The Cultural Argument Against Gay Marriage

Here is a link to a great article to educate you and help you speak about the issue of God marriage with intelligence and compassion.

The Cultural Argument Against Gay Marriage

Prayer Request - African Church Young Adult Retreat

My wife and I could use your prayers. Tommorrow we are speaking at a retreat for the African Church that meets in our church building. I am speaking for an hour and a half on sex, lust, and marriage and then for another hour and a half session my wife and I will be doing a Q and A, with Sarah answering questions from the women and me answering questions from the men. This a great yet humbling opportunity. Please pray that we represent God's truth in word and spirit and that the hope of His Gospel sets free those in bondage or deception concerning these issues!

Marriage matters

In our world today, views and definitions of marriage abound. The glut of so-called “marital” forms displayed across the globe reflect not only the West’s obsession with Postmodernism but humankind’s natural (or rather unnatural) tendency to define their own realities and obligations based on their immediate needs, desires, and good old fashion foolishness. From polygyny, polyandry, and polyamory to swingers, open and alternative marriages (insert your own definition here), the true meaning and purpose of marriage has been raped by the machine of human depravity. Perhaps this “definition” of marriage from an alternative marriage chat room is a good motto for the world’s understanding of marriage: “anybody of any anything who is married in any way to any other anything.”
Sadly however, the distortion of the institution of marriage is not a distinctive of only the openly pagan contingent of society. Many religious faiths, even those that would broadly qualify as “christian,” hold damaging, erroneous, and necessarily unbiblical stances concerning marriage. These stances stem from many causes but often are the result of incorrectly interpreting and applying the Biblical texts. One of the more notorious flawed views of marriage is that it is merely a device instituted by God to facilitate procreation. This view is held by many Catholics as well as some in the evangelical church.
The Biblical definition of marriage stands in sharp, countercultural defiance of today’s public understanding. God’s definition of marriage is given to us straight from the mouth of Christ, where He recounts God’s establishment of the marriage institution during the creation week: “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." (Matt 19:4-7) Again, the purpose for marriage is found in the creation account. The only thing not “good” in all of God’s perfect creation was the loneliness of Adam. Thus God created Eve as his companion (Gen 2:18-25). Yes they were to have children, but they also were to share in the task of stewarding God’s creation. And they were to do it as an intimate entity. So intimate in fact that they did everything naked. Everything. Intimate companionship between a human male and human female to the glory of God is at the core of what marriage is. Marriage is about fulfilling and having fulfilled each others God-given desires for intimate companionship which translates into God glorifying fruit. This intimate companionship can only be sustained and blessed through a marriage covenant. Again our understanding of a covenant comes from God Himself. The first mention of a covenant relationship is found in the Flood narrative. From there, God continues to make covenants with people of His choosing and these covenants form the foundation and framework of all that occurs in the rest of scripture as well as our very own present faith in Christ. A covenant in the Biblical sense is a binding agreement, with extreme consequence for violating it. It is this agreement into which married couples enter into when they exchange their vows.
Although this understanding of marriage may seem archaic or even foreign to some, it is nevertheless the institution God has established to fulfill the human need for intimate companionship. Since God is the author of marriage, it is beautiful, full of hope, and a living metaphor for His intimate, loving relationship with His Bride (Eph 5:22-33). To abandon Biblical marriage is to abandon beauty and hope both for individuals and society at large. Every other institution that God put into place has at its center the family as its essential basic unit. This ancient standard is anything but outdated. It is one of the oldest expressions of God’s grace and grace can never be outdated.

by God's grace,
for God's glory,
jrf

"What is man?"

Last night I was very tired (and Sarah wasn’t) and as a result my selfishness started to show. However we went out to Pohilale State Park near the Na Pali Coast and watched the sunset and waited for the stars to come out. I won’t say it’s impossible, as I never want to underestimate or be surprised by the power of depravity, however it is extremely difficult to be self-centered when watching the sun disappear into the crystal clear waters of the Na Pali coast. It is even more difficult to presume preemince when covered by a tent of countless sparkling stars, with the nearest light pollution miles away. Stars shooting every which way, constellations nearly indiscernible due to the visibility of millions of stars usually hidden by city lights, no moon to take some of the glory away, foam from nearby breaking waves lit by starlight, and a beautiful, warm, young woman all coalesced to make me consider myself at once tremendously humbled and exceedingly blessed.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4

by His grace,
for His glory,
jrf

You're Invited

11 more days until I plunge into the incredibly frightening and wonderful world of marriage. If you havent received an invitation, receive my apologies and then consider this post as your invitation. All are welcome. And there will be free carne asada! God bless and see you there!

by His grace,
for His glory,
jrf

The Adventure Begins

Sorry about not posting for a while. Well not too sorry. I have a good excuse.

