John Mark Comes and Love-ology
I saw this John Mark Comer guy on a Christian show the other night, and he was interviewed. He discussed the topics of marriage, singleness, and sex.
From what I heard, his views sounded interesting.
You may want to visit his site where you can order his book, Loveology:
(Link): John Mark Comes and Love-ology
He seems to address young singles a lot. I would like to see him and other Christians discuss adults singles who are over 29 years old, instead of continually harping on people who are under age 29..
Other articles or interviews with this guy:
(Link): Young Singles Have Schizophrenic View of Love, Says Megachurch Pastor
Excerpts:
- John Mark Comer, lead pastor of Bridgetown: A Jesus Church in Portland, Ore., a city with one of the highest percentages of religiously unaffiliated adults in the nation, will release Loveology this coming February.
Bridgetown, which is part of a family of churches formally known as Solid Rock, is unique in that about half of the 6,000-member church is made up of educated, unmarried college students and 20-somethings. Having experienced challenges in his own dating life and even marriage, Comer is passionate about answering the young generation’s questions about relationships with raw, uncut and honest answers in Loveology, which releases Feb. 4.
Two years ago, Bridgetown hosted its “Loveology” event, where 2,000 college-aged adults attended a two-night, in-depth teaching series on the theology of love, marriage, sex, romance and singleness. Each night ended with two hours of live, uncensored, anything-goes questions and answers led by Comer and a colleague.
…In a world where love and romance are the main ingredients in many films and television shows, often these plot lines create an incorrect portrayal of real-life relationships. We may see the main characters riding off into the sunset, kissing in their happily ever after or perhaps even walking down the aisle toward marital bliss.
No matter the conclusion, we are given the message that love is easy and always full of affection.
Many have fallen for this Hollywood fairy tale, pushing aside morals to pursue a happily ever after. Forty-eight percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 move in with a partner before getting married in an effort to fortify their relationship.
While one would assume these couples soon make it to the altar, many never do, deciding to cohabitate rather than face the specter of divorce. With 50 percent of marriages ending in divorce, too many have seen the dream of perfect matrimony fail. Obviously, something isn’t working.
…Since the ultimate goal for Christian couples is marriage, Comer begins Loveology there, with a discussion about what marriage should and shouldn’t be, based on the Genesis account of God’s creation of marriage and sex.
Then he works backward through all the steps along the way—relationships, love, sex, romance, singleness and masculinity and femininity.
Comer helps readers understand how to successfully complete the journey from young adulthood—first embracing one’s own sexuality and being content with singleness to finding love that leads to the altar.
(Link): Pastor John Mark Comer Explains Loveology, the Theology of Love
Excerpts:
- By Jessica Dodson
CBN.com – What is love? Why do we get married? Is it for love or for something else? Maybe it is just the idea of having a wedding. In today’s culture, we are bombarded with what music to listen to, what we should look like, even how our fairytale engagement should unravel.
In the midst of preparing for your “big day”, have you stopped and prepared yourself for being a spouse? From the hit songs “Marry Me” by Train to “All of Me” by John Legend, the purpose of marriage and the meaning of love is shifting. The focus is now on satisfying the self rather than being pleasing to God.
Aiming at people who are either “single, dating, engaged, or just getting a marriage up and running,” Pastor John Mark Comer answers questions surrounding God’s thoughts on marriage and sex in his new book, Loveology: God. Love. Marriage. Sex. And the Never-ending Story of Male and Female.
Question: What is “Loveology”? Why is it important for you to teach 20-somethings what God says about marriage, sexuality and romance?
Comer: Love, marriage, sex – this is the thing that most young people are thinking about 24/7. It’s all consuming for a lot of singles. The Scriptures have so much to say about all of the above, but sadly the church has said so little.
The church has done a great job of saying, “Don’t”! “Don’t have sex before you get married. Don’t have an affair. Don’t download porn.” And all that is true. But we haven’t done a great job at giving young people a theology of love and marriage and sex and the rest, a way to think about this from God’s vantage point.
Hollywood has done the exact opposite. It’s propaganda is loud and ubiquitous. It screams at us everywhere we go. So the church has got to step up, tackle the hard questions and help people to think about marriage and sex from the scriptures, and in line with Jesus’ vision for human flourishing. My prayer is that Loveology is a voice into a much larger conversation.
Question: How do you think parents can benefit from Loveology?
Comer: This generation is asking why questions, a lot of why questions. Parents need to do more than tell their kids where they can and can’t have sex.
They need to pass on a worldview that’s shaped by Jesus and the biblical authors… to get the why behind the “do’s” and “do not’s”.
It needs to be compelling, thought through and rooted in the scriptures and the teachings of Jesus. Hopefully, Loveology can and will help parents lead their kids into the way of Jesus and His Kingdom.
Question: …What is the key to true love?
Comer: Learning that love isn’t a feeling, or at least just a feeling, but rather an action of self-giving for the good of somebody else. And then cultivating a heart that wants to be like Jesus to your spouse, no matter what you do or don’t get out of it.
Question: In a world so connected and intertwined, why do you think so many people feel alone and disconnected?
Comer: The digital age is creating the facade of community, but often it’s a myth. We’re more fragmented than ever. Plus, we’re not rooted, we move around a ton. We’re transient; we jump from thing to thing. We need to re-learn how to be friends, how to live in community and how to be human.
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Related posts:
(Link): Single Christian Women Feel Pressured to Fornicate In Dating / other topics
(Link): Religious Dating Sites: More than Half of Users Surveyed Are OK with Premarital Sex
(Link): How Can Churches Treat Singles Better? By Embracing Celibacy (by J. Boulmay)
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