Don Miller is in town.  When I surrendered my life to God in September 2006 and wanted something interesting to read, some of you recommended his books.  He has become one of my favorite authors of all time and has often inspired me, but the message he shared tonight affected me in ways that are indescribable.  God’s timing is perfect.

You see, while it’s been one of the most rewarding years of my life, it has also been one of the most heartbreaking, culminating just recently in one of the darkest moods I’ve ever encountered.  In fact, I’ve been actively seeking professional counseling to help deal with the emotional pain, heartbreak and general “funk” that has recently become my reality.

People can really suck sometimes.  They are capable of taking ones words and actions and twisting them until something breaks.  Humans are capable of making the very worst out of the very best of situations.  Some thrive on turning one’s fight against injustice back against the fighter.  I’ve discovered that it takes a stronger man than I to stand up against every attack.  I’ve allowed people to rob my joy, to steal my vision, to bring intense mental anguish.

But instead of focusing on that, let me back up and tell you this…

One day out of the blue, 3 or 4 years ago now, I received a phone call from Donald Miller.  To some of you that might seem pretty incredible, and today that would also seem incredible to me, but back when it happened I was right in the middle of a stretch of regular “incredible” encounters that would blow my mind today.  To be honest, it almost became expected on my part.  Why Don reached out to me, however, was because XXXChurch had told him my story, given him my number and let him know how much I loved his books.  We’ve since exchanged emails, text messages, and a phone call here and there over the years… not exactly “close friends”, but not strangers either.

If you’re a Donald Miller fan, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the Mentoring Project, which aims to mentor 1 million fatherless boys and to therefore reduce the number of prisons in this country by 15%.  This vision inspired me, but I didn’t feel as if I could work as a mentor due to my past as a pornographer.  In a few text messages, I voiced this opinion to Don.  His response was that I was full of crap: he didn’t feel my past would affect my ability to mentor teens, and in fact felt it had provided experiences that could be used to my advantage when dealing with people who needed someone “real” with whom to relate.  With that encouragement, I set out to start a local chapter of the Mentoring Project… but life led me in a slightly different direction.

An email exchange:

Donny Pauling to Donald Miller – Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 8:08 AM
Didn’t end up starting an official chapter here in Redding, but I’ve been mentoring a handful of kids of both sexes. It’s been amazing. And you were right: my past as a porn producer has been a non-issue to their parents. In fact, it’s pretty much been a legitimizing force making me more human and causing them to be more inclined to open up.

- Donny -

Don’s response…

Donald Miller to Donny Pauling – Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 11:25 AM
I LOVE this Donny. Awesome. I didn’t think it would be an issue, actually, and in terms of speaking into the reality of where we are all living, your past gives you a PhD. For sure. Great news.

Don

That was in September, but December rolled around and painful events began changing my world.  Life lost some of its color… colors that have faded even more in the months that’ve followed.  Circumstances cut deeply, and I  lost the desire to mentor anyone other than my two second-cousins whom I home-schooled.  I’ve found myself living from a place of cynicism, and my attitude has often been horrible.

Which is why tonight was amazing.

I’d like to share with you some thoughts inspired by having been involved in the lives of these kids, short as the time may have been.  In total, there were several teens of both sexes.  I’m not going to use their names:  any stories and/or random thoughts I am about to share could have been any one of them,  so if you’ve hung around me recently please don’t try to guess who I am talking about.

Because of our sin nature, even the best of men can be pigs.  Several of the girls I’ve met have been molested, often by family members who should be protecting them.  One girl was raped in her sleep in the third grade, only learning it had happened when her grandmother took her to the hospital the next morning because she noticed blood – 3rd grade seemed far too young to be starting a period.

Boys are not immune to abuse, some of it incomprehensibly bad, affecting one boy on such a deep level that he thought pulling out his own teeth would be a good way to show his mother that he was angry.  That same boy explained to me why he always seemed to be in trouble at school:  ”I want to always be the sweet guy I am around my mother, but everybody expects me to be someone else at school, so I live up to what they think I am.”

Living one’s life heavily influenced by what others think seems to be a common factor in the lives of these teens.  I have a problem with that: those “others” don’t deserve their opinions to be so important!

Many stories I’ve listened to this past year were equally heartbreaking.  I met every one of these kids because they were friends of my young cousins.  Let’s be real:  that fact scared the crap out of me.  In the past I’ve heard horrible things that happen to “those kids out there”, but when I witnessed it happening to those who are so close to my family – kids in whose homes my cousins have often slept over – my heart felt terror.  My gut reaction was to rescue my family, to take them as far away as possible from those who perpetrate such things.  But in my quest to do so, I was sometimes labeled “controlling,” even by adults who should know better.

