God's Truth In Love

Archive for the ‘Masculinity’ Category

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How Do We Make Godly Decisions? – Study of Proverbs 6:32-33 – Men of Shame

In Adultery, Advice, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Decision Making, Discernment, Discretion, Divorce, Godly Counsel, Learning, Marriage, Masculinity, Proverbs, Prudence, Repentance, Uncategorized, Wisdom on July 13, 2019 at 10:43 am

The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.

Note – All words or phrases found in quotation marks are actual parts of the Hebrew definition(s).

32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. 33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

Man of Shame

It seems this adultery theme is staying with us. It has been covered in many ways in our review and examination of this chapter of Proverbs. God has it covered so much because it is such a destructive force in a marriage, but to be honest I would really like to be done with the topic.

Okay, just when I make my last statement things get interesting. Verse thirty-two states that a man who commits adultery “lacketh understanding” and that by doing so, committing adulty, he “destroyeth his own soul.” When I examined this “understanding” that the man lacks I find something incredible but so powerfully true.

In the Hebrew language this means that the man lacks, “a heart and feelings” the man lacks according to the Hebrew language both proper “will and even intellect” he lacks a proper center to his life, Christ. What is in quotation marks here is right out of the Hebrew language, who would have known that lacking understanding actually encompassed so much.

The soul is where the mind, will, and emotions reside and verse thirty-two say that as a man partakes in any form of adultery, he destroys his own soul. It is something he does to himself. Wow see the connections between the lack of understand and the destruction of the soul; soul equals the mind (the lack of intellect), the will (the lack of willpower), and emotions (the lack of heart and feelings), the connection is incredible.

Let us look closely in the Hebrew language at what this destruction of the soul actually entails.

“destroyeth” in the Hebrew language means:

“to decay, (causatively) to ruin (literally or figuratively) to batter, cast off, corrupt, destroy, lose, mar, perish, utterly waste”

Wow, that is some severe damage.

I have known men who got caught up with women who were not their wives, I have seen what it did to them, their marriages, and their wives; needless to say the destruction done to the marriages and the damage done to the wives is heartbreaking but in some ways it is equally sad when you see it take a man who was once decent at heart and turns him into something barely worth giving a second glance, he becomes so utterly rotten and diminished as a man. I guess what I am describing that I see in this type of man is what is talked about in verse thirty-three.

He becomes a man of no honour any longer. The verse says that he has a wound, which in the Hebrew means he is scared, he has a “figurative infliction” notice it is “infliction” not affliction, infliction means he will suffer due to what he has done. The Hebrew say he becomes “a leprous person” someone treated like they have the “plague” and I am sure there are many wounded wives who can attest to that truth, they did not want the adulterous man touching them for some period of time, if not permanently. Those women who did allow it are incredibly strong women, rare women, though should the man continue or repeat his adultery even very strong women may begin to find it almost impossible to be touched by such a man.

This “reproach” that the man suffers due to his own actions is something verse thirty-three states never goes away. I think many men and women who have gone through this horrible blow to marriage would both agree that even in cases where the marriage survived, which is rarer than one might think, and God brought proper healing to the marriage, the marriage is never quite the same; the man is never view without the stain nor with the honor he was once viewed.

In the Hebrew language this “reproach” is describes as “contumely, disgrace, +the pudenda:— rebuke, reproach (-fully), shame.” “Contumely” being “harsh language or treatment arising from haughtiness and contempt” – the contempt felt for a man who would do such is great on his wife’s part, his children’s part and in many cases even his friends or co-workers. I almost hate to go here but the Hebrew refers to the disgrace, shame, and contempt that is felt both toward the man and his “pudenda” which is his sexual organ. For a wounded wife the idea of having his sexual organ touch her sexual organ must be a painful concept; something once beautiful is now marred with ugliness.

Oh men, I urge you it is far easier to avoid this trap and save your dignity than it is repair your dignity and recover the look of love and sparkle in your wife’s eyes.

Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Why My Church is NOT Growing – Part 8 – Abuse and The Church (Physical Abuse)

In Abuse, Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christ, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Church Growth, Compassion, Confusion, Courage, Evil, Exhortation, Forgiveness, Grief, Hate, Hatred, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Masculinity, Mercy, Persecution, Renewal, Repentance, Suffering, Trust, Truth, Uncategorized on August 9, 2018 at 11:16 am

This blog will alternate with each post between two subjects. One week will address why churches are not growing, and the coming move of God. The alternate week the blog will continue with the in-depth study through the Book of Proverbs.

Physical abuse also takes place within the walls of our congregations. I have personally read outlines for physical disciple of wives. I have heard the stories of children being physically abused under the guidelines of church discipline. There is no place within the church for the physical abuse of another human being.

