe, the Kingdom of Satan? Do you want to belong to the Kingdom of the Victorious Creator, Jesus? Do you want to belong to the Kingdom of death or the Kingdom of Life? Do you want to belong to the Kingdom of sin or the Kingdom of holiness?” The Good News is the news of the victory of Jesus and the offer to become a child of the victorious God. We must not exchange this powerful message for the lame message: “accept Jesus and go the heaven.”

When the Good News of Jesus Christ has been reduced to “going to heaven when we die,” we can ignore it till just before we die. And we can enjoy all this world has to offer while we are here. So we get the best of both worlds! (OK, folks are not so blatant, but that is what Christians have figured out they could do based on the partial Good News.)

Let’s go back to that time between the Japanese surrender on 15 Aug, and the execution of the Instrument of Surrender on 12 Sep. You will find Japanese soldiers still crawling all over Singapore. They ruled Singapore until the actual hand over.

The Good News is that Jesus has come as the Messiah (the Christ) to bring in the Kingdom of God. Upon his resurrection, he declared, “All authority is given to me, in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18). He has gone to the Father and will return to claim this world and to create a “New Heaven and New Earth.” The devil and his minions are like the defeated Japanese soldiers waiting for their final destruction. While they wait, they continue in their evil. They want us to forget they are a defeated foe. They want us to be complacent and push the return of Jesus out of our mind and actions. They want us to think what we do here does not matter because it’s all going up in smoke.

If we buy into the last lie, our faith becomes other-worldly. We will say, “Let me live my life any way I like while I walk this earth. As long as I have my ticket to heaven, I’m fine.”

Conversely, if we are aware of Satan’s defeat, and his impending judgment, we will live not in timidity, but in boldness. We know the day of demobilization of Satan and his army draws near. And in our life, we know the wicked will be held accountable for every wrong they do. We will start building for the time when their presence will be removed. We will demand justice, and dignity.

The Word of God tells us that the Kingdom work we do here will be recognized and rewarded. I cannot tell your how my paltry talents and limited success in ministry will be accounted. But Jesus tells me whether I multiply five bags of gold into another five, or two bags to gain two more, he will have the same commendation for me. “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21,23).

If we live our lives between two victories: the resurrection and the return of Christ, we will live differently. We will live purposeful lives because we will “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). We will live in courage and not in fear. We will pursue the righteousness of Jesus because we have an accountability. We will be positive about what we do knowing there is a reward for faithfulness even when our performance may not be stellar.

Guys, I want you to live well. To live in God’s abundance. To live in God’s Kingdom with awareness of your status as heir to that Kingdom. You will be happier, stronger, freer, than you imagine possible.

With all my love,

papa

Collision Over Food

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Bible References: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

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Collision Over Leadership

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Bible References: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

The Babbius Monument: Picture Article

Pastor Peter’s “Letter to My Grown Children: Feminism & MGTOW”

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An open letter to my grown children

Hi guys,

I grew up with two sisters whom I love, but with whom I fought more than I appreciated. Then mom and I had two of you girls first. The home was a gentle place full of feminine charms. When the boy came, I had feared the home will take a turn for the rough, but I am so grateful to God that Ari was not the headache that I was when I was growing up! At the human level, I attribute it to mom’s good humor which you all picked up. While there must be joys connected to boisterous boys wrestling at home, I thank God for mom’s gentleness that breathes in our home.

When God created Eve, I can imagine Adam’s awe. It was probably not a jumping, heel-clicking whoopee. I imagine it to be jaw-dropping awe. A helper so remarkable, so beautiful, so much of all that he needed even though he had neither the imagination nor the language to frame his deep longing. Then that jaw-dropping moment came when God brought him Eve. Eve was the mother of all the living, but she was also the quintessential woman. The woman who stands at the head of all mothers, sisters and daughters.

I had discoursed with you about how women are denigrated and abused at this time in history, more than ever before, through the effect of porn; and how women are expected to fulfill the inflamed lusts and evil in men. At the other end of the spectrum, we have men and women ignoring each other: feminism and MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way). That’s our conversation today.

Feminism is complex. Many assertions in feminism are good, and many are plain daft. When we look at the good assertions, we can say feminism is a good thing. When we look at the foolish aspects, we can say feminism is destructive. I deal with feminism by not addressing it. I think the role and status of women are better addressed by looking at Scripture and relating Scripture to life, rather than evaluate the multifaceted feminist movement.