Here’s a secret:
I’ll gladly wear that label if I can help keep those I love from making mistakes as teenagers that will negatively affect them for life.  Where some might see a “harmless” teenage decision, I see a pattern of behavior developing.  Compromising one’s values on the smallest matters, when done to fit in with peers who are making mistakes, can turn into a lifestyle of compromise and “going with the flow”.  If one’s lifetime goal is to live in a trailerpark surviving on government assistance, that might be okay.  But I want to inspire the kids I love to aim higher than that.

Tonight, Don Miller’s message focused on things he wanted to share with women (Saturday night will be aimed at men).  I sat there with a smile on my face as words escaped Don’s mouth that have also escaped my own, almost word for word, in conversations with my two young cousins and their friends.

Don spoke about a woman’s value.  About the importance of protecting that value and the uniqueness of it.  He spoke about not giving in to those around us… to stand out without judging others:  ”I respect your individuality, but I will not compromise my own values to fit in with you.”  He talked about how a woman making herself too “easy to get” reduces her value in a man’s eyes, because she hasn’t fought for herself – the more  something has to be fought for, the more valuable it is to the person who gets it. As an illustration, Don used a scientific study that indicates girls “hook up with” men they respect, while for guys it’s the exact opposite:  they hook up with girls they don’t respect and will never marry.  If it’s too easy for a man to get what he wants, he’ll just take it and then turn to someone he has to fight harder for, never respecting the person who put such a small price on her value.  And a person’s value is built by her decision making and the choices she makes in all matters, not just sexually.

This past year I’ve been telling teens the way I feel about things as simple as tattoos, piercings, and “fitting in”.  I’ve been emphasizing how important it is to always be fighting hard to stay pure and to remain true to what we know is right, deep inside.  My opinion is that even something as simple as getting a belly button piercing, when done because “my friends have one and I want to fit in”,  leads to a pattern of giving in that ends up ruining a person’s value.  ”It’s just a piercing” doesn’t fly with me: it’s not about the piercing, it’s about what is motivating it.  And just because parents say they are “okay with it”, doesn’t mean giving up and giving in is okay.  The fact that so many adults have given up on morals because they are tired of arguing with their children will not distract me from telling kids my thoughts on such things.  The kids listening to my thoughts definitely don’t have to do what I say, but if I sat idly by without saying something that might prevent mistakes from being made by those I care about… well, I just wouldn’t be happy with myself.

In recent weeks I’ve been given many labels by people who seem to have given up on life outside of the small box they’ve let themselves be put into.  Hearing Don repeat things I’ve told these kids, almost word for word, felt like validation.  It was as if God was standing there saying, “You did the right thing, regardless of what the naysayers believe.  Don’t wear the labels they apply to you.”

I needed to hear that.

To Any Parents Who Might Hold Offense Or Think I’ve Been “Controlling”:

I’m sorry you feel that way, and I apologize if that’s the way I’ve come across.  I’m a human who has made many mistakes in my life, and will make many more if I’m allowed to stay on this planet for any length of time.  I would like you to understand that my goal was to hold your kids to a higher standard, not to control them.  I’ve made a deal with every single teen who spends any time with me:  you can tell me absolutely anything without getting in trouble with me, because you get to make your own decisions.  But you need to respectfully listen to my opinions on the things we talk about.  Feel free to ignore what I’ve said to you, but always hear me out.  That’s the deal.

If you know me or have spoken with me at any length, you know the background of my family.  Many of my uncles and cousins have spent time in prison.  Many of them have given up on living any sort of decent life whatsoever.  The younger generations who hold so much promise usually end up falling into the same patterns and routines of the older.  Please understand that as adults, if you try to be the “cool parent” in order to avoid conflict, your kids are going to follow the same road as previous generations.  When I’m spending time with these bright-eyed, beautiful future adults, the thought of them ending up like most of my family… just simply disgusts me.  Because it is unnecessary, and all it takes to prevent that from happening is to be strong and say “that’s not a good idea”, even if doing so causes conflict.

As Don Miller said last night, “Every good story involves a LOT of conflict.  In every good movie you see, the protagonist wants something and has to overcome enormous difficulties to get it.”  What I want is for your kids to live a great story, breaking the cycle that has held the previous generations of their family in captivity.  Hate me for that if you must.  Maybe you don’t believe it’s possible for your kids to have better, but I won’t give up that hope.  I can’t.  It’d be too depressing to think their future includes some deadbeat husband, fatherless children, tattoos, piercings and welfare.  Puke.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes.  To be honest, if it wasn’t for my dad I’d probably be some tatted-up drug addict, in and out of jail all of my life.  That’s the heritage I inherited from most of the generations before me, and that’s what a lot of relatives my age have fallen into.  But from an early age, my dad always told me I was the smartest person he knew.  He often brought me to tears with his words: he rarely applied physical correction, but rather psychological correction.  The words he used would make me ashamed of the mistakes I made.  But those words were also effective:  I believed I was better than my circumstances.  I’ve taken the wrong path on many occasions, but my dad’s words resonate in my ears and keep my hope alive, no matter how dark the road I find myself upon.

