Jackson, MS: Home Of The Bastard Child / City of Crud

 Why are there five Samson Society groups in Metro Jackson?  

Mississippi is always tops (if not close to tops) in illegitimate births throughout the nation.  I can speak for myself (as a Mississippian) in saying that I was Bob & Darlene's quintessential bastard child.  Though bastard children are procreated throughout the 82 counties that make up Mississippi (at a ridiculously high rate), undoubtedly the highest concentration happen right here since the Metro Jackson area is the most densely populated.

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Jackson is a city teeming with shame.  You can see it especially well as an outsider looking in.  But, if you live amongst it, day after day, you obviously become more reticent to it.  It emanates from everything within the city, in particular, though once you're within the suburbs, it does tend to recede.

Shame is like a fragrance.  A fragrance that's very similar to sewage.  And, of course, its root is sexual sin.  Fornication, adultery, homosexuality, pedophilia, incest and so forth.

Sexual sin is powerfully debilitating to one's sense of hopefulness.  And without hope, citizens are disabled emotionally as neighbors, parents, children, and so forth.  Therefore, jadedness then sets in, and generations of Jacksonians are seemingly cursed.  The Jackson, MS of today marinates within that curse.

And this is why so many individuals avoid this place or work diligently to escape from it.  There's simply too much shame for them to stand.

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At least once a month, I reach out to my oldest friend who's now a resident of Huntsville, Alabama.  We catch up for +/-20 minutes thanks to the magic of smartphones.  

The architecture firm he works for is owned by fellow architecture classmates of ours (Mississippi State University class of 1995).  Classmates who like ourselves, spent our last year (5th year) of architecture school living / being schooled in Jackson.  

Jason was telling me today how much these longtime Huntsvillians loathed living in Jackson back in '94 / '95.  And as such, continue to chide the city's "cruddiness" from afar.  

In my opinion, they are spot on with that word.

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A Samson man who lived here in the Jackson Metro for a recent stint (who was also a native Alabamian) used to wonder out loud (to me) as to why there were no Samson Society groups in his native city of Birmingham.  

Birmingham and Huntsville are very different cities than Jackson.  Very different.

Years ago, I wrote a letter to the Executive Director of a men's ministry called "Young Business Leaders" that's headquartered in Birmingham, asking for an audience to discuss YBL potentially endorsing Samson Society as an alternative men's ministry.  

I never heard back from the man despite my very demonstrative letter (I was involved in YBL here in Jackson whilst a young man).

And I believe the reason for that had much to do with the geographical epicenter of YBL - Birmingham, AL.  Again, a very different city than Jackson.

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Jesus traveled constantly throughout his 3-year ministry on Earth.  Going from place to place, he preached, performed miracles, and socialized with his Hebrew brethren.  And the Bible speaks (within the gospel accounts) to places he resided where both his own words and those of his disciples fell flat.  As such, Jesus instructed his men as to how best to react to this, and by doing so, advising them that this reaction would inevitably come - in some locations.

Jackson, MS is a city where the need for Samson Society resonates with the majority of men.  The city literally is crying out for relief from the horrors that come with shame and jadedness.  Therefore, as a native Mississippi bastard child, who continues to manage my own shame daily, I'm absolutely privileged to be afforded the opportunity to serve Metro Jacksonians as a facilitator of one of five local Samson Society groups.

As they say, location, location, location.

Lagniappe

More lagniappe

What Did Jesus Do For "Shits & Giggles"?

Based on my experience, the most intelligent people can, and often are, the funniest, most fun-loving people to hang around.  If you enjoy stand-up comedy, you'll most likely agree with me on this.  For successful stand-up comedy takes immense intelligence to execute well.

And no matter your stance on the historical Jesus (as documented in the Bible), whether you're convinced he was a heretic, a madman or God in the flesh, he was no doubt, hands down one intelligent leader.

One of the most chronicled attributes of this man was his penchant for storytelling (parables).  These seemed to flow out of him with ease.  Storytellers are intrinsically fun to relate to / get to know.

All of this leads us to the question I posed within this blog post title.

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Firstly, what exactly is "shits & giggles" and should Christian men be so inclined to participate as such?

I really enjoy learning about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  As such, I screened this documentary earlier this week:

Now, if you know anything about Mormons, you know that they're likely the most selfless, humble people on Earth.  These attributes are mainstays for them.  So much so, in fact, that they're also - across the board - a fairly derivative lot.  I mean, just look at the Mormon uniform that their young male missionaries wear - across the world.  Derivative.

If you watch the aforementioned documentary to its completion, you'll see a portion of it focusing on a group of young Mormon (missionary) men posing as calendar pinups.  As such, a minor scandal ensues, and the grounds for said scandal points back to the expected / identifier selfless / humbleness attributes I referenced above.

But, no doubt, they took part in this stunt for two reasons.  One was $$$ and the other was shits & giggles.  Because everyone knows that Mormons typically have an eye for the former (most of them are quite blessed with material wealth) and very little (if any) of the latter.

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Jesus talked specifically about avoiding "making your brother stumble".  As such, he obligated us to our fellow man's spiritual walk.  Therefore, if we're negatively influential in regards to our brother's decision to sin, we're responsible for our decision to impact them thusly.

And this expected empathy / "sphere of influence" influence speaks also to the need / mandate for sharp intelligence as a Christ follower.  

Therefore, the answer to the question I've posed (within the blog post) is as follows.

We're not privy to his exact activity, but we do know that whatever Jesus did do in this regard, it wasn't done sans putting some thought into how it might impact those around him (for better or worse).  For Jesus was fully man and fully God - all at once.  And, of course, sinless.  

