What does the penis and clitoris tell us about God? About sex? About how God intended us to relate to each other?
I’ve got a new podcast up! I hope you all will listen, but if you don’t have time, I’ll have some links and rabbit trails below so you can read all you want as well! This week I’ve been summarizing what I’ve been talking about on the blog about the theology of the body, and it’s a really fun one.
And consider this podcast “extras”. If you want to go deeper into what I talked about in the podcast, here are some more things to help you.
But first, here’s the podcast:
Main Segment: Can we have a theology of the body?
Pope John Paul II famously wrote a theology of the body, and I’ve been trying to give my own take on what our bodies tell us about God, sex, and our relationships with one another.
I really enjoyed recording this one–I hope you’ll listen!
I mentioned a few posts in it that I promised to share:
Millennial Marriage: Who has the best marriage?
We were discussing this article in the New York Times Opinion section about who has the best marriages. It turns out that it’s very strong traditional religious people (which would include Trump Evangelicals, of course, but would also include very religious Jews, Orthodox, Catholics, etc.), but then, at a close second, it’s your progressive secularists. The mushy middle isn’t as happy.
So we’re talking about the factor they found that these two groups have in common, and also how Christians should talk about marriage.
Reader Question: What do you mean by “keeping your head in the game” during sex?
This was a great reader question that I’m sure many of you have. So I got the chance to clear up something that may sound rather confusing:
I think I answered this one well! Have a listen and tell me if you understand the difference.
Comment: 9 Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage is Truly Profound
Sometimes I get the loveliest and most encouraging emails from people who have read my book, and this is one such email. I just wanted to share it with you:
That comment was just so lovely to read. I think 9 Thoughts is very different from most marriage books, because I do try to tell women that they can run after God and do what’s right, not just run after what their husbands want. God said that two are better than one, and that means that we need to be fully participating in marriage. I think it’s better to call women to follow Jesus than to follow anyone else. I hope that you’ll pick it up, too!
Are you GOOD or are you NICE?
God calls us to be GOOD, yet too often we’re busy being nice. And sometimes, in marriage, that can actually cause problems to be even more entrenched.
What if there’s a better way?
That’s it for this week! Hope you enjoyed the podcast. I really had fun with it, and it’s fun to do one so focused on sex again, as this one was. Let me know what you think!
Thank you I’m a woman in my 40’s unmarried I know nothing about sex due to poor upbringing I have been celibate for over 20 years I realized in my 40 s i began to be aroused in the morning more frequently and at night sometimes throughout the day. I recently had cancer treatment and thought maybe the hormones were responsible but I just wanted to know what was normal and sinful but am afraid to ask. I feel better knowing I’m normal. But I wanted to know what you thought. Am I supposed to be wanting sex all the time now. What’s ok what’s not
Yes! I loved y’all’s millennial marriage segment and the idea that Christians need to be willing to learn from others! I totally agree that just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean you will have the best everything (marriage, sex life, family life). Don’t get me wrong, I think that if we’re following Jesus’s teachings and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit we should have the best everything, but just because you identify as a Christian doesn’t mean all those things will magically happen! This pride and honestly what I consider to be a disguised laziness (the “I’m a Christian so I don’t need to put extra work into having healthy relationships, a better understanding of x,” attitude..) is such a turn-off to non-Christians who we are meant to witness to, and it robs Christians of the opportunity to have a better, richer, life! I’m not saying this to bash all Christians, and I really do believe in the power of God’s love to change lives above all else, I’m just passionate about this because I grew up around some people who took this thinking to the extreme and I saw how limiting it can be.
Exactly, Madeline! And I think it’s a very bad image of the gospel. If we’re always saying, “our lives are better than yours”, and they can see that they’re not, then why do they need Christ? The message of the gospel needs to be about God, not about us.