My goal has always been to return that favor to your kids.  Seriously, that’s it:  I wanted them to believe they were better than their circumstances and to hold themselves to a higher standard.  Without that hope, they’ll perish.  In fact, that’s Biblical – right out of Proverbs 29:18 – “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

If you’ve given up on hope for an amazing life, please don’t assume your children must do so also.  Please.  It’s not fair to them.  Please try to step back and look at their life from a bigger picture.  ”Harmless” things aren’t really that harmless in the long run.  Giving in to fit in is never good.  Please please please try to consider what is best for your kids, not what is most convenient for you.  Sometimes what’s best for our children is going to be difficult.  There will be conflict.  But the harder we, and they, have to fight to get beyond that conflict, the more valuable will be what we get as a result.

If you’ve listened to my story, I sometimes tell about the song that came on the radio right after I asked God to save my life. It was “When God Ran,” the Benny Hester version. It movingly takes the story of the prodigal son and personalizes it. Hearing that song just moments after surrendering my life to God was like a “welcome home” party for me.

For a few months now, I’ve been ostracized from one small branch on my family tree. It started as silly as this: a young member of our family posted a status update out of frustration at not being allowed to hang out with a friend who professes to be gay. Another family member, an adult, publicly chastised that family member in the comments area of the original post. Scriptures were used to back up this chastisement (albeit completely out of context). I was very annoyed by the way it all went down, because I cannot think of ANY POSSIBLE REASON for an adult to comment publicly on a child’s Facebook page, criticizing her for all her friends – and the world – to read. So… what did I do? Publicly and privately put in my own two cents. Perfect response, no? Of course not. But that’s what I did. When the mother of the adult I addressed was told about it, she and others in the family decided to stick up for the adult, rather than the child. I still fail to see the logic in that decision, but it is what it is.

The adult’s mother asked, “If someone were to tell your son he was wrong, how would YOU feel?”

Here’s how I feel about that question: If my son is wrong about something, it’s okay to tell him he is wrong. Coddling him provides no value. An incredibly important part of growing up comes from being corrected. Publicly admonishing him, however, would be different since he is a child. When he is an adult, I feel the rules will change – if he publicly humiliated another person, a public response would not be out of the question, and I would not hold onto offense.

Of course, I am open to the idea that I’m wrong about that.

But what I’d really like to say to this part of my family, which in subsequent conversations have let me know their opinions on how much God hates homosexuals, is that I’d love the opportunity to sit down and study the story of the prodigal son with them, as well as the story of his brother. It’s a beautiful story that was originally told by Jesus Himself:

The prodigal son left his father’s house to go out into the world and blow his inheritance. He was rebellious. He lived his life in a way that was a disgrace to the family name. He rolled in the mud with pigs, covered in crap. You couldn’t get much worse than this guy even if you tried. He hit rock bottom.

At that point he decided to try to head back to dad’s house, hoping for the life of a servant. He didn’t feel like he even deserved to be called a son anymore.

But what happened? His father welcomed him home, running to meet him. He had always been his father’s son. Nothing he did could ever change that. Dad threw one heckuva a party!

In the meantime, the prodigal’s brother was living in daddy’s house, feeling as if his good works entitled him to be called “son”. He couldn’t understand why there weren’t parties to celebrate his “goodness”. He found it very unfair that his poop covered brother, the one who had been such a disgrace and done so many bad things, was being made such a fuss about.

I once read a book that said something like, “One brother thought his sins prevented him from being called ‘son’ and separated him from his father’s love, while the other thought his good deeds entitled him to be called ‘son’ and justified his father’s love. Both were wrong. The father’s love just… IS.”

And you know, family and friends, that is very true. The father’s love is just… there. For everyone. It doesn’t have to be earned. Doing the “right” things doesn’t get it for you. Doing the “wrong” things doesn’t disqualify you from it.

I am a prodigal. And, while they may not realize it, I am quite aware of the things that were said about me when I was out living with the pigs by those same family members who ripped a teen for being unable to understand why she couldn’t associate with a gay friend… a friend who, just a few short years ago, lived as if she were part of the family. Circumstances and life choices have now excluded her, and how dare anyone go against that exclusion decision! Guess what? EXCLUSION NEVER WORKS. Did you get that? Read it again. Exclusion. does. not. work. It just causes bitterness to build. I realize this pattern of exclusion has been going on for quite some time, and I’ve personally experienced it too, but that cycle CAN be broken. It NEEDS to be broken. It is, in fact, keeping you from enjoying one raging party!

