You might remember Blaine Hogan as the character he played Seth “Cherry” Hoffner in the television series Prison Break (Scroll to the bottom for a quick lesson on what happens to “Cherry”…but brace your self, it’s raw stuff. PG-10.)
Now Blaine’s the Creative director of the ginormous Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area…multiple campuses–one church is how they put it. This Christmas, when plenty of people skipped out on morning church to do Christmasy things, 80,000 turned up at Willow Creek. Yes. 4 zeros are in that number. There’s some amazing stuff coming from Blaine’s creative team, and you should check it out.
Below is the first of a short series of videos with Blaine talking about his new film which he directed, his recent book, creativity, Christian artists, his new project on the ministry of Storytelling in the Inventive Age, and plenty more. For writers, artists, performers, musicians, and any other people who appreciate creating, you’ll love what Blaine shares.
(Please note that some content listed will not be released publicly, here or on youtube. If you’d like to get this bonus video material, please use the contact form on the right sidebar to gain access, or what is referred to as “FREE Savvy”.)
“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79, NRSV)
May you meditate on the meaning of this scripture, and pray it.
The season before Christmas is a special one, and not because of great shopping deals. It’s not because we make gifts, or sing carols, or decorate, or bake special things, visit with family or light candles at the Christmas Eve service. It’s not even about giving more to others. Well, that’s just the tip of the Christmas iceberg.
Advent is about anticipation and hope. As Christians, we celebrate the things God has done and is doing in various seasons of the year. Creating a special time of year for focus on particular spiritual truths allows those truths to gain more weight and more meaning in our everyday lives. Advent lasts four weeks, and it’s a holiday season full of introspection, reflection, hope, and divine mysteries.
Rituals and traditions often cement social and relational bonds, ready our hearts for worship, and create the vital space and time for better adoring our Creator. Not only does memory solidify our perceptions of reality now, but it prepares us for future love, service, and devotion, to God and others.
In these four weeks of Advent I’ll feature meditations, reflections, art, and more (from me and others) interspersed among typical posts to focus our spirits on the good things of God, and the time we celebrate the most amazing gift of grace from our Living God, Jesus, the Incarnation. Our Redeemer, Savior, and King.
Confession: I recently viewed porn. It’s not the first time.
And so have you.
Porn: noun 1 pornography. 2 television programs, books, etc., regarded as catering to a voyeuristic or obsessive interest in a specified subject.
In this case, it was clips from a primetime television show on NBC, not graphic and explicit sexual content. But, porn has much to do with lacking purity, and self-discipline. I wasn’t interested in either at the time. It doesn’t matter how graphic it was or wasn’t, I picked a path.
I know it’s a common path, so I’m starting a post series on porn, to get the topic out in the open. You’ve seen porn. Of course you have. That’s just simple statistics. The only thing in question is for how long, or how often…but far more importantly, why are you, and are you hiding it, and do you feel stuck or trapped? Well, the gig is up.
7 Reasons this porn stuff is a typical situation:
• Television/especially cable/dish/satillite
• Smart phones/phone with internet access or image viewing capabilities
• Internet…duh. It’s got to be reason # 1. (plenitude of images & privacy to do as one pleases=lack of discipline.)
• Over-Sexualized culture/media, especially in advertising
• Plentiful supply normalizes or excuses inappropriate or damaging behavior/habits.
• Video games/books/products
• Cultural Idolization of beauty, youth, virility, and social acceptance.
We’ll get into the heart of the issue, behaviorally, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and find some ways to detour this path that will damage us and our relationships. We’ll help each other out, okay?
I will speak from my purview, as a women. We live in a time that is highly visual, tied to fantasy, that supplies huge amounts of voyeuristic material. It’s not something mostly “men do” (look at or participate in). Women do too.
However, I challenge you men reading to cover this topic in the next two weeks in a post or post series, or at least link to this post to support bringing this topic to light.
And ladies reading today, I challenge you to take on this topic, too, not as something that you wish guys wouldn’t do, etc., but as something that somehow effects your life somehow personally, and convicts you to somehow find a better way.
Often “Literature” and Story/Fantasy are like gateway drugs to this type of porn for women…I wrote a bit about this sort of thing in a past article, 5 Reasons I Don’t Read (Christian) Chick Books.
Confess what trips you up.
Coming up in the next post…thoughts, feelings, and reasons you and I try the Path to Porn.
In later posts, we’ll work together to discover some resources to help and guide us: detours from the path.
But, here’s the question for today: What particular vehicle makes porn all too accessible for you or someone in your life? Anonymous comments are always welcomed.
