Or Jesse the Tiger?
Posted on 04/20/2010 6:53:46 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
What would Jesus say to Tiger Woods and Jesse James?" posed the pastor of a Texas megachurch.
Addressing the recent celebrity scandals and adulterous affairs that have been adorning tabloids and magazines for the past several months, Pastor Kerry Shook of Woodlands Church challenged the congregation not to cast any more stones than have already been thrown.
"A lot of people have been throwing rocks at Tiger Woods and Jesse James," Shook said, alluding to the New Testament account of the adulterous woman the Pharisees wanted to have stoned.
"I'm not going to pick up another stone and add to what's happening here," he said Sunday, noting the gossip and water cooler talk surrounding the scandals.
Shook, author of bestselling book One Month to Live, began a message series earlier this month titled "Sacred," teaching the thousands at his megachurch about treating what is uniquely valuable as uniquely valuable rather than common.
Sexual intimacy is one of those gifts that seems to have lost its sacredness in society today, he noted.
"Most people treat God's sacred gift of sexual intimacy as common, casual, no big deal when God says it's to be treated as an uncommon, beautiful, wonderful, valuable, sacred gift in the marriage relationship," said Shook.
While sexual intimacy within marriage is beautiful and for the couple's enjoyment, outside of marriage it is destructive, the pastor pointed out.
Answering the curious question raised at the start of his sermon, Shook said, "I think Jesus would say to Tiger Woods and Jesse James and to me and to you 'I don't condone your sin. In fact, your sin is the reason why I had to go to a cross and die an excruciatingly painful and humiliating death on a Roman cross.
"'But I don't condemn you. I offer you forgiveness.'"
Famed golfer Woods and James, who builds custom motorcycles and is married to actress Sandra Bullock, have been on the hot seat since shocking allegations of infidelity surfaced. Each celebrity has allegedly had a number of mistresses and divorce is reportedly looming for both.
Amid the ongoing reports and public interest in the stories, Shook chose to address the matter for his message on "Sacred Love and Sex."
"What better way to show God's relevance than to pick something that's on the front page of every tabloid in America," the Woodlands pastor commented in a statement.
Before being quick to judge the celebrities, Shook reminded the congregation that all sin is sin to God, whether it is physically acted out or not.
"We always judge these ... outward sins that are so salacious," he said. "Everybody gossips; ... it makes us feel better about ourselves. But the sins of the heart (i.e. lust) are just as destructive, Jesus says."
"There are different consequences for different sins. There's no doubt," he noted. "The sins that these two guys have committed are really bringing about some terrible consequences, especially for their families and for themselves.
"[But] we can't compare ourselves. It keeps us from working on issues in our own lives."
"I just hope that we understand that every one of us need to work on our own lives," he underlined.
Addressing the general crowd, Shook preached on the readiness of God to forgive.
"Whenever you commit adultery or a sin like that that hurts, destroys marriage, you come to God and ask for forgiveness. He forgives instantly and He starts restoring your life instantly," Shook preached. "But it takes time to build trust back."
"We need to come to God for forgiveness because we're all sinners."
Woodlands Church is a multi-site church with more than 16,000 weekly attendees.
Jesus Would say “Repent and Believe the Gospel” just like he says to everybody else.
There are two sides to every story. Was Tiger wrong? Yup; but why was his wife content to stay home and play with the kids for the months when Tiger was out on the road by himself. Why didn’t she travel with the kids, with him while he was on tour? If she had, would he have cheated? Would he have been tempted?
When a wife makes herself unavailable for sex, either by rejection or by intentional absence - and other options become available, what does she think is going to happen?
IMHO, she had her life set (Millions in the bank, her lifestyle fully funded, kids, she never has to lift a finger the rest of her life - not bad for a bikini-model has-been). Once she had what she wanted, she didn’t care whether Tiger lived or died. Her needs were met, and that’s all that mattered. Now, she can take Millions, and play the victim .... her perfect ‘checkmate’.
"You've been a very bad boy, Eldrick, but while I have you here, I seem to have been hooking my drives a lot lately, you got any tips?"
Tiger’s behavior after he was married was no different than before he was married. Maybe Tiger didn’t want Elin to travel with him.
Go forth and multiply?
Or Jesse the Tiger?
He would say: “You have an audience of One”.
“Go, and sin no more”.
?
He would tell them to repent, make amends to whom they hurt and sin no more lest something worse befall them. They might not be so lucky next time.
"Hey, Tige, give me a mulligan on that one, wouldjya?"
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Stop robbing banks?
You have a lot of suspicions, but nothing to back it up with.
Do I really understand you to say that it’s ok for a man to have sex with someone other than his wife because she is not there? Yikes, does your wife know you feel this way? Interesting but wrong.
I can’t speak for Jesus, I am not that good, but, I would like to take a stick to the back of Tiger’s head and ask him ‘What were you thinking?”
What a Moron! He had the World on a string and threw it all away. For What? For time with women that you wouldn’t want to touch with their cloths on?
That’s just not right.
As for Jesse James, I thought Sandra Bullock had more class than that to start with. Now, maybe she has learned.
Wrong. There are THREE sides to every story: Yours, mine, and the truth.
(old cop saying)
I don’t know Tiger, or what he did before he was married. I don’t know if he didn’t want Elin to travel with him, or if he did and got such a large serving of misery that he never asked again.
We do know that he would often be away from home for weeks at a time, alone. There is no reason why Elin couldn’t come along - it’s not like she’s curing cancer or working on anything of significance. The kids would love to see Daddy, and a plane ride is an adventure.
Same thing with many other celebrities that end up in divorce. They focus so much on themselves, that they ignore their spouse. Even when their spouse is with them, the adoration of strangers counts more than the adoration of their spouse. What do you think is going to happen?
If your spouse ignored you, if he/she was more concerned about how they appeared or how they treated strangers, than how they appeared or treated you - do you think that would lead to maritial problems? When they treat strangers as friends, and family like strangers - then there are going to be problems.
Was Tiger in the wrong? Yup, no argument. But, did he drive to this point all by himself, or was he merely used by his wife to get what she wanted.
I can say with absolute certainty, that my wife would INSIST on travelling with me, if we were as affluent as Tiger Woods. Why? Because she loves being with me, we have fun as a couple, we are each other’s best friend - and we’d rather be sitting doing nothing together, than in paradise alone.
Um... if she’s at home and he’s gone, how is that “intentional absence” on her part?
>> Do I really understand you to say that it’s ok for a man to have sex with someone other than his wife because she is not there? Yikes, does your wife know you feel this way? Interesting but wrong.
I don’t think this necessarily applies to Tiger’s case ... but, in principle, I think I agree with him somewhat.
If I’m reading his post correctly, I don’t think he’s saying “its ok for a man to have sex with someone other than his wife because she’s not there.” A man is solely responsible for controlling himself, regardless of action or inaction from his wife.
My reading of his post is, even though the cheating man is fully reponsible for his actions, choices and lack of self-control — the wife of a cheating man may not be entirely blameless in the situation.
A good strong husband will not stray no matter whether the wife puts out with any regularity. A sleazeball will stray every time regardless of how often the wife is available. But, the middle-ground, weak non-sleazeballs are more likely to stray if a wife is perpetually unavailable.
My guess, however, is that Tiger is a run-of-the-mill narcissistic sleaze ... and that if his wife had traveled with him with a stripper pole in tow, he’d still have cheated at every opportunity.
SnakeDoc
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