great sex, beckham coming to the spurs, swine flu jokes, and a bit on manliness

As opposed to a regular blog post today, we’ll be addressing a couple of topics that may not be worthy of their own posts but as an aggregate make a nice little dent in the inter-web.

- Great Sex – Apparently, it is now cool for churches to talk about sex – a lot. They have sermon series based around sex, rent billboards with alluring images related to sex, and then use the internet to blog and tweet and pretty much beg for traffic using one magical word – “sex”.

I don’t know how I feel about all of this. Sex drives traffic, especially on the internet. So, maybe giving people a healthy view of such a taboo subject is good. But maybe the ol’ bait and switch is happening. And that would be bad.

Like I said, I don’t know how I feel. Would love to hear feedback on this one…

- Beckham Coming to the Spurs – I like soccer. Sue me. And there is never quite as much ink spilled in the soccer community as when rumors emerge featuring Posh Spice’s husband.

The latest rumors have Beckham returning to LA Galaxy for the remainder of the summer and then signing with the Spurs after the MLS season. The Spurs? Tottenham Hotspur, of course. While they’re adding past-their-prime superstars, let’s see if we can get the Soccer Spurs to take Manu Ginobili as well. Just sayin’…

- Swine Flu – I have been trying all week to make swine flu jokes around the office. And I have to say that some of them have been quite funny. Still, I get more glares than guffaws. My question for you: Too soon?

I give up. Maybe you have some appropriate swine flu jokes that have been working in your office that you would be willing to share? Maybe you have some alternate advice for me here (Such as “Stop making swine flu jokes”.)…?

- Manliness – My previous post here tackled the issue of the masculinity of Jesus. In that same light, I have to say that the general Christian-cultural push towards hyper-masculinity definitely bothers me. I think evangelical Christianity is so afraid of being encroached upon by "alternative lifestyles" that we are attempting to swing the pendulum as far in the opposite direction as we can. Now, we have to have manly retreats and use war metaphors to describe Jesus.

How about “NO”? How about the idea that all of this parading as manly men creates some character issues in us? Instead of celebrating being carnivores together and instead of chest-bumping while we secretly enable each other’s lusts… What if we commended each other on handling a tough situation with our wives with sensitivity and honor? What if we celebrate faithfulness and rebuke chauvinism? What if we actually championed a cause that honored our women as strong, beautiful beings that deserve our deepest love and loyalty rather than attempting to stroke our precious egos by painting them as weak-willed objects that would wilt without our testosterone?

I don’t lift weights and I don’t like camping. I am not particularly handy with a wrench. I often cry in movies. I like espresso and I like reading books. And my wife is not missing out in the slightest. I may never win her affection in a street-fight or impress her by finishing a 72 ounce steak in one sitting. I will, however, seek to honor her and build her and support her in every possible way. And if all of that isn’t quite enough, she has one promise from me that I think is the manliest possible statement: “I will never leave you. I am yours until the day I die.”

Comments? Think sex and church are great companions? Think soccer is stupid? Know a good swine flu joke? Disagree with my manliness comments and want to arm-wrestle to see who is right? No more posts coming until Monday, so leave a comment and we’ll discuss…