But we can justly say that feminism has given rise to a general sense among some feminists: that they do not need men. So the more recent phenomenon of MGTOW is the unloved step-brother of feminism. Men now also say they don’t need women. A feminist will still marry if the man is willing to be emasculated. Consequently, many men are say it is too hard to marry a woman who is so domineering and demanding. It’s just not worth it. So they go solo and decide on singlehood.

And if I may say it candidly, the feminists who say they can sleep around like any man enable the MGTOW, wittingly or not. This aspect of feminism has devalued a woman, so she is now “free” to offer herself to a man without any expectation for commitment.

Human sexuality is one means through which God brings men and women into a committed relationship. When feminism offers sexuality without commitment, and science offers sexuality without consequences. Men who tend to have the stronger drive can now meet their sexual needs without commitment, or without women. And we have men and women going their own way.

My generation saw the rise of feminism. Your generation sees the rise of MGTOWism. MGTOWism is unlike feminism in that is passive-aggressive. Men can even be engaging in it without full consciousness of where they stand. Feminism and MGTOWism are phenomena leading to a historic breakdown in men-women relationship never before known in the recallable experience of humanity. This can’t be good. If truth be told, the values of feminism and MGTOWism have also made their way into marriages, adding further stress to marriages. Both these systems view the other gender as the problem. Each says, “I have my rights, and the other side is at fault.”

If we try to address men and women going their separate ways by critiquing their value systems, we will end up with divisive debates that will lead to further alienation. But there is a way forward. “Now let me show you a way of life that is best of all” (1 Cor 12:31b, NLT).

When love is applied to a marriage, we see a different value system at play. Paul explains: If you love your spouse, you will be patient. Your love will make you kind and not mean to your spouse. When you love your spouse, you will not be competitive towards your spouse and become envious of the other person’s success or ability. Love does not boast about how good I am compared to my spouse. Love is not about putting my spouse down or putting myself up to feed my pride or ego; it gives me permission to be humble towards my spouse. When I love my spouse, I will honor rather than dishonor my spouse with my words and actions. When I love, I will seek the good of my spouse and not my own good. I will not be easily angered by my spouse. I will not remember the wrongs my spouse did. To keep my love pure, the temporary delights of evil must not enter our relationship. Instead, we delight in what is true. To love you means I will always protect you, I will always love you, I will always hope in you, and I will persevere with you even when things are not going well. (My applied paraphrase of 1 Cor 13:4-7).

Having someone to love, and having someone to love you is such a wonderful thing. My own love is imperfect and often deeply flawed. In my moments of foolish pride I harbor unworthy thoughts similar to the defeatist thinking of the MGTOW. But the beauty of God’s design is that when I look at your lovely mom, God returns my heart to where it should be.

Never allow the bickering, the foolishness, or self-aggrandizing pride of feminism or MGTOWism creep into your life. I can imagine what my own life would be if I live it as a reaction to feminism or in conformity with MGTOWism. I can see myself growing into a lonely old man hating half of humanity and blaming the world for my loneliness. I can see evil pride justifying my self-aggrandizement that leads nowhere. I can see a life of misery.

Instead, God has in store for me a life of love. And what I discovered to be true is that the more I engage in selfless love, the more I experience joy and satisfaction. This I discover in my life with mom – or with you all, for that matter.

You are all entering into the marriable age. You face challenges in men-women relationship only roughly similar to my time. Your challenges are not entirely different but they are magnified so many times more than when I was your age. That makes it much harder for you to filter them out of your heart and mind. It also means it is harder for you to find a spouse who is not too severely tainted by the values of these times. Two things are needed to find a good spouse.

(1) “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2,NLT). We need to fully embrace God’s formula for men-women relationship and purge out any existing value that is wrong. We need to recognize and reject any new intrusion of worldly values.

(2) You will need to trust God for a good spouse. That will be someone who loves you, and someone you love. Your spouse will come to you flawed. If you cannot see the flaws, it’s simply because you are suffering from temporary love-blindness. You can only offer yourself also as a flawed person. But both of you must be willing to let the Word of God transform you and renew you. Both of you will be works in progress. And when both are willing to grow according to the Word of God, you will love your spouse for all his/her virtues and flaws.

