The Reverend Robert Whipkey, a 53-year-old catholic priest in Frederick, Colorado, was caught jogging in the nude on a high school track at 4:35 AM (about an hour before sunrise) on June 22. He said that he “didn’t think anyone would be around at that time of day” and that “he sweats profusely if he wears clothing while jogging.” He also admits that what he did was wrong and is facing a charge of indecent exposure with a court date set for September 14. If convicted, Whipkey will become a registered sex offender.
In 1996 Jeff Hannah, a married youth pastor at Crossroads Church (SBC) in Libertyville, IL, committed adultery with four teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 17 and received a sentence of nine years in prison.
In 2001, after serving five years, he was released on parole, remarried, and began attending First Baptist Church of Romeoville.
Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, FL is giving away free $15 iTunes gift cards to every new visitor in hopes of drawing more people in to hear the Bible. There’s even a chance to win a free iPhone.
Since we’re on the subject of homosexuality (see here and here), I thought I’d pass along this helpful overview series by Neil Simpson. At his 4Simpsons blog he is analyzing the various approaches that gays use to justify their pro-gay beliefs in the name of Christianity. He categorizes them into three:
The Bible is either not the Word of God, or most parts of it aren’t.
The Bible is the Word of God, but it doesn’t really say homosexual behavior is wrong.
The Bible is the Word of God and does clearly and emphatically condemn gay behavior as sinful. However, the Holy Spirit has given additional revelations such that this behavior is now acceptable.
Here are two recent stories about scantily clad dancing women in church (the first Protestant, the second Roman Catholic) that you might hope are someone’s attempt at a bad joke, but unfortunately aren’t.
The first concerns the Church of the Carthusians in the south of Cologne. The original story is in German, but has been translated by Chris Gillibrand.
(I tried to choose the least offensive of the available pictures.)
A female dancer dances in a skin coloured stocking in the middle of the church in front of the altar. She crawls about on the floor and wraps herself in a hanging down white cloth.
. . .
Nearly one thousand interested people waited outside the door of the former monastery, despite a thunderstorm—but in the end there was only room for four hundred people.
. . .
A man came to the microphone and announced, This is an erotic church service, can you move a bit closer together, all of you. This was followed by saxophone music and dance. The vicar arrived in a black cassock and barefoot. He announced that eroticism and lust are not taboo areas pushed aside by God. In fact, “lust has to be lived out,” said Armin Beuscher, who tempered his speech immediately, by saying, “we are of course today in this service only able to implement this in a limited manner.”
. . .
The faithful were then asked to take part in an anointing ritual in which they should massage the forehead and hands of the person sitting next to them. Some go further and embrace each other whilst others kiss. The atmosphere gets more relaxed.
I appreciate good dancing, but, quite frankly, it’s disgraceful to see any dancing take place during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
. . .
I am morally certain the photos are authentic. I have the names of the dancers, but because they could very well be minors, I will not publish them. Nor will I show their faces. I think it’s time that (some) Catholics get their heads out of the sand.
. . .
A few additional details on the Mass: It was celebrated for the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate on June 16, 2007, at 10:30 a.m. The presider was Father Charles Faso, O.F.M.
Dealing with sex in the pulpit is not an option. The faithful preacher of the Word can’t just skip over uncomfortable topics. He must preach what Scripture addresses. Furthermore, he certainly doesn’t want the church getting its view of sex from the world!
Steve Mathewson at the Preaching Today blog shares some good advice on how to preach on sex.
There’s a lot I could suggest when preaching texts which focus on sex, but I have one concern which eclipses all others: Sermons on sex must not be sermons on sex. Let me explain!
Sermons on texts like Proverbs 5 must be, first and foremost, sermons on God! These sermons must unpack the character of God and how it relates to God’s gift of sex. They must disclose how the gospel provides the ultimate answer to the expression of our sexuality.
As the previous post suggests, Christian men must be deliberate in their battle against lust—especially, though certainly not exclusively, in their use of the internet. What do you do personally to guard your heart from the sin of lust? How do you avoid inappropriate content on the internet? Do you use an internet filter?1 Do you have an accountability partner or group? Do you use your computer only in an open area? Do you avoid getting on the internet when you’re alone? Do you stay off the internet late at night? Do you simply rely upon God’s grace through the Word and prayer? Take the poll, and share your tips with others in the comments.
