Paying for Love

In Comment Magazine, Alan Jacobs writes about a company making specific porn scenes for paying customers. The company rents sets, hires actors, films the scene, and sends directly to consumer.

Jacobs writes about one unusual request. It was for a fully-clothed actress to look into the camera and say, “You are loved. Things are bad now, but they won’t always be.”

This broke my heart. What desperation. Yet all of us long to be accepted, cared for, and loved. 

That’s what makes the promise that “nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus” so powerful.

Panic Like a Shark

Under pressure, are you more like a shark or a goat?

When startled, Fainting Goats freeze or fall over. Panic stiffens their muscles, leaving them momentarily incapacitated.

Sharks can be threatened by larger sharks, killer whales, or humans. Under high stress, sharks are known to empty their stomachs. So if a shark feels endangered, it might vomit. Why? Maybe the enemy will be grossed out and leave. Or maybe with an empty belly, it can swim faster.

If I have to picture one of those reactions to the pressures in my life, it should be to throw off all my anxieties away from me onto the Lord.

4 Signs of Panicking Under Pressure

(When King Saul is under pressure, he exhibits all these signs of panic in 1 Samuel 13:11-12.)

1. You Blame Others. Beware when you blame others for failing you in time of need.
2. You Imagine the Worst. Beware when you evaluate a situation and see only the worst outcome. 
3. You Manipulate God. Beware when you think if you say the right things the right way, then God will do right by you.
4. You Refuse Responsibility. Beware when you think the only option you have is to disobey God.