On February 17, 2011 Pastor Dirk Jackson was formally charged with raping a 12 year old girl in 2003 when he worked as a teacher at a Christian academy. Komo 4 News Jesus warns in Luke 17:2, “It would be better for [those who cause others to stumble] to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” (NIV) No doubt, raping a child can cause their faith to stumble. And yet, Jesus follows with a command to forgive those who repent, even if they have offended repeatedly. Does Jackson deserve God’s grace? Does he...

Somebody please scratch my eyes out now. This is an article promo over at Christian Post this morning. At least change the picture. Just...

Some thoughts from Mark Driscoll on why he’s getting so much flack… from Christians… on his new book on sex and marriage.  Here are some exerpts from a piece he wrote for CNN’s Religion Blog: You try to write a book on marriage and sex with your wife and next thing you know there are a lot of ants crashing your picnic. My wife, Grace, and I recently published “Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, & Life Together,” which quickly became a No. 1 New York Times best-seller. In it, we’re brutally honest about our past struggles, share the lessons we...

Watch out, Mark Driscoll and Ed Young… Introducing Patrick Wooden, Pastor at Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, NC… All I can say… this makes Mark Driscoll like like a G-Rated Disney film.  Viewer discretion is advised: Will the pendulum ever swing back on this sexual stuff?  Will we, at some point, just say… uh… let’s not say that. I think we’ve gone from not ever talking about sex to over-talking about it in some circles. It’s a valuable topic; and a vital area for the church to discuss… but I think the pendulum will switch back...

Get ready for (at least as far as I know) the world’s first ‘Christian’ sex toy store.  Following is part of a story from The Daily Beast.  Note:  If the mention of sex toys makes you nervous, uncomfortable, or just cringe slightly, you may want to stop now and head over to my post about this guy. From the Daily Beast: Joyce’s sex life can be divided into two acts: before and after the Turbo 8 Accelerator. The evangelical Christian from California’s central valley had never had an orgasm alone nor with her husband of 25 years. “I didn’t know I wasn’t having one,”...

Mark and Grace Driscoll’s new book, Real Marriage, reached the top spot on the list of bestselling books for both Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for a while on Monday despite not being available in stores until Tuesday. You can order a copy of “Real Marriage” from Amazon.com right here if you’re so inclined. My question to you is… are YOU planning on reading the book? Respond back with one of the following: 1.  Already read it.  Loved it. 2.  Already read it.  It was ok. 3.  Already read it.  Complete heresy. 4.  Gonna read it… can’t wait. 5.  I’ll...

Dr. Chet Weld is the Director of Pastoral Counseling at Casas Church in Tucson, AZ.  Here is part of a very interesting piece he recently wrote for Crosswalk.com: How common is adultery among pastors?  About 15 years ago I read an interesting study that concluded the following: 10% of all psychologists have had an affair with a client; and 30% of all pastors have had an affair with a member of the congregation. I think we can account for the difference between the 10% and the 30% in this way: Psychologists have to take a course in ethics, which includes teachings on how to draw boundaries with...

Mark Driscoll’s new book hits the shelves today.  It’s called “Real Marriage” and if you like Driscoll, you’ll like this book.  I got a preview copy a few weeks ago, and did enjoy reading it. I won’t do a long book review (I rarely do here), but here are a couple that you may find interesting: Tim Challies (really didn’t care for the book that much) Denny Burk also provides commentary here. The most interesting (and controversial) part of the book is the chapter on specific sexual practices.  Here’s how Mark introduces the chapter: If you are older,...

From this month’s issue of Relevant Magazine: Eighty percent of young, unmarried Christians have had sex. Two-thirds have been sexually active in the last year. Even though, according to a recent Gallup poll, 76 percent of evangelicals believe sex outside of marriage is wrong. I’m not sure where the first statistic comes from. Does that sound right to you? And if so… how does that affect what the church will look like in the next years? Why is the percentage so high?  Is it higher than it was 10 years ago (really)? What must we do to stop the trend? CAN we stop the trend? via Why...

A jury has awarded $1.4 million to a Minnesota woman who accused her Methodist pastor of sexually abusing her. The woman accused 67-year-old Donald Dean Budd of pursuing an inappropriate relationship at a time when she was emotionally vulnerable. The Hennepin County jury concluded this week that Budd must pay $1 million in punitive damages. Of another $410,000 in compensatory damages, Budd must pay $246,000 and the rest is to be paid by the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. A call to Budd’s home Saturday rang unanswered, and a message left with his attorney wasn’t...