It all begins about 6 weeks ago. Sarah was up at the Nehemiah house for the weekend and we went over to the downtown public library because I had a paper to write for my church planting class. This paper had to be on a historical missions movement, not necessarily Christian, the goal was to just evaulate historical missions methods. So I did some digging around and found out that the library had a copy of Noticias De Californias a collection of old letters and writings of some of the early padres that founded the first missions in Baja California. While searching through this book I came across a copy of this letter:

Now, I dont read Spanish but I did notice that it was written in 1755. This peaked Sarah and my's interest so I made a photocopy of it to have someone translate it for me. After about a week I got it back from a friend with this translation:

(this manuscript was found wedged in the binding of the original document, but was not included in the final facsimile as it is unclear whether Venegas intended it to be in the final document. In addition, it’s authenticity is greatly in question both by scholars and Venegas himself. We include it here as an insert however for research purposes)

Andres Marcos Burriel, holy father and humble chronicler of the work of our Lord and holy mother through the labor of the apostles of the most honorable Society of Jesus in New Spain, on the seventh day of the month of December, the year of our Lord 1755:

With much prayer and troubled spirit I have decided to include this testimony copied in my own hand, of Father Jaime Bravo, honorable founder of Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz and director of finances for the California missions 1730-1744. My hesitation comes from the absence of knowledge concerning whether this testimony is indeed written by Father Bravo himself, for his holy soul has passed on to be with our exalted Lord Jesus and Sacred Mother. In addition, the worthy father Miguel Venegas, original compiler of these accounts, has himself passed into eternal communion with the holy saints. Without these vital sources, it is impossible to authenticate this testimony. My only source is he who brought this letter to my possession, Joel Sanchez, brother assistant to Father Bravo during the Indian Revolt. He assures me of it’s validity, claiming even to have assisted Father Bravo in the endeavor. I leave the decision to include this in the final compliation in your hands, Father Pedro Altamirano, admirable Procurator General for the Society of Jesus in New Spain.

In the Service of our Lord,

Father Andres Marcos Burriel

October 17, The year of our Lord, 1734.

The rebellion of the savages continues, threatening to plunge the light back into darkness. The missions of Santiago, San Jose del Cabo, Santa Rosa de Todos Santos and the beloved Pilar de La Paz have all suffered heavy attacks from the murderous gentile Indians. As Chief Financier of all Missions in California, I have decided to take action to secure the relics and treasury housed in the Mission of Our Lady of Loreto Concho from the seemingly imminent assault. With the assistance of J. Sanchez, I have concealed the sacred artifacts on the island of Coronado, over the shoulder of the southern oyster of the black pearl. This information will be entrusted to my superiors, Juan Bautista Escalante of Nacosari, brother assistant Joel Sanchez, and myself. May God defend the righteous.

I attest to the truth and accuracy of this testimony, before our Holy Mother and glorious Christ

Father Jaime Bravo, Director of Fincances for the California Missions of the Society of Jesus at Loreto.

Needless to say, Sarah and I both were intrigued about this letter so we began researching it. I was pretty busy with school and ministry so Sarah kind of took over the research. She found that Jaime Bravo was a real person, there was an Indian rebellion at that time, and other interesting details that seemed to support the veracity of the letter. In the meantime, a group of 8 of us were planning a spring break camping trip to Utah. When that fell through, Sarah suggested that we drive to Loreto in Baja California Sur, which apparently was beautiful and try to pick up on the trail of the letter. After some convincing all 8 of us agreed to go and preparations were made. Everyone drove down to my parents house on monday night and we loaded up the supplies. After a delicious Italian meal cooked by Mama Freiberg, and a little screening of Indiana Jones to get us in the mood, Sarah gave a short presentation on where we were going and all about the letter.

So Tuesday mornings we packed into two cars and began our 16 hour drive south. Other than the beautiful flora and fauna (I've always wanted to use that in a sentence) the drive was fairly uneventful, except for one of the girls driving the car off the road and getting stuck in the sand, if it wasnt for the help of about 10 mexicans we would have been stuck for a long time.

It got dark before we could get to Loreto so we found a beach near Mulege and woke up to this:

Once everyone was up, we got back in the cars and headed into Loreto. After some breakfast we split up into two teams: one to find the mission and one to try and secure a boat to take us out to the island of Coronado.

After circling the coast, we settled at a beautiful beach. We hung out here the rest of the day, snorkeling, swimming, finding dead things on the beach (moray eels and severed shark heads), reading, sleeping, doing a photo shoot, and having a time of Bible study and worship.

After a night lit by the brightest full moon I've ever seen, we woke up and decided to hike south along the coast to see if we could find anything oyster-like. After about 30 minutes of hiking Sarah spotted a small cave about half way up a cliff face (she totally missed the oyster like rock on the coast below it). I got up to it first with Sarah close behind. In the dim flashlight I could see what seemed to be a small rope of some sort coming from a pile of rocks. I was too big to crawl back into the whole however so I waited for Sarah to get up there. She shimmied into the hole and pulled on the string. To our amazement a burlap bundle was attached to it. Trying not to freak out we brought the package down from the cliff. We cut through the old rope, began to unwrap the burlap, found another cloth, unwrapped it and found a beautiful wooden box, inlaid with the emblem of a violin. With wide eyes we opened the lid...and music started, both figurativly and literally. It was a music box and inside it contained only one item. A ring. I took the ring, got on my knees and looked Sarah in the eyes. "Sarah, there are so many reasons why I love you, but the most important reason is that we are both in love with the same person, our Lord Jesus Christ. Will you marry me?" After a few, very long seconds of silence, she blurted out, "are you serious!?" After assuring her I was she burst into tears and said yes.

As you probably have guessed by now, the whole treasure hunt thing was made up. I totally surprised her.

Special thanks to Brad, Juliet, Kornut, Marybeth, Derek, and Jeanet for being such a huge part of our adventure!

and so the adventure begins. Sarah and I hope that our commitment to following, worshiping, loving, and serving the Lord will be only strenghtened and further enabled by our union. Our love for each other will depend on our love for our Lord, which thankfully depends on our Lord's love for us.

The wedding is July 22nd. Let me know if you want an invitation

by God's grace, for God's glory,
jrf