Instead of excluding, perhaps a better idea is to invite those who need the father’s love to a party in their honor. Forget making up all the reasons why that’s not a good idea. It doesn’t HAVE to make sense to you. The Father’s grace and love doesn’t make sense, and it isn’t “fair” because it is given to those who don’t deserve it. It is given freely. There are no qualifications to receive it. There is no sin big enough to separate the sinner from it. It is a gift. Sometimes you and I are privileged enough to be able to carry that gift and lay it at the feet of someone who needs to receive it. We can’t do that by exclusion. It is impossible to do so.

We don’t get to decide who gets this gift of grace. Lay the gift at the feet of even (gasp) the homosexual. Let the recipient decide whether to pick it up or not. And if the package can’t be delivered right away, let’s develop a better reputation than even FedEx by bringing it back for another attempted delivery, again and again and again.

Whaddaya say?

On February 6, 2011, I spoke at IgniteChurch.tv to open their latest series, on the topic of sex.  Located in the Bible Belt, Ignite has been getting a lot of feedback – some positive, a lot negative – regarding the banners they have been publicly displaying to advertise the series.  The opening lines of this video display some of that feedback.

I opened the series by sharing the story of what God has done in my life.  We go behind the scenes of porn to reveal how fake it really is, and discuss God’s grace and forgiveness, as well as how He can use all things for good, restoring broken lives.  If someone you know is addicted to porn, ask them to check out this video.  It just might change the way they see it.

Click To Play

For those who would prefer to download an audio file, here is a recent one from the Calvary Fellowship “Renew Your Mind” Men’s Conference:

click here to play it, or right click and download it

Last night I had an important conversation with someone who has lately been very much involved in the activities of my life. We had just ended a three-person meeting in which we were discussing matters that are quite vital to the well being of others. One of the members of our meeting had come to a conclusion that (in my opinion) was very wrong and very dangerous. When passing by the other person from this meeting on the way to my truck, I was told, “I love ______ and have to stand in support.” My response was, “Sometimes love means you have to tell someone they’re wrong.”

My friends, this is incredibly true… real love doesn’t sit by in support while the one you love makes a big mistake. Sometimes you have to make the tough decision to tell them they are making a mistake. Failure to do so is not love at all, its laziness. Yeah, the conversation you might have to have as a result will require work and may not be the most pleasant experience of your life, but love IS work.

Some of the advice I’ve treasured most these last 4 years came from people in my life who loved me enough to tell me when I was being an idiot. Without that advice I’d be lost at sea, holding on to driftwood, moments from drowning.

When I speak, I have a goal to open up everything I’ve got, pouring my heart out and giving away all emotional energy to the audience. At the end of the time I talk I’m almost always exhausted, but happy. My style isn’t to “preach” at people, but rather share the mistakes I’ve made and what I’ve learned from them. Each listener is free to eat the meat and spit out the bones: take what applies to them, toss what does not. I’m convinced this is what God wants me to do.

Prior to taking the stage, I have the same very simple prayer I pray: “Your words, God. Your words.” I want to share the things He wants me to share, and nothing more. I’ll never doubt the passage in scripture where we’re told He can use ALL things for good… because I see the truth in that passage every single time He gives me the opportunity to share what He’s done in my life. Not long ago, I produced a product that tore lives apart in numerous ways. Now, He uses those experiences to start processes that put marriages back together, free people from perversion, even bring people to the place where they surrender their lives to Him for the first time. It’s sometimes so overwhelming that I literally sit in my hotel room and cry joyfully afterwards. I look in the mirror and can’t understand why the face I see is one He’s chosen to use to do this. It’s very humbling.

I’m very blunt in what I say, and try to be “real”. This often results in people sharing things with me that they’ve likely never told anyone… or at most very few others. For example, in one church a man walked up afterwards and asked to talk a bit. He needed to know how to forgive himself. The conversation started with something like, “After hearing what you said this morning, I’ll bet you’ve heard everything.” I nodded my head affirmatively to encourage him to say what he needed to say. He proceeded to tell me things he’d done to animals. Inside I thought, “Well NOW I’ve heard everything… I guess I hadn’t before!” As I listened to his story, I learned he was deep in counseling and had come clean with his wife, who’d forgiven him. The major issue he faced was forgiving himself. To be honest, I didn’t much feel like talking to him. My stomach felt a little queasy, I was shocked and a little angry at the things he’d said. But I also had to remind myself that plenty of people feel the same way towards me when I share some of the things I’ve done. I kept praying silently in my mind while he spoke, asking God for words to give to this man. When the words come from HIM, I can tell by watching the face of the person I share them with – faces light up… that’s the best way I know how to describe it.

