Justin Norwood; Don’t be ashamed!

by Staff July 16, 2011 18 Comments Christian Talk Misc. News Opinion Sista Talk Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) There are a lot of people out there both male and female that are not sexually active and some that are even still virgins. I just want you to be encouraged today that there is nothing wrong with that. Do not let pop culture and society tell you that you must have sex in order to be somebody. That is a lie straight from the pits of Hell. You are a completely unique individual. You are not “weird” or “lame” or a “square” because you choose not to participate in sexual activity. Of course you are going to be peculiar to the world because you are representing Christ and making wise decisions. Anyone that calls you those names is probably jealous that you have avoided the pitfalls of premarital sex and fornication. The Bible tells us to flee fornication anyway “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, therefore we should not sin against it. You should never feel ashamed for honouring God “Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” 1 Peter 4:16

When you have sex outside of marriage you are putting yourself and others at risk. You could contract an STD or get yourself pregnant ladies and guys you could have the responsibility of a child before you are ready. The the cycle of fatherless homes then begins and continues to infect the community. This often leads to violence, jail time, or early death. Not to mention that some of these individuals have not been given a strong foundation in the things of God because their parents are still developing themselves. Many of us are faced with the pressures of sexual temptation everyday. We see it on television and in public on a regular basis. The world would have you believe that it is the norm and that since everyone is doing it that it is okay. It is another tactic of Satan who only wants to separate you from God, but praise the Lord that he Loves us anyway and we have freedom through Jesus Christ! (John 8:36)

Men, anytime a woman tries to tempt you into sexual activity, do not be ashamed to say NO! You may even have to run sometimes as Joseph did in the Bible (Genesis 39:7-10). You are not weak if you have to do this. You are just being honest with where you are at the moment. If a woman calls you “gay” or a “punk” because you refuse to have sex with her, just shake the dust off your feet and keep it moving. I would rather her call me names that are not true than to end up jeopardizing my walk with God. I cannot give in when there is a great woman out there waiting for me. Plus, you will feel worse if you fall into sin with a woman and create a “soul tie“. Show her your strength by saying no and refusing to give in. Don’t be afraid of losing her, because if she can’t respect your walk then she is not the woman for you anyway. Besides, if she is calling you those names then she is disrespecting Jesus as well, because I did not read any account of Jesus fornicating in the Bible.

Women, do not let a man manipulate you into sexual activity. He may even call you names like “church girl” or what have you, but do not fall for it. A man may also try to convince you by saying that he can make you a woman by having sex with you. The ONLY one that can make you a woman is God through the blood of Jesus! If a man is speaking to you that way he is trying to manipulate you and play on your weaknesses or fulfillment issues. Do not allow this to take place. Some women feel like they have to be with someone in order to feel important or fulfilled, but that is not true. If you have to, just get a pet or something, but do not get into a relationship with the wrong man! I repeat. Do not get into a relationship with the wrong man! Guys, you should not be with the wrong woman either. You should be equally yoked. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14

If you are not participating in sexual activity your life is a testimony to someone. Yes, it will seem hard or like everyone is laughing at you. That’s called persecution and it’s usually an indication that you are on the right path. You may even experience persecution from those in the church or your family as well, especially as a male because so many people feel like a male is supposed to be sexually active. This has been a way of proving whether or not your son was gay, especially in the black community. That is not of God and you are not gay just because you are being obedient and honouring God with your body by abstaining from sex. Remember also, when you honour God he will honour you as well and put you on display (1 Samuel 2:30). So let them say whatever, because God does the rewarding. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

For anyone that has participated in sex, you are a testimony as well. God uses you in a mighty way to steer those who may be headed down the wrong path to the truth. The word says that “[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 So you do not have to feel condemned about your past life. When you repent God puts it into the sea of forgetfulness anyway as the scripture says “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19 The only one who tries to bring up past sins is Satan because he is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). So, just rebuke that clown and go on about God’s business. Your testimony will help someone else overcome (Revelation 12:10).

So do not be ashamed because you do not have a sexual presence in the world. Just be sure that you are serving God with all of your heart and he will take care of any area of lack in your life “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Job 8:7. Do not let others persuade you to get off of the path that God has laid out for you. Do not grow weary, tired, or depressed from your journey, because that is only a trick of Satan to make you believe that what God said will not come to pass. Remember, Satan is the father of lies and there is no truth found in him (John 8:44). It may seem like your work is in vain, but don’t give up “But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” -1 Corinthians 15:57

Check out this video entitled “I will wait for you”

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Staff Writer; Justin Norwood

To learn more about this man of christ visit; Keeping The Vision.

