Christianity for Virgins

The Bible's written by people, but inspired by God. The Bible's written by fallible people and inspired by a infallible God. Just let that sink in.

Paul says that it's good to be alone. Dig around 1 Corinthians 7. You should marry if you can't control yourself, other than that, you can stay by yourself and be concerned about God and what he wants.

I'm not saying that's what its says. But it's what it sounds like. "It's better to marry than to burn." How many times do you hear that in your life?


__As Taken from BibleGateway.com__

1 Corinthians 7:25-28
New King James Version (NKJV)
To the Unmarried and Widows
25 Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. 26 I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is: 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.
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So, God didn't say anything, but Paul and God are cool, so it's okay for him to give his opinion...

And yet, in that same chapter, and throughout the Bible, there is a lot of pictures of how husbands and wives should act. There is almost nothing on how an unmarried (implied virgin) person should act. And as Paul said, he has no commandment.

I don't read a lot of Christian fiction (or Christian nonfic either, for that matter). But the majority of C-fic is romance. People in relationships, with other people. Not that they don't have godly messages, but no one likes a story where the girl doesn't get the guy in the end, even though she's happy with God alone and is sparing herself a lot of trouble. Nope, none of these people can handle being alone.

That doesn't send a good message...

I love romances--the occasional Christian romance, and a lot of secular historicals.

But, God made Adam for Eve and it says back in Genesis that God said it's not good for man to be alone. Be fruitful and multilpy and all that.

To each his (or her) own.

There's a lot for women in the Bible, how wives should act, and something about how she'll be saved through childbearing.

Paul, you just said it's good to remain unmarried. But then you said I'll be saved through childbearing. Are you saying I won't be able to exhibit self-control, and that when I'll marry and have a kid I'll be saved?

I think I know what Disraeli meant when he said, "Every woman should marry...and no man."

Use Your Reason

“A little science estranges a man from God. A lot of science brings him back.”
― Francis Bacon

During the Enlightenment, the intellectuals were trying to make sense of the world.  The US is a product of the era, and because of us, kind of, the French had their revolution.  This is a history lesson, so listen carefully.

This was when Newton was inventing calculus.  People were discovering the stars.  The ideas of freedom of speech and religion were taking root in the minds of the Founding Fathers and the Philosophes.

They were rationalizing everything. "Use your reason." Even then, they understood the need for certain laws, such as don't kill or steal.  It made sense.

Oh, but what about adultery, lying, and coveting.  Hm, let's see, adultery will hurt your marriage.  The truth stops at the truth.  When you lie, you got to create twenty more to cover the first one.  When you covet, you're not happy.  Happiness is an attitude, not a goal.

Some stuff's easy:

When you engage in pre-marital sex, you risk getting pregnant.  If you do, all your plans go up in smoke, don't they?  But if you wouldn't have, you wouldn't have that problem.  If you get an abortion, you're committing murder.  The lesson:  to spare yourself a lot of trouble and to save a hypothetical life, don't have sex until you're ready to reproduce.

"Oh, but what about contraceptives?"

Condoms break.  Birth control can throw you out of whack.  And they're not foolproof.

I'm not trying to get off on an abstinence or pro-life kick (although I do support both), I'm just trying to make a point.  I'm following the logic.

I draw this conclustion:  The Technician that wired us wants to keep us from getting glitches.

The Insurance Policy God

Between Evolutionary theory, Abiogenesis, and Creation theory, the story of how the world began is constantly thrown into question.  Personally, I'm a big fan of Creation tales, no matter the origin.

So, if there is no God, and I die, it doesn't matter.  If there is, and I die, I can go to heaven or hell.  I love when Brad Stine says, 'So, you're saying I should believe in God so I don't go to hell?'  Pretty much."

I love that video.

One of the things about growing up in church, is that God becomes sort of a safety net.  Feel free to call Christianity a crutch.  It is.  People with broken legs can't get around without their crutch or a cane.  And we're very broken.

It's like insurance for your house.  I come from South Louisiana.  I have family that lives in the hurricane target.  You don't know if your house will get torn away, but you put some money aside, just in case it does.

If nothing happens, you're out a few dollars.  If something does, thank God, you have insurance.

Another thing I've noticed is the passage where our works will be tested by fire.  If it burns away, and all that's left is a foundation, yeah, you'll get into heaven, but it's like narrowly escaping the flames.  It reads something like that.  So, getting saved it the foundation.  Your works are on top.  Were they for you or for God's glory?