Let me close by saying that God has blessed me with wonderful women in my life. Starting with Nai Nai, my sisters, then mom, and you two girls. I’ve never had to be adversarial towards women. To be sure, I’ve met difficult women, but no more than difficult men. In addition, God has blessed me with a son who has mom’s good humor. I am indeed blessed.

We need not enter life like the feminist or the MGTOW who treat half of humanity with derision. Delight in the other gender, the other half of humanity God created. Unless you are called to the blessing of singlehood, God has in store for you someone special out of the many people you meet, that someone special for you to have and to hold.

With all my love,

papa

Pastor Peter’s “Letter to My Grown Children: Why We Need a Better Freedom”

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An open letter to my grown children

Hi guys,

Today, I want to interrupt our conversation on the larger issue of the denigration of women in our generation, and chat with you specifically about Ashley Madison, and the freedom of speech.

The security breach of Ashley Madison is no longer news. But the effects of that breach will be far reaching – especially in America and Canada. I have already alluded to the point that it is an non-event in Singapore, and that this is due to Ashely Madison being banned in Singapore.

Freedom of speech in America is enshrined in the Bill of Rights, that “congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech or of the press …” The Supreme Court ruled this clause gives porn a legal footing. And needless to say, Ashley Madison, not even a porn site, would be fully protected by the court ruling on freedom of speech.

But a site like Ashley Madison is clearly wicked, and not in the interest of society. The governments of America and Canada are legally powerless to stop such a service – even if they had the will to stop the site. The existence of Ashley Madison is protected by freedom of speech – a basic good. So how can something good become something bad?

The manner in which the US Supreme Court interpreted freedom of speech to allow almost unfettered expression of evil is clearly wrong and inconsistent. The law recognizes there is such a thing as hate-speech. Of course the American prosecution against hate-speech is not easily accomplished. Still it is recognized as a social evil, and where necessary, law enforcement can act against hate-speech. Why not allow hate-speech freedom? It is apparent that hate-speech debilitates society, and leads to serious turmoil. So it is right to exclude hate-speech from freedom of speech. Why then does the Supreme Court allow the promotion of moral evil under freedom of speech?

Freedom of speech is never absolute.

The British Bill of Rights of 1689 sets forth to limit the powers of the monarch. When the Americans deliberated on the powers of the central federal government versus the powers of the States and individuals, they adopted the British method, and introduced the American version of the Bill of Rights to limit the powers of the federal government. And it is here that we have the freedom of speech enshrined.

The context is clearly political freedom of speech. But the Supreme Court extrapolated it to refer to freedom of porn and freedom to promote moral evil. This is due in part to the new thinking prevalent from the 20C that the author’s intention of a text is secondary to the reader’s interpretation. While readers have always had the liberty to hijack the meaning of a text, true meaning had always been identified as the author’s intention. The rejection of the author’s intention as the objective referent to meaning is a seismic shift to meaning. And this led to the ability of the Supreme Court to interpret the Bill of Rights without regard to authorial intention.

Now back to the Ashley Madison issue.

Ashely Madison is supported by the freedom of speech found in the Bill of Rights as interpreted by the Supreme Court over a series of judgments, so much so that it is useless to contest the right for such a site to exist. The root of this evil lies in the failure of the Supreme Court.

Any human court, presided by sinful and fallible humans, will reflect such sinfulness and fallibility – regardless of where that court may sit, in America or in Singapore. Any human institution is open to this criticism. It may be the judiciary, the government, and of course, any commercial enterprise. The church of Jesus Christ is a divinely ordained institution, but the “visible church” (a term referring to what we can see as the church) is also governed by sinful and fallible people. There must be a freedom of speech to criticize any institution operated by sinful, fallible humans. Freedom of speech as a means to limit the powers of those who hold power is good (authorial intention). But the freedom of speech used to legalize porn and moral evil is not good (reader reinterpretation).

By way of contrast, Singapore restricts the freedom of speech. Individuals do not have true freedom to criticize the judiciary, or the government. In recent years, the unstoppable flow of information on the internet has limited the Singapore government’s control over criticism. This is a two edged sword. It means just criticisms can no longer be stopped. But it also means the proliferation of nonsense criticisms. The Singapore government are also aware that the zeitgeist does not allow them to stop criticism against them, they can only manage criticisms.