18 Comments

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September 20, 2014 at 8:08 pm

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Eric L. Wattree says:

July 22, 2011 at 9:24 am

And there’s one other thing, Norwood.

Although I appreciate you sentiment, don’t bother to pray for me – God has already answered all of my prayers in advance when he blessed me with a mind. You see, God was a step ahead of us. He gave us the means to answer our own prayers – that is, if we have faith in his creation to use it.

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Eric L. Wattree says:

July 22, 2011 at 8:59 am

Norwood,

You’ve made a lot of unwarranted assumptions here. I was raised as a christian:

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

“IF YE WERE ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN, YE WOULD DO THE WORKS OF ABRAHAM”
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Every since I wrote the column “Crabs in a Barrel,” the gross hypocrisy of South Carolina State Senator, Rev. Darrell Jackson, has lingered with me. In that column I describe how the Black, South Carolina State Senator, who was also the pastor of the 10,000 member, “Family Way Bible Life Center Church,” came out against Senator Barack Obama afer selling his support to Senator Hillary Clinton for $10,000 a month–a dollar amount that corresponded exactly with the number of members he had in his church. Now, as I drive through the Black community and see the magnificent “houses of God” towering over the community in the midst of poverty, social need, and in some cases, squalor all around them, I can’t help but wonder how many of them are really doing God’s work.
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When I look at those resplendent edifices, it takes me back to a little storefront church on a 108th and Juniper in Watts, where my grandmother first sent me for religious instruction–she was ill at the time, so she couldn’t take me to “the big church” in which she was a member.
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I’ll never forget that little storefront church. It stood down the street and in the shadow of a huge and elaborately appointed Catholic church, seemingly, almost as an afterthought. It was so small and had so few members that the thought of attracting a true “ordained man of God” was out of the question, so we had to settle for a little, unassuming man that we used to refer to as Elder Hampton. That little church was the closest thing to worshiping in someone’s living room as you could get, but to this day, whenever I begin to lose faith in the basic goodness of my fellow man, or even remotely begin to contemplate God, I think of that little storefront church.
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If I’d remained at that church, I don’t know what I would have been doing today. My young instincts led me to become so close to Elder Hampton that I might have even become a preacher. He used to take me with him to visit the old, the poor, and the sickly in the neighbor. Black, Mexican, young, old, Baptist or Catholic, he didn’t care what a person was—if they were sick or in need, they were all a part of his flock.
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Looking back on it, I don’t know where he found the resources. He certainly didn’t get it from our little collection plate—we were so poor and so few in number he couldn’t have gotten more than ten dollars a Sunday out of us, max. But in spite of that, he was no Sunday preacher. He was a full-time man of God–if you were sick or in need, you could count on him seven days a week. But after my grandmother had an operation and finally got over her illness, they took me to the “big church,” and I never saw Elder Hampton again, but his influence has remained constant in my life to this day—in fact, though I must admit that I’m rarely found in church these days, it is his lingering influence that’s led me to write this article, and everything else that I write.
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The first time I went to the big church I was completely overwhelmed with the opulence of it all. Shortly before I arrived, the church had just imported in a new fireball of an ordained minister, direct from Dallas, Texas. He was nothing like the quiet and humble Elder Hampton, he had a big booming voice, wore shinny Florsheims, expensive suits, and a sense of importance just oozed from every pore of his body. When this man walked into a room it sucked all the oxygen out of the place–you just knew you were in the presence of someone significant.
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And God must have loved this magnificent church the minister headed–the choir alone in this ornate house of God was larger by a factor of three than the entire membership of the little church I’d grown accustomed to, and the choir pit was twice as large as the room where we held Sunday school. The parking lot of the church was filled with big, expensive cars, and a limousine was often parked next to the front entrance. In addition, City Councilmen and other politicians were counted among its membership, and a well known entertainer was the church organist. In a church like this you didn’t have to wait to get to heaven–every Sunday you were right there. The only problem was, after services you had to return to reality, which was more often than not, a life of pure hell.
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I’ve often wondered what Elder Hampton would have done with all of those resources. But I couldn’t imagine Elder Hampton heading a magnificent place like this. Since he wasn’t ordained, he never would have even been considered to head a place like this in the first place. I don’t care how Godly you were, stature took precedence there–if Moses wanted to head the church, they’d want to inspect his credentials. But even if Elder Hampton would have been ordained, he was much too humble a man to be embraced by the high-powered people in this membership. With his quiet, unassuming demeanor, even as a member, he would have been a back-bencher—politely tolerated, but scarcely noticed.
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And further, Elder Hampton wouldn’t begin to know how to manage the resources of a huge church like that. While he was definitely a man of God, he wasn’t practical man. He probably would have squander all the church’s resources on the no-account sinners in the surrounding community.
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He was too impractical. He probably would have setup a soup kitchen and built a dormitory to house the homeless at night, and hired unemployed mothers to start a low-cost daycare center on the church grounds during the day. Then it wouldn’t be no time before he’d dig up the church’s beautiful grounds, trying to put up basketball courts and a recreation building to draw young people off the streets after school. And of course, between the kids during the day, the teenagers in the early evening, and the homeless at night, it would cost the church a fortune just to keep up the grounds and repair damages to the building.
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Much of the congregation would have been in an uproar over the chaos he’d create. And it would go far beyond simply chaos. He would have long since lost most of the influential politicians. Every Sunday he’d be hounding them at church, and calling them at home during the week, trying to get them to create Empowerment Zones, and Special Need Zones to establish low-cost loans to help the surrounding neighbors to purchase and fix-up the houses they were living in. It’s no wonder he’d drive the politicians out of the church. How would he expect these busy men to worship God in peace with him buzzing around like a gadfly trying to get them to help the poor?
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No, Elder Hampton’s heart was in the right place, but he’d have been much too impractical to run a big church like that. He was a God loving man, but he lacked common sense. He thought when God said Love thy neighbor, he meant it. What a fool.
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Yeah, Elder Hampton would have been a back-bencher at that church. He would have been the fool sitting way in the back–with Jesus.
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Eric L. Wattree
http://wattree.blogspot.com/
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like me – it’s just that God does.

