Toy Girlfriend

There's a lot that could be said, but I will restrain myself to one question and statement: How ridiculous is the name Eternal Maiden Actualization (E.M.A)? The toy is far from eternal, a stretch to be considered a maiden, and the only thing it actualizes is the potential to perpetuate immaturity and relational brokenness.

Staying on the Vine

Jesus says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). In my self-willed moments, I act like the robot testing boundaries, thinking that I'm missing out on life. That just past the horizon, there is something that I need, even though I may have no clue what that may be. The world can be very enticing (to say the least). But, I must always remember that Jesus is my source of life and that apart from Him I really can do nothing. Just like the robot, when I venture too far away from the source of life, Jesus, I slowly begin to tire, weaken and fade. "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned" (John 15:6).

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that believers should seclude themselves away from the world. What I am saying is that believers need to wrestle within themselves and bring our self-will into submission under the lordship of Christ (no matter how painful). In His mercy, God restrains us for a reason. When He tells me "Don't," it's usually "Don't hurt yourself." We must never forget that God can see the whole painting, whereas we can only see a portion of the painting at a time. Our perspective is limited, God's isn't. We need to move from living a Jesus plus faith to a Jesus alone faith. The more we press into Jesus, the Word of God, the more we will understand just how fully sufficient He is. I believe when we do this, we will experience the depth and fullness of life that Jesus promises us (John 10:10). But more often than not, we settle for a life of shallowness with faint glimpses of depth and fullness.

Geisha

When I first saw this video, I have to admit I was at first fascinated by what I saw. I was drawn into the seemingly secret and exotic world of the geisha (which probably reveals the narcissistic and perverse inclinations of my own heart). Historically, the geisha has a sorted past when it comes to offering sexual services to their clients. There has always been (and I imagine always will be) intense pressure from clients for geishas to sell sex. Though traditionally, geishas are considered performing artists, rather than courtesans (prostitutes), both are in the business of commodifying women.

Though typically sexual services are not the central focus of geishas as it is with courtesans, the bottom line is that geishas are trained in the art of seductive entertainment. The main purpose of their existence is to flirt with and massage the egos of their clients while they entertain them, which in many ways reveals humanity's brokenness. We (people) were made for so much more than to just use and be used by own another. Furthermore, the reason that geishas put on all the makeup is to removed any trace of individuality. If you really think this through, it's like the girls become living painted dolls for those who purchase their services. In many ways, what this does is strip away any sort of humanity from these women (in some instances teenage girls). The more I think through it, the more that my fascination begins to turn towards revulsion. I'm saddened and repulsed by the fact that the goal of all the geisha's training is to hollow them out and make them into these cloned porcelain dolls, frozen in time.

Thinking through this whole thing reminds me of an old Black Flag album called "Family Man" where some of Henry Rollins' spoken word is mixed in with some instrumentals. More specifically, it reminds me of the piece called "salt on a slug." Basically, Henry Rollins describes what happened when he poured salt on a slug. First, he was totally fascinated by the slug's writhing and oozing. But then, his "fascination turned to revulsion as the slug writhed and tossed." Eventually, he gets bored torturing the slug and leaves the slug to its writhing fate (death).

Will I let my growing repulsion isolate me away from the geisha world, uncompassionately leaving them to their fate, or will I let my repulsion fuel my passion to bring the light and hope of the Gospel into the geisha world: be it through prayer or actually face time ministry? But, I need to allow my perspective to change from being fascinated by the geisha world to being repulsed by this world. Because as long as I am captivated by this world, I will minimize the fetish deviancy of it, which will make it all the harder for me to see the underlying brokenness. I need to see the geisha world for what it is: a reflection of our fallen brokenness crying out for healing and redemption. A healing and redemption that can truly only be found in Jesus.

&*%@#!*+&#@!!!

There are very few things that anger me to the point of swearing and cursing, this is one of them. Just thinking about men who travel to foreign countries as sex tourists literally makes my stomach turn. It also makes my heart ache and yearn all the more for Jesus, the Savior King, to come with His iron scepter to judge and make war against those who would sexually abuse children and to come rescue the abused and discarded.

But lately, as I have been praying and interceding for these women and children, something strange has been happening - in the midst of my prayers of judgment upon these men, I have also started praying salvation and redemption for them as well. This has gotten me all kinds of sideways because who wants to pray mercy for &#@!!! child molesters (but, I regress: forgive me, Lord). Jesus has been impressing on me that the Gospel is for everyone and if anyone needs the power of God to enter into their lives, it's sex tourists and traffickers.

"Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT).

God can save and redeem anyone (my own life is proof of that). We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and until the final judgment, there is grace and mercy for all. So, until that day comes, this is my prayer: That the Lord of the harvest would raise up laborers for the harvest (Luke 10:2), people who were once sex tourists and traffickers - to His glory alone.

Busting it Back to the Basics

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:16, 17).