Singapore’s limitations to the freedom of speech has positive aspects too. The most keenly felt is the censorship on expressions that undermine societal harmony, or expressions that promote moral evil that corrodes the moral fabric of the society (e.g. porn and Ashley Madison). This censorship is a moral restraint, a deliberate restriction of freedom to do evil so the freedom to do good may have freer course.

The freedom of speech in America and in Singapore errs in different ways; and excels in different ways. The American freedom to criticize government and judiciary prevents excessive government control and allows the aggrieved in the judiciary to find redress by gathering the strength of the public against the judiciary. These freedoms do not exist in Singapore. Singapore does not have a sound means to remove a government or judiciary that goes bad.

The freedom of speech in America allowing the free promotion of evil is clearly against God’s will. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Prov. 14:34, NASB)

An uncritical acceptance of the status quo in America or in Singapore stems from the assumption that the freedom of speech of that nation is a package deal. That is to say, Americans tend to think, “I guess the freedom of moral wickedness comes with the freedom to restrict the powers of a fallible government and judiciary.” Singaporeans tend to think, “I guess the restriction of freedom from moral evil comes with the restriction on criticism against a fallible government and judiciary.”

Both trends of thinking package freedom and the restriction of freedom incorrectly. There is nothing to link the good and the evil of freedoms and restrictions so they must exist as a package. Singaporeans can enjoy the freedom to criticize the government and the judiciary without the freedom to promote moral evil. Americans can enjoy the restriction of social moral evil and yet retain the right to criticize government and judiciary.

As a disciple of Jesus, focus on the righteousness of the Kingdom of God. We must not become so enamored with any political system that we cannot see its flaws. American Christians rarely question the freedom to moral evil, and Singapore Christians rarely question the restriction to political or judicial criticism.

The world will not give us a better freedom. Sadly, Christians think of freedom no differently from the world. We are called to make a difference. To be “the salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13) and the “light of the world” (Matt 5:14). If truth be told, Christians follow the zeitgeist, Christians don’t create it.

The Kingdom of God is key to independent thinking. If the Word of God will mold our thinking on social matters, we will be able to see the world for what it is. Being bicultural has helped me see beyond the moral success and failure of a given country. But nothing helps me form a biblical worldview more than my growing appreciation for the Kingdom of God.

I am here to seek first the Kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of man. If my political alignment excites me more than my concern for the Kingdom of God, I will invariably fail in my faithfulness to Jesus, my Lord and my God.

With all my love,

papa

Rejoicing in Hope in the Midst of Suffering

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Bible References: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Sharing Our Hope in the Midst of Suffering

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Bible References: 1 Peter 3.8-18

Pastor Peter’s “Letter to My Grown Children: A Freedom that Enslaves”

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An open letter to my grown children

Hi guys,

Ashley Madison is a Canadian website that helps married people find affairs. The site has 37 million users. And if you visit the site out of curiosity, and di not even post to look for an affair, your personal information is captured. Hackers recently stole all that data and released them on the black web. The data include user name, address, credit card, type of sexual encounters they are looking for, fetishes, etc.

The result? Toronto police reported two suicides linked to the hack. A fake list publishing fabricated info caused a police officer (in San Antonio, TX) who was not a user of the site, to also commit suicide. Some Christian leaders are on the list. (The silver lining is that there are not many.) Today, we have hurting families, shocked spouses, and as someone says, “It’s Black Friday for divorce lawyers!”

But there is something interesting happening in Singapore concerning the Ashley Madison hack – nothing! So why is nothing happening in Singapore? Censorship.

Singapore made the news when she banned Ashley Madison even though it is not a porn site. The rationale was simple. It promoted social evil. I thought that was a good ban, but didn’t think to comment on it. Yet today, Singapore’s lack of news concerning Ashley Madison is really the biggest news of all. Zero is hero.

Jesus fully recognizes the propensity to lust. So he tells us, “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Ashley Madison is a tool to help people fulfill their lust against their better judgment.

I believe the American Supreme court is wrong to read “Free Speech” in the First Amendment as license to porn and social evil. This idol is used by the wicked to make money at the expense of things so valuable money cannot buy. To make a few paltry dollars, they facilitate infidelity and ruin countless lives. In fact, the hackers gave Ashley Madison a chance. They demanded the site to be taken down or they will publish the information of the users. Ashley Madison refused. The hackers published the names. While I do not condone blackmail, it shows the determination of Ashley Madison to persist in promoting sin even when it would ruin lives.