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Justin Norwood says:

July 21, 2011 at 5:16 pm

Mr.Wattree,

I will try to make this my last response on this topic. I know that I believe God because I have a relationship with him not a religious following. Yes, the Bible was written by men but only throught the devine inspiration of what God told them to write. There is no way a mere man could make up the stuff that I have read in the Bible. No way! As for being born in Iran or any other country, there are people from all walks of life that accept Jesus as their Lord and personal saviour. The Bible is in EVERY major translation. There are many people from Iran that have become Christians!

Another thing, you cannot claim to be a Christian nor a man of God if you do not read the Bible. That just doesn’t make sense. You have to read the word in order to understand God better and how he works and speaks to us. God only acknowledges his word. That is why the Bible tells us to put him in remembrence of it. (Isaiah 43:6) Also, the Bible or the word of God IS God himself. Check out this scripture. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” –John 1:1 Another reason that I see you don’t read the Bible. You can’t follow God as strongly if you do not know anything about him. So please stop saying that you are a true believer and all of that if you do not read your word. Many people start off believing what their parents told them at first, but when they read for themselves they make their own decisions. I read the Bible for myself. My parents don’t make me go to church or read the Bible. I do it because I desire to be closer to him.

Believe it or not I thank you for your comments, because I see that there are some out there that are confused and mislead and need some answers as well. I now understand better my responsibility as a Christian to bring understanding to the world through the word of God. So thank you sir for letting God use you in that way even if you don’t realize that he can turn your intentions into good. I will be in prayer for you, that you do in fact read the word so that you will not be decieved. God bless and goodbye!

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Eric L. Wattree says:

July 21, 2011 at 12:35 pm

Bro. Norwood,

You’re not worshiping God. You’re worshiping a book written by man. Therefore, you’re worshiping man. The only evidence that we have that the Bible is the word of God is that the Bible says it’s the word of God. Any book can say that. I can write a book and make the exact same claim, and my claim would be no less legitimate than the Bible.

What you believe is an accident of birth, nothing more, and nothing less. if you had been born in Iran your belief in Islam would be just as adamant as it now is towards Christianity. How do I know this? God told me. When I was born God blessed me a device that allows him to whisper in my ear – it’s called the human mind, and his words are called common sense.