I reaffirmed a few things he’d told me: “You’ve asked God for forgiveness? You’ve been forgiven by your wife? You’ve been in counseling, and are continuing with that?” The first question is really the only one that mattered, yet each of them was answered with a ‘yes’, and I felt God wanted me to tell him this:

“God has given you an amazing present, gift wrapped with a beautiful bow on top of it. Inside the package is something called ‘grace’. If you can’t let go of this guilt it’s like you’re pushing God’s gift back at Him and telling Him you don’t like it… that it’s not good enough for you. Just accept his present, my friend.” The huge smile on his face let me know this is indeed what God wanted him to hear. The thing is, I also needed to hear those words, as I sometimes have problems forgiving myself, too.

Funny how God works like that.

One morning after speaking, a good looking teenage boy came up to talk to me. He was very real with me when he told me about his struggles with sex: “I don’t have a girlfriend, but lots of girls like me so I sleep around a lot. It’s fun, but I know it’s not God’s ideal for me. How do I stop?” As always, I mentally asked God what to share with him as he spoke. I could tell this kid was a bit on the aggressive side, and fist fights were probably something with which he was familiar.

I asked, “If you did have a girlfriend, I bet you’d be willing to fight for her, wouldn’t you?” His chest inflated, masculine posturing at its finest.

“Of course!” he grinned.

“Well, in fist fights wounds heal quickly. Black eyes go away. In a few days it’s not a big deal anymore, and nothing to brag about. But what if you could fight a REAL fight… one that IS worth bragging about? Let’s say it’s two years from now when God brings into your life the woman of your dreams. Right now, with all the sleeping around you’re doing, you don’t really have anything special to offer her, sexually. But what if you could walk up to her and tell her, ‘The last two years I’ve been fighting the hardest battle of my life for you, for the thought of you, and I didn’t know you yet’? Isn’t THAT a fight worth winning? Keeping yourself sexually pure for her is the way you fight.”

A smile spread across his face. I challenged him to fight a battle that would actually test his worth as a man… to see as God’s daughters the girls who were so easily ready to give him what wasn’t his to take, and to fight for them, too, even when they weren’t willing to fight for themselves. When a girl threw herself at him, he could truly be a Knight in Shining Armor if he turned the opportunity aside, reminding himself that she isn’t his… that God has someone special for him (and for her) if he’d just wait patiently. They say every man needs a battle, and his would be fought not just for himself, but for all the girls willing to sell out so cheaply for a bit of his attention. He got it.

I try to remind myself of similar things when I walk around. I try to make a habit of bouncing my eyes up to the face of a beautiful woman, and often repeat “not mine” in my head or even verbally. She’s not mine. God has her set aside. She’s not mine. She’s His little girl, and she needs me to fight for her by keeping my eyes where they should be. Her Daddy God is always watching, and I really don’t want Him catching me visually molesting her. Any animal is capable of giving in to lust. Be a man, Donny. Be a real man.

I remind myself of these things often, and each successful battle fought brings more strength for winning the war.

This post was inspired by the women and men who have honored me by sharing their struggles and/or the hurts they’ve been through. You help keep me accountable, a constant reminder that I have a purpose and calling to help the sexually broken in some small way. When your spouse chooses perversion over you, know God is there to help. He is a God of restoration. He’ll mend your broken heart if you’ll open it to Him. If you’re a person struggling with purity, know He’s there to help, and has a reason for asking us to remain pure. It’s likely not a positive thing for the relationship He has for us if our mind, or the mind of our significant other, is filled with past experiences. He’s not trying to take away our fun – it’s just that He loves us and simply knows how we’re wired and how we function best.

Yesterday I bought a beard trimmer. My face was really scruffy and I wanted it neatly trimmed.

Today I used the beard trimmer. I was impressed. It’s a nice one with nifty features.

I decided to use the beard trimmer to cut my hair. This turned out to be a mistake. In hindsight, I suppose the word “beard” in beard trimmer should have tipped me off. If it was meant for heads I suppose it would be called “head trimmer”.

After using the not-head-trimmer on my dome, my hair was very unevenly cut. I could have showered, put on a hat and headed to Supercuts for all to be made well.

But thats what sane people would do.

Instead, I got out the razor and shave gel.

(ps: the scruffy face had to be shaved to match…it was just the right thing to do)

Several months ago I started a Bible Reading Plan that would take me through the Old Testament in a year.  I found that particular plan to be too taxing. I don’t just want to read but to study the text I am reading.  I have the Logos 4 Platinum Package which gives me an incredible amount of resources from which to learn (click here for the complete list of what it contains).  I tried as hard as I could to keep up, but stopped reading somewhere between the middle of 1 Samuel and the beginning of 2 Samuel.  Three or more chapters per day was just too much to study the way I want to study.