Not all freedom of expressions are freeing. Some are enslaving. Ashley Madison is but the tip of the iceberg. The biggest perverter of perception between men and women is porn.

Porn is insidious because it perverts what we cannot see – the mind. It enslaves the heart without a single clanging chain or biting shackle. The US Supreme court made the supreme mistake of allowing the free flow of porn through a series of misguided decisions. The last of which was to allow internet porn: Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997).

The Communications Decency Act (1996) sought to protect minors from indecent internet material. The ACLU challenged the Act. The Supreme Court declared, “notwithstanding the legitimacy and importance of the congressional goal of protecting children from harmful material, we agree … that the statute abridges the ‘freedom of speech’ protected by the First Amendment.” The only thing that remains outlawed is child porn.

America is the bellwether for the world’s morality. Since the Supreme Court ruling, you see porn legalized almost everywhere with the exception of child porn. This is an American creation. The legalization and thus availability of porn around the world through the internet has made censorship ineffective. Even though porn sites are blocked in Singapore, it does not take much to get around the censor. And the continued multiplication of sites makes it impossible to block all of them. American innovation in creating the internet has been co-opted by the porn industry with the support of the Supreme Court, to produce a discernible shift in sexual mores around the world.

Bondage and rape were considered viable sexual options among the Japanese as long as I can remember. But that was limited to Japan. Internet porn depicts such evil as common, normal, and ultimately to everybody’s satisfaction. Look at the rape numbers around the world. They have gone through the roof! “Tougher laws!” “More rigorous enforcement of laws!” “Women’s rights!” All these cries mean nothing because the root issue is not addressed. When women are depicted in a certain demeaning way, it gets into the psyche of men. But this is only the case in point. There are many legal but demeaning depictions of women.

The point is this. We must not allow the demeaning of women in porn (or other media) to guide out thinking.

Speaking as a man, I find God’s creation of women such a wonderful thing. A woman is significantly different from a man. She is made such that she is a great joy “to have and to hold.” When Adam saw Eve, he immediately knew she was it. “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). “My woman is part of me. Her bone is my bone. Her flesh is my flesh. Her honor is my honor. Her pleasure is my pleasure. Her dignity is my dignity.” When a man loves his wife, her beauty is his glory, her laughter his joy, her gentleness his comfort, her strength his stay.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). You know love when you see it. Romantic love is fine. But we are looking at sacrificial love here. Christ loved the church so much he died for her. That is the benchmark for the disciple of Christ.

Women respond to what men want. If men like them fat, she tries to put on weight. If men like them skinny, she tries to lose some. If men like small feet, she binds them. If men like curvy, she goes for surgery. Porn has inflamed the lusts of men and made women look at themselves differently. Women today are under tremendous pressure to behave like women in porn. This is all wrong.

Quick aside. A man cannot treat all women with contempt except his wife. Certain passions are undifferentiated. A man cannot say “I like tall women but a short wife” or “I like curvy women but a skinny wife.” We must treat all women with dignity without which we will not treat our wives with dignity.

All portrayals of women in porn is opposed to all that our Maker tells us. Our Maker tells us our greatest pleasure is to love her, protect her, and treasure her. Porn tells us our greatest pleasure is to use, abuse, demean, disregard her interest, bully, dominate, hurt, harm.

I’m not in the spouse-hunt; you are still in the market. So what do you do about the expectations on women that porn created?

Women do not want to be demeaned. But they can be so eager to find a man, they will do what the man wants. As a man, if you treat the women you meet with dignity and honor, she will embrace that treatment gladly. A woman becomes better when you treat her better. As a woman, expect to be treated with dignity and honor. And expect your spouse to love and protect you as his own flesh. Don’t settle.

Internet porn is a freedom that has enslaved men and women in our generation. We cannot change the world where we are. But we can change our own perspective and we can change the people with whom we come into contact. Treat women from God’s perspective. Expect to be treated from God’s perspective.

There is a freedom that enslaves. Our best pleasures and true freedoms are not from indulging in another person’s indignity or shame. Our best pleasures come from free obedience to Jesus our Lord. Anything that contradicts Jesus’s best for us is a trap, a promise of pleasure when pain is the true consequence.

[Continue the conversation, next week]

With my love,

papa