A recent Christian Today article discusses the prevalence of porn addiction among Christians. The last several years have seen a huge increase, largely due to the internet. A poll of 1000 Christians showed that 50% of Christian men are addicted to porn.
Yet porn is far from being just a guy problem.
The ChristiaNet.com survey found 60 percent of Christian women admitting to having significant struggles with lust; 40 percent saying they were involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20 percent struggling with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
What “Christian” means is unclear. But even if these stats are remotely accurate, this is troubling indeed.
Teenagers who identify as “evangelical” or “born again” . . . think sex should be saved for marriage. But thinking is not the same as doing. Evangelical teens are actually more likely to have lost their virginity than either mainline Protestants or Catholics. They tend to lose their virginity at a slightly younger age—16.3, compared with 16.7 for the other two faiths. And they are much more likely to have had three or more sexual partners by age 17: Regnerus reports that 13.7 percent of evangelicals have, compared with 8.9 percent for mainline Protestants.
How is that possible? What happened to all those happy, young Christian couples from the ’90s swearing that True Love Waits? Partly, the problem lies in the definition of evangelical. Because of the explosion of megachurches, vast numbers of people who don’t identify with mainstream denominations now call themselves evangelical. The demographic includes more teenagers of a lower socioeconomic class, who are more likely to have had sex at a younger age. It also includes African-American Protestant teenagers, who are vastly more likely to be sexually active.
. . .
Abstinence pledgers are considerably less likely than nonpledgers to use birth control the first time they have sex. “It just sort of happened,” one girl told the researchers, in what could be a motto for this generation of evangelical teens.
. . .
Among the mass of typically promiscuous teenagers in the book, one group stands out: the 16 percent of American teens who describe religion as “extremely important” in their lives.
Isaac Hydoski, one of pastors at Covenant Life, has written a paper addressing the topic of online dating. Here’s an overview of the big points.
Concerns:
Expensive
Time-consuming
False hope
Safety
Compromise
Can reinforce self-focused view of relationships
Loss of protection from church community
New temptations
Counsel:
Discern your motives (Jeremiah 17:9; Luke 6:43-45; James 1:14)
Involve your community (Proverbs 11:14, 15:22, 20:18, 24:6; Hebrews 3:12,13, 10:24,25)
Know your values and convictions (Ephesians 5:10)
Communicate your values and convictions (Zechariah 8:16; Ephesians 4:15, 25)
Ask about their values and convictions (Ephesians 5:6,7; Proverbs 24:21; 1 Corinthians 15:33)
Here’s his conclusion:
In summary, if you are participating in online dating, please know that we love you and we support you. Our concerns are just that: concerns. We want to see you experience God’s grace in Christ Jesus and we want to be faithful to show you some of the significant pitfalls as we see them, so you can be protected from discouragement and danger.
Ιf you are considering participating in online dating, please weigh our concerns and make your decision carefully and with much prayer and counsel.
The Reverend Robert Whipkey, a 53-year-old catholic priest in Frederick, Colorado, was caught jogging in the nude on a high school track at 4:35 AM (about an hour before sunrise) on June 22. He said that he “didn’t think anyone would be around at that time of day” and that “he sweats profusely if he wears clothing while jogging.” He also admits that what he did was wrong and is facing a charge of indecent exposure with a court date set for September 14. If convicted, Whipkey will become a registered sex offender.
.
In 1996 Jeff Hannah, a married youth pastor at 
Church by the Glades
Since we’re on the subject of homosexuality (see 
Here are two recent stories about scantily clad dancing women in church (the first Protestant, the second Roman Catholic) that you might hope are someone’s attempt at a bad joke, but unfortunately aren’t.
Dealing with sex in the pulpit is not an option. The faithful preacher of the Word can’t just skip over uncomfortable topics. He must preach what Scripture addresses. Furthermore, he certainly doesn’t want the church getting its view of sex from the world!
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