Pulling Back the Shades Launch

I am so honored to have been chosen to be a part of the launch team for the new book co-authored by Dr. Juli Slattery and Dannah Gresh entitled, Pulling Back the Shades.

Can you be Sexual and Spiritual? I think so! I also think you can do both without dishonoring the covenant God created for your marriage.

Maybe you have read the 50 Shades of Grey series and don't think it's a big deal.

Maybe you haven't read it and wonder what it is all about.

Maybe you have read it and don't think people like me (who haven't read it) have any right to speak against it. (I'm not the only one. See Dannah's reasoning here: http://purefreedom.org/still-not-reading-fifty-shades/)

Let me begin by telling you why I personally have decided not to read the 50 Shades books.

First, as a writer myself, I had heard from numerous sources that the books were poorly written and filled with grammatical and typographical errors. That alone is enough to make the grammar nazi that lives within me break out in hives!

Second, I understood from the beginning what the books were going to be about. You don't need to read a book classified as erotica to know that it is, in fact, erotica. However, one of the comments I have heard the most is that if I do not read the books, how am I to speak intelligently about them. Here is my short answer: these books aren't a straight stick. Period. The end. Enough said.

Now you are scratching your head thinking, "What the heck does that mean?"
I'll tell you what it means. I enjoy shooting pool with my husband. I know what a straight stick looks like. The reason I know what a straight stick looks like is because I have studied the straight stick. You can't shoot properly with a warped stick. I know what my straight stick is because I have held my straight stick. I have shot with it. I have rolled it on the table. I have cared for it. I know the weight and feel and solidity of it in my hand. The same goes with scripture. The Bible is my straight stick. It tells me how to live and what God expects from me.

What is that?
To live justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with my God. (Micah 6:8)
To remember, whatever things are pure and lovely and of good report to think on THOSE things. (Phil 4:8)
To constantly ask God to create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

These verses are my straight stick. These are the places where God tells me what should be on my mind and in my heart. These are the verses that are me rolling my spiritual stick on the table of life and being sure that it is straight.

Here's where it gets interesting. See I don't have to "know" a warped stick to know a warped stick. I don't have to hold a warped stick. I don't have to roll it on the table of my life. I don't have to handle it and play with it to know it is warped. All I need to know is the straight stick. See, if I have studied that straight stick and know the weight and feel of it in my hand, if I have only played with that straight stick, I don't need to study the warped one. One look at it and I will instantly know that it is not straight.

That is what 50 Shades represents to me. I have spent my time and my heart learning what God wants from me. I have spent time submitting to the Holy Spirit so that I immediately feel the gently urging to do or not do something. To me, 50 Shades of Grey immediately presented itself as a warped stick. I knew without a doubt that it was not a straight stick and I knew that I could not play with it.

Someone recently told me that women in this country can read whatever they want to read. Yes, you CAN. But the real question is, SHOULD you? Is reading that book and seeing movies like Magic Mike going to bring you closer to God? Someone else said they felt more intimate with their husband after reading it. I'm not sure I buy that because I still wonder if it was HER husband she was feeling intimate with or the characters in the books. And even more important, did she feel closer to God for reading it? That's my straight stick. If it doesn't bring me closer to God, if I am embarrassed to be found reading it, if I don't want anyone to know it is on my Netflix account, it isn't a straight stick.

This is why I am so excited about this new book, y'all!! I can't wait to read Dannah's and Juli's perspective, but more importantly, I am thrilled that this book is going to address what I feel is the deep underlying true issue of erotica...women crave physical intimacy. That is the way God made us!!! But often, in the church, it is a taboo subject that is met with hushed words and sideways glances. THAT is where we are in need of breaking free! Sex with your husband is a godly thing!! We need desperately to remember and understand that but to approach it from the reality of how God designed it, not how man has perverted it.

By the way, Dr. Julie Slattery will be giving a talk on the subject of Holy Sexuality live tomorrow at 2:15 CT. Please join in and see what she has to say.
http://www.moodyconferences.com/foundersweek/

You can also read the first chapter of the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Pulling-Back-Shades-Intimacy-Longings/dp/080241088X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391550272&sr=8-1&keywords=pulling+back+the+shades