Today I started a new reading plan.  This time I’m using a plan I custom created from within my Logos 4 Software (watch a software demo here).  There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament (well, more if one is Catholic or Orthodox – which I am not) so I decided to have the software create a plan that would take 929 days, yet give me weekends off.  Click click click – DONE! An average of one chapter per day should be much more manageable, and perhaps with the time to study deeper, I’ll recall more for the long term.

I could have picked up where I left off, thereby avoiding the task of studying the same chapters over again that were gone through in my last reading plan.  But as I told my son this morning, every time I read the Bible I learn something new.  So I begin yet again with Genesis 1.  Today’s reading begins with Genesis Chapter 1 verse 1 and ends at Chapter 2 verse 3… the creation account.

I started by reading the full text from my chosen translation (I like the TNIV), then opened up my three favorite Commentaries: The New Bible Commentary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, and The Pulpit Commentary.  On many days, depending on how mentally alert I feel, I’ll go on to read other commentaries, passages from related books, or even famous sermons on the passage being studied.

For today’s reading, The New Bible Commentary is great at laying out what many Christians believe:  the 6 day account in Genesis 1 was not referring to literal days.  It gives good reasons why this is likely the case, which is why I’ve quoted what it says, in its entirety, about today’s passages.

Should you like to share your opinions on whether or not the Genesis 1 account refers to literal days, please take the time to first read the following commentary and then tell me why you think it is wrong.

Click to Enlarge - Screenshot of Study Page

COMMENTARY #1 (of several I read today): The New Bible Commentary

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1:1–2:3 Prologue: God creates the world

This opening section of Genesis stands outside the main frame of the book set by the ten headings, ‘This is the account of’ (2:4 etc.). This shows that it is a prologue to the rest of the book, setting out who God is and how he relates to the world. It thus provides a key to the interpretation of Genesis, if not the whole Bible. But this prologue is more than a statement of theology, it is a hymn of praise to the Creator through whom and for whom all things exist.

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The prologue itself is carefully arranged. Ten divine commands result in eight acts of creation spread over six days, so that there is a correspondence between days one to three and days four to six. On day one, God created ‘light’ and on day four, ‘lights’ (sun, moon and stars); on day two, he created the sky and sea and on day five, the dwellers in the sky and sea (birds and fish); on day three, he created the land and vegetation and on day six, the dwellers in the land (animals and mankind), giving them plants to eat; finally, on the seventh day (the Sabbath), he rested.

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The works of creation moved to a climax on day six when mankind was created in two sexes. That this is seen as the crowning feat of God’s creation is emphasized by the lengthy comments on their creation and role (1:26–29), which are much fuller than those about any other creature. Indeed, the works of the five preceding days seem to focus on creating a home for mankind. Those aspects of creation that most affect human existence (e.g. plant and animal life and the sun and moon) are described more fully than the creation of light, land, or seas, which are less significant. God’s concern for humanity is made explicit in the provision of plants for food.

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It also seems likely that the emphasis on God creating for six days and then resting on the seventh is deliberate. God’s mode of working was to be a model for human activity. People, who are made in the image of God, are expected throughout the Bible to imitate God. So, as God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh day, human beings are to work for six days and rest on the seventh (Ex. 20:8–11).

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The concern with human life on earth, which is apparent in this narrative read by itself, is the more obvious when it is compared with other ancient oriental accounts of creation. Genesis is implicitly rejecting other views of the gods and their relationship with the world. Here we have no story of how gods fought, married and bore children; there is but one God, beyond time and sex, who was there in the beginning. He created all things, even the sun, moon and stars, which other peoples often held to be gods in their own right. He required no magic to do this; his word was sufficient by itself. According to the Genesis account, there is one God, the sovereign Creator, to whom all the universe owes its being and whom it is expected to obey. Within that created universe, men and women have a place of honour, having been made in the divine image. We reflect God’s nature and represent him on earth.

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1:1–2 The beginning of creation

The NIV accepts the traditional understanding of these verses, namely that they describe the very first act of creation, when God created all matter (the heavens and the earth) out of nothing. But the earth immediately after creation was formless and empty, i.e. unproductive and uninhabited. So the narrative then proceeds to relate how in six days God organized this chaos into the well-ordered world we now see.

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Some modern translations and commentators understand v 1 differently. Some (e.g. the NEB) take it simply to be defining the situation when God started to create, ‘In the beginning when God created … the earth was formless …’ Others simply regard v 1 as a summary title to the first chapter. But neither view is as likely as that adopted by the NIV. ‘Create’ is something that only God does (the verb is used only of God in the OT). He demonstrates his power by creating marvellous and unexpected things (Nu. 16:30), e.g. great sea creatures (21), men and women (27) and mountains (Am. 4:13).