In an outline for how to discipline your wife, it was stated that if a woman would not submit to her husband then a certain amount of physical discipline could be used. You could inflict pain but where not to bring about too much bruising, no lacerations, and you were not to break bones. This physical abuse would be increased in nature until the woman “repented” and submitted regardless of how long it took or how many sessions of discipline were necessary to bring about the woman’s change of attitude. These sessions could not however result in broken bones or cuts on the woman’s body.

How horrid that a person would believe that they had the right to inflict physical pain on a woman until she agreed to agree with them! How could one possibly believe that this is real submission? Conformity maybe, submission no.

I once counseled a woman who would not enter a church building. When we started our relationship, she hated the church and all its members. When we were done she still had not entered a church building but was willing to give God another try and Christians a second glance.

Why did this woman have such a hard attitude? She had loved God very dearly and was an extremely dedicated church member, as was her husband who was an elder in their local church. Each Sunday they went to church, worshipped God, and serviced in their congregation. Each Sunday after church they went home where her husband proceeded to beat her. Like clockwork every Sunday after church he would beat her that way she would be healed up enough by the following Sunday to attend church and play the role of his faithful wife always at his side.

My heart broke when she told her story. It was obviously true and very difficult for her to disclose to me, yet, she found the courage to do so. As time went on this woman’s pain eased and her understanding that not all Christians were this way increased.

At a conference once, a woman was struggling with guilt. She felt inside herself that she had allowed her child to be abused but she was wrestling with the biblical principle that she was to submit to her spiritual leaders. In her church children were brought up to the front, next to the pulpit, and physically struck with a belt by the pastor for various infractions at both church and home. The number of licks they received from the belt depended on the degree of their offense. This woman was riddled with confusion and guilt, this was after all how their congregation handled discipline. Everyone else did it and everyone was afraid to question their Christian spiritual leader since this might be viewed as be rebellious or as a refusal to submit. The church and local congregations should play no role in the physical discipline of children.

It takes courage to speak up when we know physical abuse is going on in our congregations. It is easier to tell ourselves it is not our business. How can that be true however? Do we not carry a certain amount of Christian responsibility and accountability with our brothers and sisters? According to Scripture we do. We are required to hold each other accountable for our actions. There must have been someone at some point who suspected this woman was being abused or even knew firsthand she was being mistreated. Many people sat in the pews on those days when the children were humiliated and physically abused in the name of God and correction. There had to some of people who knew in their spirits that this behavior was wrong, yet, they remained silent. We cannot do such, we must speak up! We cannot allow leaders to go off the rails because we are concerned other Christians will think us out of line or rebellious. Our responsibility is to Truth and too upholding the principles of Scripture not to uphold man or man’s ideas.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt.20 The Cancer of Divorce

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Divorce, Femininity, Feminism, Forgiveness, Marriage, Masculinity, Truth, Uncategorized on December 7, 2016 at 4:29 pm

In this piece we will explore one last point from chapter eight of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. The final point made in this chapter is in regard to marriage, divorce, and the affect of both on America.

Marriage is, among other things, the representation of God’s union with Israel (Isaiah 54:5) and Jesus’ union with The Church, The Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23-32). The hindrance of marriage is a part of the Great Apostasy (1 Timothy 4:1-5), which is to come on the earth. Marriage is meant to bring happiness to mankind (Genesis 2:18), be a means by which our races are continued (Genesis 1:27-28), and be a pathway for bringing children into the world to become godly men and women (Malachi 2:14-15). Marriage is a state of being that was, and is, instituted by God (Genesis 18-24), as a union between a man and woman (Genesis 2:22-24). It is meant to be a permanent bond (Matthew 19:6) between a man and woman that only ends or is broken by the death (Romans 7:2-3) of one or both persons. Divorce is only allowed based on biblical standards in the case of adultery (Matthew 19:9) or desertion (1 Corinthians 7:10-17). Yet divorce, and divorce for convenience sake, is common place in America’s society today.

Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce:

Matthew 19:1–9 (NKJV)

Instruction About Divorce

Mark 10:1–16; Luke 18:15–17

19 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.

3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 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’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

As the author points out divorce is taking its toll on society and to a large degree destroying the very fabric of American society and the American home. The author, a man, seems primarily to put the responsibility on men when it comes to divorce. He states that a man should not blame a woman for giving up on him and divorcing him because “Your intense need for their emotional and sexual support, your selfishness, and impatience, your immaturity – all this and much more literally creates and feeds the resentment within your beloved.” He then points out that women are more vulnerable than men and that men must be strong for their wives inspiring their wives to be strong. The author also states that men should give up their “hurt feeling” that are often really anger toward the wife for being emotional and perhaps unreasonable because the man is actually the one who has created the frustration in large part in his wife, through the attitudes mentioned earlier.