Works are the building blocks for your mansion.  So, you want to do a lot of stuff for God.  The problem with this is you're not supposed to get caught up in works.  You risk a legalistic faith.  And in the end, if your heart wasn't in the right place, even when you say all the works you did in His Name, He'll say, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

There's this fine balance that needs to be maintained.

How do you do it?

I have no idea.  If I did, I'm not sure I would be writing this blog.  I'm struggling with the rest of you.


In regarding works, I have this rather romantic idea that the little things we do out of love are the real salvific works we do.  We're not thinking about, 'this is a brick in my mansion,' we don't think of it as a work, we just do it out of love.  And God is love.  Is that Him shining through us?

Love is a complicated thing.  It's more of going through hell with someone and enduring it with them, perhaps in search of heaven.

Love was Adam listening to his wife, and leaving Eden with Eve.  It wouldn't be paradise without her anyway.

And love was Jesus, the Second Adam, coming down to save His bride, to take her back to paradise, even if it meant suffering.  The most accurate picture of love is a Man hanging on a cross.

Christianity's crazy.  That's all I'm going to say.  It's not always easy to understand.  But I know God is real.  If I know nothing else, I know that.  And when the world ends, I have my insurance.

Reading and Writing

Didn't I say I was bright?  I'm above average intelligence, but not genius.  Too dumb to hang out with Einstein, too smart to hang out with normal people.  I never really fit anywhere.  While I was in high school, I was grouped with the nerds, but I really wasn't one.  I don't RP, play video games, build computer software, or watch Doctor Who (although I am interested in it, I just don't know where to start).

I read, but I'm not a stereotypical bookworm either.  I read romance, fantasy, and children's; and the occasional cozy mystery, horror, literary, and YA.  Eclectic isn't abnormal, but I don't read all the bestsellers or anything like that.  I just read what I want to read. Like Pocucurante in Candide by Voltaire:  “Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.”

In reality, I find I focus on the wrong things.  Instead of giving to the poor or volunteering, most of the money I get goes on books and stuff for me.  I don't think people think less of me for wanting to build my mind and library--but it's actually a selfish habit.

Writing and reading are some of the most selfish things you can do.  When you're reading, you're tending to your needs and wants.  Writing is slightly less selfish.  Many times I've written something and I thought it helped people.  Most of the time, though, I write for myself.

The funny thing about writing is that I know it's my calling.  I can't see myself doing anything else, and nothing else has really opened up for me.  I'm a writer.  So, if it's my calling, it's okay, right?  And to be a good writer, I have to read a lot, right?

I'm introverted.  I don't like being around people, and after a while, I just want to curl up and read or write, or something.  I used to feel bad about it.  Then I got over it.  If I spent all my time around people, I'd never get any reading or writing done.  Churches stress the importance of relationships.  I don't get into relationships easy.  I have two best friends, some casual acquaintances that I seldom talk to, and a big, crazy family.  For me, that's more than enough social interaction.

I swear, I think social media was invented for introverts.  Looking at my Facebook wall, I think if people didn't already know I was an introvert, they wouldn't know it by looking at my wall.  I'm very honest and open about what I like and what I'm doing.  In person, not so much.

It's easy to be anyone online.  Even yourself.  It always aggravates me that there's few people in my "real life" that I have much in common with.  I don't make any connections online either.  It's lonely, being one of a kind.

Yes, I love playing tortured artist.

Intelligence and the Bible

I pride myself on my intelligence.  Other people usually tell me they can tell I'm bright.  The funny thing is, the Bible doesn't put much stock on intelligence.  I'm trying to think of a biblical hero who was learned.  The only one I can really think of is Luke, the physician.  The Greeks put a lot of stock in learning.  Christians, not so much.

If an atheist says Christians are stupid, the accusation may be well-founded.  Christianity is not a religion of the mind, but of the heart and soul.  Most religions are.

This is why religion, any religion, isn't a popular idea.

I'm a doubting Thomas.  I like to see with my own eyes and feel with my own hands the handprints of God's work.  I like to make sense of the world.  Christianity doesn't make sense all of the time.  Sometimes it does.

You see my struggle here?  Is it wrong to want to find answers when I should be building faith?  Is it okay to want proof?

Neither love nor faith should be blind.  Sometimes I wonder if I really love God.  If I loved Him, wouldn't I be more obedient?  Wouldn't I spend more time in my Bible?  Wouldn't I be more a more loving person?