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V 2 pictures the world as dark and desolate, covered by water and with the mysterious Spirit (or ‘wind’) of God hovering above the ocean. The suggestion here of a power within the Godhead is developed further by Pr. 8:22–31 and Jn. 1:1–3, which speak of ‘wisdom’ and ‘the Word’ assisting in creation.

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1:3–23 Creation continued

1:3–5 The creation of light. The dark world was lit up when God said, ‘Let there be light’. More precisely, day was distinguished from night by the creation of light. Light is a form of energy and may be produced in many different ways, not just by sun and stars (which were not created until the fourth day). Contemporary cosmologists say that the universe began with a hot big bang, which must have made a very bright light. Order began to appear and replace dark chaos. The refrain God saw that [it] was good (cf. vs 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) affirms the intrinsic goodness of the creation and its Creator.

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Note. It is possible that the order of evening-morning in And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day (cf. vs 8, 13, 19, 23, 31) reflects the Hebrew concept of the day beginning with sunset and ending with the following sunset. What matters most to Genesis, however, is that God worked for six ‘days’ and then rested. In that these are days of God’s activity not human work, it is unlikely that they are supposed to last twenty-four hours. Indeed, the Hebrew word for ‘day’ covers a variety of periods: the hours of daylight (Gn. 29:7), a twenty-four-hour day (Gn. 7:4) or an indefinite period (Gn. 35:3). That they were different from ordinary days is shown by the non-existence of the sun until the fourth day. Another hint that creation did not take six literal days is the mention of the creation of the heavens and the earth, i.e. the unorganized universe (1) before the six days were counted down. Finally, it should be noted that 1:1–2:3, unlike all other sections of Genesis, is not headed by the title ‘This is the account of’, which links the proto-history (2:4–11:26) to the patriarchal history (11:27–50:26). All these differences indicate that 1:1–2:3 serves as an overture to the rest of the book and that it may not be intended to be taken as literally as what follows. Nevertheless, that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh day (however long by human reckoning his ‘days’ were) is a pattern for mankind to follow.

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1:6–8 The separation of the waters. God showed his power again by putting limits on the waters which had hitherto covered the globe (cf. Jb. 38:8–11). Some were confined to the seas, the rest to the sky. The upper waters were kept there by the ‘expanse’ or ‘firmament’ (AV). From earth the sky (firmament) appears to be a sort of dome that prevents the waters in the clouds falling to earth (cf. 7:11).

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1:9–13 The creation of land and plants. Even more important for mankind was the provision, on the third day, of dry land, on which he could live, and plants to sustain life (cf. 1:29–30). The distinct varieties of plants (11–12) bear witness to God’s organizing power, and these distinctions should not be blurred (see the rules against mixed breeding in Lv. 19:19; Dt. 22:9–11).

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1:14–19 The creation of the heavenly lights. Even more powerful proof of God’s creative power, and ever pertinent to human existence, are the sun, moon and stars. Pagan contemporaries of Genesis regarded these bodies as gods in their own right. To avoid any suspicion that the sun and moon were anything but created by God, Genesis calls them just lights. They were appointed to regulate the fundamental rhythms of human life by defining day and night and the seasons of the year.

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1:20–23 The creation of birds and fish. The parallel between God’s work on the first three days and the second three days now becomes clear. On day one, light was created, on day four, the heavenly lights; on day two, sky and oceans, on day five, birds and fish. Once again, Genesis is stressing God’s concern for order. ‘The great sea creatures’ were regarded as divine in some ancient myths; Genesis insists that they were merely some of God’s creatures. Furthermore, God wanted the waters and air to be filled with his creatures, and his command and blessing guaranteed their fertility. No magic or fertility rites were needed to secure it.

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1:24–31 The creation of animals and mankind

The creation account reaches its climax on the sixth day. Note how much fuller the description of God’s work on this day is than for any of the preceding days and the parallels with the words of day three (land).

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Here Genesis defines mankind’s purpose and place in God’s plan. God says man is to be made in our image, in our likeness. This means that mankind, both male and female, is God’s representative on earth. Ancient oriental kings were often seen as bearing the image of their god, but Genesis affirms that every human being is made in God’s image. The NT affirms that Christ is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15), ‘the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being’ (Heb. 1:3). Such an understanding of the divine image was beyond the reach of the human author of Genesis, but he alludes to another dimension of it by the comment ‘Let us make man in our image’ (26). Here God is pictured talking to the angels, the only allusion to other supernatural beings in this chapter. This remark implies that man is like both God and the angels. (Traditionally, Christians have seen us and our to allude to the other persons of the Trinity. While this is a quite legitimate fuller interpretation, it is not the words’ primary meaning.)

