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.
No. I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t say any of that.
You are making a lot of assumptions. She did after all give birth to two children. Tiger seems to be a sex addict and probably wanted Elin to stay home so he could score with more chicks. The fact that she (apparently) flew into a rage after discovering the text messages shows that she did not know what a sham Tiger was beforehand.
“Keep it zipped”
“Keep your pants on”.
“Just say NO!”
Jesus said “Go and sin no more”
Either take the Doctors advice or not.
Maybe Jesus needs to ask Phil. If Jesus wants to hit it straight then maybe ask Jim Furyk.
I never knew Jesse James second wife was a porn star. What was Sandra Bullock thinking?
So then, we should all go out and sin so that Jesus didn't die in vain?
That’s the thing that troubles me with this article. There’s all these talk about Jesus being willing to forgive but I see NO MENTION of the necessity of repentance.
Scan the entire article and you look in vain for the word — “repent”.
That is not what the poster said. If it’s what he meant he should say so.
Does she have to stay home alone? Is there any reason, any reason at all - that she couldn’t have met him on the weekends? Tiger wasn’t stuck in a dump, he stays at luxury resorts, and the locations are hardly inhospitable. Why didn’t she join him? My wife would, she would insist on accompanying me - because she loves the adventure, and we love doing things together.
It’s like tempting a recovered alcoholic with a drink. He may have been the playboy before he was married, and left alone for extended periods of time - with ample temptation, the result was almost inevitable.
People ALWAYS miss the go and sin no more part. It’s the Buddy Jesus idea. He wants to forgive us, but not so we can continue in our sin.
Having heard that line of argument before, that’s how I interpreted it. And, if I interpreted wrong ... then that’s what I say independent of the other post.
SnakeDoc
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?
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You have told us much about the kind of man you are, but I can take nothing ‘in general’ from your comments. Most men do NOT cheat, and yet, I’m pretty sure that all of us have had ‘other options made available’, at one time or another.
Of course we love to spout our opinions around here, it’s what we do. But you know nothing about Tiger’s wife, her life, or anything other than what you have read and chosen to believe from the mainstream media.
Congrats on forming your opinion from all of that accumulated knowledge.
We don’t know the answer to these questions, but they are not the issue.
I did say so.
I have said in almost every post “Tiger Woods was wrong”. However, I’m also saying that the fault of this is not entirely his doing. How many politicians travel with their families? How about Glenn Beck? Sean Hannity? They travel with their families - they are the moral support, the emotional support and the family that ‘works’ together. Each of them have a large RV that they travel with.
If they have an appointment across the country, they either travel to that appointment, or a rig provided when they fly in. This can be a family bonding thing - they are certainly not in the fiscal constraints that bind 99.99% of the Freepers on this board. She could fly a private jet, at a moment’s notice to anywhere her husband was, with the kids in tow.
But, no ... it’s so much easier to lay out by the pool and relax while the nanny raises the kids.
The Museum of Really Lame Excuses has a call in for you.
THank you. Men and women see these issues differently, I’m sure. My husband and I talked about this story this weekend. We both agree first that, really, none of this is anyone else’s business, however, since it is in the news, the take away is that, once you have made a commitment to another person via a marriage contract you should honor it, regardless, and if you cannot you MUST divorce them, regardless of the cost to yourself.
Tiger has a problem, in that he does not seem to be able to stop himself. I personally don’t think it’s entirely about sex, it maybe more about doing this because he can. I think he needs something in his life that he’s not going to find being a Buddhist, but a lot of people will also disagree with me on that. At any rate, I feel somewhat sorry for him, but he did make his own bed. On the other hand, I think he will again be an awesome golfer and he will again have a following in golf, altho he will never have quite the mystique he had before. What he threw away most people only dream of. It doesn’t feel like he really learned a real lesson, but who am I to say?
So, we just ignore any contributing factors? Doesn't matter what Elin did, or refused to do - no matter what she was like in private, no matter how she refused to travel with her husband - Tiger is totally and utterly at fault? Golly, I thought marriage was supposed to be a TEAM effort; I guess a husband is just a slave to whatever his wife condescends to tolerate. My mistake.
And I'm saying YOU DON'T KNOW THIS! Or.....did you read it in the Globe?
What is it that you know that we don’t. Clearly you are privy to information the rest of us are not. So, spill the beans. Tell us all about Elin in private.
BTW do you also think the Lacy Peterson deserved what she got?
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