by erika haveman

“Deuteronomy can be summed up in these five words: “Devote yourselves wholeheartedly to God.”” – description from SourceView Bible Study App.

The reality is, if you are following this series, you are going to start to realize that the general message of what God has to say is the same.  Loving Christ means looking different in the eyes of the world.  Deuteronomy sums up what the rest of the Pentatuech (Genesis through Deuteronomy can be referred to as the Pentateuch) has been saying: Be holy becaues God is holy (Lev. 19:2).  But it is also the point of this study to get more specific, so let’s see where that attempt takes me today.

Continue reading “Sexual Violations Defined: What Deuteronomy Teaches Us About Sexuality [Part 1]”

by erika haveman

As many of you are aware, today is Halloween.  Regardless of whether or not you are participating in the event you can probably agree with me that there is one really, really great thing about Halloween: the day after candy sales.  Am I right?  I once bought a 2LB bag of Rockets (Smarties, for you Americans) on November 1, and it lasted me over a year.  In fact I think it lasted over 2 years.  It was amazing.  Cheap, day after candy makes Halloween an event worth having every year, in my opinion.  There’s something else to the day, though, that makes me wish, every year without fail, that this day didn’t exist.  No, it’s not the fact that it can be evil and a day to engage with dark things – though this is not something I support.  For the majority of people Halloween is about getting dressed up and eating junk food.  The junk food sales I can get behind.  It’s the getting dressed up part that always gets me nervous.

Continue reading “Seduction 101 – What Numbers Teaches Us About Sexuality”

by erika haveman

Probably one of the most explicit books of the Bible is Leviticus.  It makes crystal clear how the people of the Lord are supposed to live.  Lucky for me, it has a whole chapter devoted to “Unlawful Sexual Relations” so I’ll focus a lot on what that has to say.

However before I expound on that I need to be clear on the purpose of Leviticus.  It’s main goal was to ensure that the Israelites, as God’s chosen people, lived set apart.  God is holy, and He wants to make His people holy.  They have already been saved, but now they need to live like they believe they’re saved.  They do this by being made holy by their God.  The Lord God, the Great I am, Yahweh God of Israel does make those who follow Him holy.  He does this by seeing to it that His people are different than any other people group that is on the earth.  Followers of God are meant to follow God and not follow everything else around them.

Continue reading “Sex & Holiness – What Leviticus Teaches Us About Sexuality”

by erika haveman

What I have quickly realized about this series, and not like I didn’t know this already, but the Bible has a lot to say.  The most important thing I need to remember through it all is to be sure that I, the writer, inform you, the reader, correctly of what the Word of the God says.  It my responsibility to not take something out of context.  There is a danger in me saying, “The Bible says this!” because if I haven’t used integrity and done my part to understand what was originally being said or what was going on, I’m going to fail you – big time.  With this series I am going to commit to making sure what I say is Biblically accurate, and how it should be applied today is also done in the Spirit of honouring Scripture as God’s infallible words to us.

That said, we get to beg the question this week: What does Exodus say about sexuality?

Continue reading “Sex is Set Apart – What Exodus Teaches Us About Sexuality”

by erika haveman

After last week’s post I’m sure you all love me like some warm, fuzzy, cuddly pet that you don’t ever want to get rid of.  Right?  Maybe not since I kind of suggested the “what if” of potentially never getting to be fulfilled when it comes to sexual desire.  I don’t mean to bring down the house, I just want us all to consider if we’re willing to do hard things in order to make the name of Jesus great.  If we are, great!  Jesus promised it wouldn’t be easy and that the world will hate you for following Him (John 15:18-25).  When it comes to sexuality in our culture this becomes an especially high calling because hey, I’m here to tell you what so many Christian leaders, speakers, Pastors, parents, writers, teachers etc…have told you before: you should wait until marriage to have sex!  YAY!  SO FUN!  Okay…maybe not.  But let’s just be real.

Continue reading “One Man, One Woman – What Genesis Teaches Us About Sexuality”

by erika haveman

Reader Discretion Advised: There are parts of this article that some may find crude because I am being so direct.  I do not write to intentionally be disrespectful, but I also know that in being real and honest that people who feel marginalized or unheard will herein experience a sense of belonging.  Often with sexual brokenness and conversation regarding sexuality the enemy can make us feel isolated.  Having lived for too long like that I refuse to be guarded when being candid is what brought me freedom.  I only hope to leave nobody behind, ensure the margins stay empty, and to encourage living in the light of Christ because in the darkness nothing grows.

When I think back to my high school days of hearing the “sex talk” at youth group or school I recall a lot of them started with things like purity and modesty and lust.  We hear things like “stay pure, don’t have sex!” (so what does this mean when we do have sex within the loving confines of marriage?  Am I not pure then?  But I’m married!) and “bikini’s make boys sin!” (as if a shirtless man at the beach means I won’t sin, right?)  Rarely do we get to the root of the issues or at the very least start with the line that has been drawn that would help direct us, when we talk about these things.  I think that line, that starting point, that root – whatever you want to name it – is sexuality.

Continue reading “Sexuality and All Its Friends”

by erika haveman

I find myself reading more about the events of World War 2 and the Holocaust more than any other pieces of written work (it certainly rivals my Bible reading, anyways).  As a result, my recent trip to Europe included visiting the concentration camps of Dachau in Germany and Auschwitz in Poland, as well as the transit camp Westerbork in the Netherlands.

Before walking into Auschwitz I (because there was also Auschwitz II – Birkenau and Auschwitz III – Monowitz), under the notorious “Arbeit Macht Frei,” I took a moment to pause, and stare at the dirt beneath my feet.  As odd as it sounds, this was the experience I’d been anticipating the most.  My heart still races as I think back to that second of realization that real people, thousands of real, beautiful, soul-filled, devout, faithful people, were forced to walk under this arch of shame, unknowingly towards their death.  Thousands of feet never got to choose their path again.  As I passed into Auschwitz I, I considered the hours people spent standing, on the ground now under my weight, in hail or snow or sleet or beating down heat while the SS did roll call.  The lives that wasted away on that very ground.  The hearts broken and crushed in this very dirt.  The souls, tormented into wondering whether God yet existed, all while walking on the cursed earth of Auschwitz.

Continue reading “What Visiting Concentration Camps in Europe Taught Me”