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Secondly, because human beings are created in God’s image they are his representatives on earth and should ‘rule … over all the earth’ (26). Ps. 8:4–8 offers a marvellous poetic comment on this idea. Rule implies lordship but not exploitation. Man, as God’s representative, must rule his subjects, as God does, for their own good. While legitimizing human use of the world’s resources, God gives no licence for our abuse of his creation.

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Thirdly, God deliberately created humanity in two sexes to be fruitful and increase in number. He thereby blessed sexual intercourse and indicated its importance in his plan. Other ancient tales, hailing from urban Mesopotamia (which was worried by population growth), tell of the gods taking steps to curb human fertility by sending plagues, famine, flood and miscarriage. The God of Genesis repeatedly urged the first people to be fruitful (1:28; 8:17; 9:1, 7) and promised the patriarchs that they would be successful in fathering innumerable children. Sex is thus seen as an important part of God’s very good creation (31).

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Fourthly, God provided food for mankind in the form of seed-bearing plants and fruit trees (29). Not until after the flood was meat-eating expressly sanctioned (9:1–3). Genesis, however, is not primarily interested in whether people were originally vegetarian but in the fact that God provided them with food. In Mesopotamian mythology the gods created man to provide themselves with food; Genesis affirms it was the other way round, that God feeds mankind (cf. Pss. 65; 50:7–15).

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2:1–3 The holy seventh day

A dramatic change of pace and style highlights the distinctiveness of the Sabbath. The seventh day is not called the Sabbath here, but it is alluded to, for he rested could be paraphrased ‘he Sabbathed’. Furthermore, the seventh day’s importance is underlined by God blessing it and making it holy. The Sabbath is regularly called ‘holy’, but only in Ne. 8:9, 11 is any other festival called ‘holy’. Here, God is described as resting on the seventh day, but the narrator clearly implies that mankind, made in the divine image, is expected to copy his Creator. Indeed, the context implies that a weekly day of rest is as necessary for human survival as sex (1:27–28) or food (1:29). This is an emphasis that seems to have been forgotten today, even amongst Christians.

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Note. Genesis 1 and science. Genesis and modern science are answering different questions. Genesis explains who God is and how he relates to the created world. Science elucidates the God-given laws that explain natural phenomena; and from these laws scientists can work backwards to trace the course of the universe’s development. Science makes us aware of the infinite power and wisdom of the Creator, but it cannot explain God’s purpose in creating the universe, or his character. Genesis is not dealing with the issues raised by twentieth-century science but with ideas current in the ancient orient over 3000 years ago. Over against the polytheistic world-view that held there were many gods and goddesses of varying wisdom and power, Genesis declares there is but one God of absolute power and holiness. Rejecting the ancient view that mankind was simply created as an afterthought which the gods later regretted, Genesis affirms that man was the goal of creation and that his welfare is God’s supreme concern. These principles are reaffirmed repeatedly throughout Scripture, but they are set out with exemplary clarity in Genesis 1 and are central to what the author was trying to say. Modern readers should concentrate on these original intentions of Genesis and not bring to the text scientific issues which are foreign to its purpose.

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Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition (4th ed.). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA: Inter-Varsity Press.

For those who have asked, I wanted to give a little insight into how I study the Bible. This is it. If you can afford to do so, I highly recommend obtaining a copy of Logos 4.

God, why did I cheat on my wife? Why did I throw away my family? Why did I think producing pornographic content would fulfill me more than her?

Oh, that I could have realized then what I realize now, this handful of years later:
She was so very amazing! Why didn’t I see that I could be just as aroused by my wife – an arousal that was instituted, with love, by you – as I always thought I’d be by other women? Why did I buy into the lie that sex with my wife was boring? I saw through that one two months after our separation, even in the midst of so much self delusion, when I started trying to explain to the new girl what it meant to have love and commitment…. the same things my wife used to say to me, receiving the same blank, uncomprehending stare from me that I received from “the new girl” each time the subject arose.  Pearls, cast before swine.

Why did I have to learn the hard way? Why couldn’t I have just listened and learned when others spoke about the life lessons they’ve learned? Why couldn’t I use the knowledge of their mistakes as an inspiration to avoid mistakes of my own?

And why now, a decade later after all has been lost (but which you can always restore) and I’ve finally accepted your love, can I not get through to so many of the 4 million plus I’ve spoken in front of – allowing the lessons I’VE learned and the things I’VE lost to inspire them to avoid the same pitfalls?

Our enemy doesn’t sleep, God.  Perhaps we shouldn’t either?

Y’all know what type of work I was doing as recently as 2006.  What a change to be able to say that this coming Saturday, July 17th, 2010… I will be performing my first wedding! My cousin Kristin is marrying the man of her dreams, Josh, and she asked me to be the man that marries them.

Ain’t that a kick in the pants?

I’m nervous, people!