Kupelian believes that “America needs to get a handle on its divorce epidemic.” It is producing and resulting in what he describes as “national suicide” one family at a time. The conflicts and pain builds up over the course of time and people reach a point where one or either both believes they cannot endure the painful presence of the other any longer. The author makes a profound statement however on this sad commentary, “How many marriages could be saved if the spouse intent on divorce were just to learn to give up all that anger toward the other?”

The continual and total release of anger, coupled with forgiveness can keep a marriage together throughout the course of a lifetime.

Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV)

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

Ephesians 4:31 (NKJV)

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV)

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Matthew 6:12 (NKJV) Jesus speaking

And forgive us our debts, (trespasses)

As we forgive our debtors. (trespassers)

The author closes the chapter with three suggestions that would keep people from divorce. He offers simple suggestions but the suggestions are not simple things to do in a world where “me” is top priority in life.

1. Men need to stop viewing women as though they were created to serve their ego because women were not created for that purpose. Men should instead care for them simple to care about them, for who they are, not because of what you are getting from the relationship.

2. Women give up your anger toward your man. Realize their failure to find real, selfless love for you is a serious flaw they have, very serious. However, your resentment toward them because of this flaw is your serious flaw.

3. “Reject divorce as an option.”

In the next posting we will begin to review chapter nine of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. That chapter deals with the evil power of hate.

 

 

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 18 Men and Masculinity

In Advice, Agape Love, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, False Gods, Fear, Femininity, Feminism, Gender, Gender Idenity, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Loss, Love, Masculinity, Mental Disorder, Mental Illness, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Psychiatric Drugs, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on November 14, 2016 at 5:51 pm

In this piece we will explore the first half of chapter eight of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. Here are some of the highlights as found within this chapter regarding the cultural war on fathers, men, and manhood in America.

If you doubt that there has been a cultural battle raging against men and fatherhood in American in the last thirty years, I would say you might have had your cultural head buried in the sand. Men have been pulled down under the pretense of lifting others groups, especially women, up. Typically I would not reveal this information but for this posting I do believe it is important; I am a woman. In my view the rise in “women’s liberation” since the nineteen-seventies has stolen so much from women where men and relationships with men are concerned, not to mention what it has done to the masculinity of men in the United States of America. The author points out that this war on men, boys, and masculinity has not only be cultural but legal as well, for decades now.

Over activity is often found in boys, as it has been since I was a young girl. However, today a means by which educators deal with this hyperactive behavior is to label the young boy as having a disorder that has been given the name ADHD, and having the placement of the child on medication mandatory for school attendance. One of those medications is Ritalin, which is a trade name for methylphenidate a Schedule II substance with a high potential for abuse. If you have ever taken Ritalin you cannot join the Navy. Now what does that tell you about the believed long-term damage or effects?

As the author points out, now years later after medicating millions of children long-term scientific research into ADHD now tells us that fidgeting and moving around are better for boys in aiding their learning process – Mark D. Rapport, clinical psychologist, professor and longtime ADHD researcher at the University of Central Florida. However, what have we as a society allowed to be done to all those millions of children who were medicated unnecessarily.

According to Dr. Tim Kendall, joint director of the National Collaboration Centre for Mental Health, “Almost every possible human behavior can be classified as being in some way aberrant.” A statement he made in a BBC radio show The Medicalization of Normality. I would add, any behavior or belief system that has become undesirable by society has now become a mental illness or disorder. How sad!

In his research the author found that many sources believe that boys “are being targeted for radical reprogramming by academics offended by masculinity itself.” The author quotes Gloria Steinem, “We need to raise boys like we raise girls.” Without deeper context or understanding I would have to say that this is a ridiculous concept in general. Boys are not girls, they were not created to be girls or be feminine and there is no way they can be raised in the manner girls are raised. Girls are to be raised to be as God created them, girls, infused with femininity, and boys are to be raised as God created them, boys, endowed with masculinity. The author notes that even a maverick feminist such as Camille Paglia reminds her man-hating contemporaries that masculinity is “the most creative cultural force in history.”

Can you imagine why feminist inspired experts would want to destroy masculinity? Masculinity has ‘tamed the wilderness, structured civilizations, changed our lives and history through inventions, and sacrificed their very lives to protect women and children.’

What has all of this tearing down of men and masculinity done for our society? Where has it led? In part it has led to a gender revolution that defies and attempts to remove God as Creator, by altering ones born gender and identity. This however, it a topic we will take up in part 19, when we review the second half of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works.

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.