I read prolificly.  Not as much as some, but more than most.  All that being said, I don't know my Bible that well.  I know where some stuff is, but overall, my Bible IQ is the reverse of my reading habits:  more than some, less than most.  Or maybe not.  Plenty of Christians don't know their Bible that well.

We're not supposed to understand God.  I say I accept this, yet I still try to understand what's going on in my life, as it happens.

I write fiction too, so sometimes I just want to fall away for a little while, hit rock bottom, and come back again into the light.  It's a well-scripted story, and one I'm familiar with.

The problem with planning to sin, with the storyline, is that I don't know if I have that kind of time.  Everyone says the world is ending soon.


The Bible's a funny book.  People say it contradicts itself.  Does it?  I don't know, I've never read the whole thing through.  Would I find it if I did?  Probably not.  I don't pay that much attention.  I don't read between the lines.  I read for the sake of enjoyment, most of the time.  I miss the most important things.

Testimony In Full

I can't tell you the first time I prayed a sinner's prayer.  Every time time someone did an altar call, I guess.  I still do it, privately.  Getting up in front of the church a few times is a few times but once too many.  That's nobody's business anyway.

I was baptized in seventh grade--twelve years old, the age of accountability.  Now I wonder if I did it prematurely.  Did I understand it then?  Probably not.  Not that I'm stupid.  Most people can tell I'm bright.  It's just I never really thought about it.

In seventh grade, I was still very much afraid of going to hell.  It's a bunch of rules and regulations.  I didn't hear sermons on For God so loved the world.  I heard "this is the end times," "hell is hot," "God loves a cheerful giver," and things like that.

I don't remember much about the Love of God.  I heard it in music.  I even may have written about it a time or two.  But, really, I didn't get it.

I'm a fan of Rich Mullins.  He sang about the reckless raging fury that they call the love of God.  I got into his music when I was six or seven, some time after my family moved from Louisiana to South Mississippi.

Some time in my senior year in high school, I saw a book in LifeWay called The Ragamuffin Gospel.  Rich Mullins had his Ragamuffin Band, and he was on the cover.  But it was by a man named Brennan Manning, who died recently.

Rich Mullins had done the testimony.  A few weeks later, I purchased it and read it.

By this point, I understood God loved people.  Loved me.  But it had never been presented in that way.  Few have topped Manning in teaching about Abba's love.

Overall, it's a very confusing place.  Here's the God of my youth, this vengeful, dictatorial God who will strike me if I do wrong.  And then here's this God who loved the world enough to die for it.

This is the part I struggle with.  This is also the problem with going with the flow.  How do you reconcile the Gods of the Old and New Testaments?

Why Do I Even Bother?

I grew up in church.  I didn't grow up on hellfire and brimstone sermons, although I've heard enough to last a lifetime too.

My mother used to listen to Revelation while she was cleaning.  Or the Book of Daniel.  Revelation is all prophecy, although there is a lot in Daniel too.

At the end of the day, I'm a Christian for 2 reasons:

1- I was raised that way.  There was no such thing as freedom of religion in my home.  You went to church, and that was the end of it.  I'm a go-with-the-flow person, so this part doesn't bother me.  I'm glad I grew up that way.

2- I'm afraid of going to hell.  I grew up on End Times sermons.  I have an idea of what's going to happen.  I hear almost everyday, "It's a sign of the times."  To this day, I hate those kinds of sermons.  And they say if you're uneasy during a sermon like that, something's wrong.

All that being said, I'm not a good Christian.  I don't think I mean it when I ask forgiveness, or it just doesn't take.  I still make the same mistakes and have the same failings.  I know prayer works, I've had answered prayers before, and others that weren't.

I try to pray every night before bed.  Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.  I keep a prayer journal, and I don't feel like I've prayed until I've written in it.

Most of the time, though, it's very mechanical:

Let me get a real job.  Give me patience.  Please forgive me my sins and keep me forever in You.

Never fails.  Most of my prayers include this.  Sometimes I'll remember someone who asked for prayer.

I hate when people ask me to pray for them.  Mainly because I almost never remember.  The other reason is that you have to ask someone highly favored, a prayer warrior, if you really want something to happen.  Not that I don't think God answers prayers.  I've heard and seen too much to the contrary, but that's just not me.

So, the point of this is that I'm trying to come to grips with my faith.  What I believe, and what I don't.  And if I'm really a Christian or if I'm just someone who believes in Christ but doesn't follow doctrine.