But unfortunately, due to man’s need to control other men, he’s convinced many to ignore God and follow him. And the method that man uses to convince other men to ignore God is called religion. So again, I beg you to consider how you came to believe what you do – it was beaten into your ancestors while they were tied up next to the mules.

God told me to tell you that, because he wants you to know the truth, so the truth can set you free.

Eric,

A true child of God.

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Justin Norwood says:

July 20, 2011 at 4:44 pm

Mr.Wattree,

Wow! I am amazed at your last comment. It is clear that you DO NOT read the Bible. It says very plainly that GOD is in fact very mindful of us. That is why we that are Christians are so humbled by him. With all of the planets and the vastness of the universe he still chooses us. This is the basic premise of Christianity! That is what makes us worship him. So you see, it is not “arrogance” it is simply faith and obedience. He sent his only begotten son for little ole me! (John 3:16) Why would he do that if he didn’t care? Read this my friend! “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? ” –Psalm 8:4 That chapter goes on to say how God has given us dominion over the Earth. He has even made us in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).

That is why I base my opinions on a book that has been here thousands of years and not just the knowledge that I have lived in my 26 years on this Earth. When you base info on your own opinions you come off as ignorant which simply means not knowing. Please educate yourself my friend and stop saying things that you have no foundation or understanding on. You have to read and understand the Bible for yourself before you can attack it! Again, maybe this article was not for you. So please click on another article and read it and stay off of this one with your comments. They are misled and unneccessary. So GIVE ME A BREAK from them.

I hope you do not take my tone as mean or disrespectful, but I must defend my faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). If you do not use the Bible to live your life that is your business. I however do use the Bible and so do many people. That will always be a fact my friend. I will be praying for you because you are most definitely decieved by Satan. Do not let him use you. Let God use you! Get some understanding and please receive my reply in love! God bless you sir!

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Eric L. Wattree says:

July 20, 2011 at 4:03 pm

The mere fact that man thinks that God is fixated on him is a monument to man’s incredible arrogance. There are billions of solar systems in just this galaxy, and there are billions upon billions of galaxies in the universe. So thinking that God is jumping through hoops to get us to worship him is equivalent to our doing card tricks to try to impress the germs under our toilet seat. In the grand scheme of things, man is less than insignificant. Our entire universe may be nothing more than a speck under the toenail of some gigantic being – and we’re running around talking about knowing the will of God?!!! Give me a break.

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Eric L. Wattree says:

July 20, 2011 at 1:43 am

Justin,

It’s clear that your heart is in the right place, so please don’t take my position personally. But we have absolutely no evidence that the Bible is the word of God. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong beliver in God, but not because of what somebody wrote in a book.

I have evidence of my God – creation. As far as I’m concerned, whatever force is responsible for existence is God – period. But I look upon ALL organized religions in the very same way I do voodoo. It’s an unsubstantiated belief – in other words, a superstition. That’s why it’s based on faith. But I don’t have to base my belief system on faith, because faith is only required where there is doubt. But I have no doubt – God is existence, and we exist, therefore God exists.

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Justin Norwood says:

July 20, 2011 at 12:34 am

Audria,

Thank you! I am glad that it blessed you! You can check out my other articles at http://keepingthevision.blogspot.com! I appreciate the support! You can log on and leave a comment or subscribe!

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Justin Norwood says:

July 20, 2011 at 12:31 am

Mr.Wattree,

This article was written to encourage, inspire, and uplift those individuals who feel oppressed by the everyday pressures of sexual temptation in society. It’s purpose is to show those who are not sexually active and those that may have been in the past, but are no longer that one does not have to engage in sex to feel important, needed, wanted or fulfilled. You can live a purpose filled life without engaging in sexual activity. I am merely expounding on what the word of God says, therefore my writings are based on his word not my own opinions. Sex was created by God to be shared between a husband and wife. Adam and Eve were the first examples of this union. Sex is not a need. In other words, you will not die if you are not having sex. Furtheremore sex outside of marriage DOES hurt others. As I stated in my article there are unwanted pregnancies, fatherless homes, STD’s and “soul ties” created from this behavior. One of the top killers of black women between ages 25-34 is HIV/AIDS. God would not tell us to wait if he did not think it would hurt us. He doesn’t want to ruin your fun, he wants you to live a long, healthy, stress-free, life. He gives you guidelines in the Bible, but it is your choice to follow them. He will not force you, because he gives us free will to decide. I am encouraging those that do follow the Bible. If that’s not you, then this article may not be for you. So please do not discourage those individuals that do want to better themselves through the word of God. If you do in fact follow the Bible please read Galatians 5:19-21 which explains the Bible’s stance on the topic. Also, if you are a believer, please pray and ask God to give you direction on how to live a life that pleases him. Black women have been hurt enough by the effects of sexual sin. Thanks, and have a blessed day.

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Justin Norwood says:

July 19, 2011 at 11:42 pm

Messenger,

Your question “My question is can a person who was promiscuous be renewed in Christ?”

YES Ma’am. You can most definitely me renewed in Christ! I will give you another scripture to read. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”– 2 Corinthians 5:17 Whatever happened in your past is irrelevant. The blood of Jesus has wiped your past sins away! You can go forth boldly into all of the promises that God has for you without guilt. God loves you, in fact God IS love. So you do not have to worry about anything in your history. I pray this gives you peace. Also, meditate on those scriptures here as well as in the article so that when Satan tries to make you feel guilty, you can speak the word of God and plead the blood of Jesus on the situation. You will also keep yourself from falling into sin and the scripture will become real to you and produce results in your life. God honors his word. You have to speak his word to produce results in your life.

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Eric L. Wattree says:

July 19, 2011 at 8:52 pm

Fellowship,

Anyone who thinks they know what God wants is not only incredibly arrogant, but completely brainwashed by man, and foolish. All you know is what MAN tells you what God wants.

Don’t you find it kinda funny that man requires you to get a license to love, but you can hate any and everyone you want to with impunity? That policy smacks of man – it’s much too stupid to be from God.

Here’s something else to consider. Black people were taught about “what God wants” by people who had them tied up next to the mules while they were teaching it to them. Then they taught us that the Bible was “the word of God.” But if you ask them how they know that, they’ll tell you, “because the Bible says it’s the word of God.” While considering that illogical syllogism, ask yourself does that response really make sense to logical mind that you KNOW God gave you.

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Audria says:

July 19, 2011 at 5:21 pm

SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!!!! THANK YOU! I had to post this on my FB page. I hope it helps someone. I am NOT ASHAMED and STAND on the WORD of GOD! TGBTG!!!

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Cristal says:

July 19, 2011 at 9:45 am

Im glad the day GOD send the person for me there will be no sex until marrige that the way it is because God say so i have made a lot of mistake in my pass and i how the Lord a lot and i dont want to mess up so i im very careful with what i see do and ear
God bless
Panama Rep of Panama

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Messenger says:

July 18, 2011 at 11:25 am

Should have read the whole article before I presented my questions. Thanks again.

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Messenger says:

July 18, 2011 at 11:22 am

I appreciate this article very much. Not for myself but for the man I am dating and for the woman that I am close to who are both virgins. I am not. I wish I would have never given in but I cannot take back my past. I can only continue walking today and rejoice that Christ is drawing me close to him. My question is can a person who was promiscuous be renewed in Christ? Can they be virginic metaphorically and get in a real relationship in order to wait until marriage to engage in sexual intercourse.

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Online Fellowship says:

July 17, 2011 at 10:02 pm

Eric,

I hope that in “act responsibly” you mean inside the confines of marriage. That is what God intended.

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Eric L. Wattree says:

July 17, 2011 at 9:50 am

We can only know God’s will by what he has done, and when God created man he gave him everything he needed to survive and prosper. So man no more needs to rely on a user’s guide to know God’s will than birds need a calendar and a map to know when to fly South, and in what direction it lies.

Sex is the greatest gift that God bestowed upon mankind, and he intended it to be that way – that’s why he put more nerve endings in our sex organs than he did in any other place in our body. The only reason that sex is such a taboo in our society is that many people suffer from the antiquated belief that we must sacrifice ourselves and remain miserable to make God happy. That’s a silly superstitious myth. Staying horny ain’t gonna get you into Heaven.

The only thing that makes sex problematic is when we engage in such a blind pursuit of the pleasure it brings that we engage in it so irresponsibly that we hurt ourselves and others.

So having sex is not the sin. The sin is when you do ANYTHING that hurts others. The sin is when you allow the pursuit of sex to disrupt lives and bring pain to others.

So ignore the nonsense, act responsibly, and enjoy.

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