Recommended Reading (Desiring God)

 Why Do You Want to Go to Heaven? | Desiring God

You're Not The Neediest

There are times when I simply spend way too much time up inside my head.  And for better or worse, the past few weeks have qualified as such.

What sometimes occurs when I linger inside my thoughts can only be described as me becoming divested or decoupled from everyone around me.  No matter how together - physically - I am with family / friends, etc.  And this had occurred as it had many times before.

Over the weekend, I broke free of this, and in doing so, was inspired by the reality that is this blog post title.

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God knows where his children are at (me included).  All the time.  As such, he jolted me back into reality over the weekend.  And not surprisingly, I was afforded the opportunity to spend some extended time with my Silas as these developments were occurring.  

As a follow up to that precious time, it was early Sunday night when the "self-centeredness spell" was finally broken.

For there's the reality of the occurrence and the recognition of the occurrence.  

Consider this post as a reporting of that recognition.  

Recommended Reading: Don't Forget Whose You Are (Licensed To Show Grace / Compassion)

 The importance of being shameless (washingtonexaminer.com)

Sex, Distorted / Elevated To Polarize

During the summer of '94, I backpacked through western Europe with 5 or 6 other individuals, most of which were Mississippi State architecture students (as I was).  Being there for 7 weeks, I was fortunate to visit 11 countries with the focus being notable buildings - urban and rural, gardens, etc.  I was in my early 20s at the time, and my colleagues were of similar ages.  All of us behaved scholarly during the entire trip unlike some of the other college students who were there at the time (per my observations).  And I'm not saying that to boast.  To be honest, we were just a bunch of geeks who were best suited to keeping our attention on the "tasks at hand".

About halfway through this once-in-a-lifetime trek, we found ourselves staying within a hostel in Austria.  I remember the country being Austria because Salzburg is where The Sound of Music was filmed, and I became aware of this whilst staying there (I've never screened the film).  It was quite the picturesque country(side).

One of my colleagues bunked with me within a very clean but cramped room with four other young men (also American college students backpacking throughout the summer, though not a part of our group) .  The tiny room was just big enough for three bunkbeds and one lavatory (a wall mounted sink).  The floor plan of the room was such that it was "two bunkbeds deep" and "three bunkbeds wide" with the middlemost bunk missing if you catch my measurement drift.

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What keeps individuals out of sales is the ever present & quite trepidatious mantra - ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY.  Sales managers can at times berate their minions accordingly, and for good reason.  That being because there's some truth to it.  Some.  

Mostly though, you either have the knack for sales (and this must be coupled with excellent timing) or you don't.  No matter how much ACTIVITY (sales calls) you participate in.

The summer after my freshman year in college, I worked as a new car salesman at Howard Wilson Chrysler Plymouth in Jackson.  That two months was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life, and as such, I was only afforded the opportunity because my parents & I had purchased my '91 Plymouth Laser RS from this dealership a few months prior.  

What I took away from that summer, working as a car salesman, was the importance a salesman must have of product knowledge - across the board. 

Fortunately for me, ever since I was around age 14, I've been a car aficionado, therefore as a new car salesman at age 18, I not only knew the product I was attempting to sell but the competition's product as well.  Or at least as well as a teenager could.  Comprehensively.  

Again, mate that knowledge with great timing, and sales do happen.  Almost magically.  And that's what can make sales fun and very satisfying to experience because you're not just screwing people over with smoke & mirrors.

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Solo sex (masturbation) is (by default) a hollow, relentlessly self-centered pursuit fueled 99% of the time by sexual fantasy coupled with an active libido.  It's an ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY that's built primarily on one's "expertise" of the human body driving lust via imaginings.  Of course, these fantasies can be carried along much more proficiently thanks to pornographic imagery.  Imagery which in no way typically represents any sort of sexual reality (certainly not of a Biblical nature).   

Many year ago, I was watching a Geraldo Rivera talk show episode out of sheer boredom.  I believe he was interviewing class (school) mates of celebrities, and a handful of these individuals on this particular show had been childhood friends of Madonna.  As such, Geraldo queried these guests relentlessly, aching for some dirt on Ms. Ciccone.  

No doubt, one of these former friends had tipped off Madonna relative to their appearance on his TV show because seemingly unexpectedly (of course, it could have always been staged), Madonna herself called in to speak to Mr. Rivera.

As you might imagine, she seemd none too pleased with the premise of the show, and in reaction to this, she asked Geraldo the following:  "Have you ever had sex with yourself?".

I remember hearing this and feeling polarized if not a bit nauseous.  From that point on, I gained an entirely new perspective on Madonna.

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The only time I've ever witnessed live sexual activity was within the aforementioned hostel bunk room there in Salzburg, Austria.  And obviously, it wasn't by choice.  Yet, as you might imagine, there in the darkness whilst peering across the room (bleary-eyed), I felt polarized as I observed these two lovers perform coitus / cunninlingus like a couple of jack rabbits. 

Sexual activity is defined clearly in Scripture as a metaphor.  A metaphor which includes Jesus Christ (husband) and his church (wife).  So, if we explore that for a moment, we clearly see that intercourse is meant to physically consummate a relationship in marriage.  

So, what is marriage and why is sexual activity - today - so polarizing?

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On numerous occasions, I've heard individuals talk through the importance of "test driving" a boy / girlfriend under the guise of sexual proficiency prior to marriage.  

As if human beings were like animals and intercourse was simply what you do whilst feeling an erection coming on, or better yet, qualify another human being's worth.

ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY.  Sound familiar?

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Sex sells merchandise, contracts, real estate, automobiles, entertainment and on and on and on here in our western culture.  A titillating advertising campaign / experience is arguably the most effective (low hanging fruit) means to pitch almost anything due to how it builds on foundational distortions.  Hands down.  As such, we are brainwashed into elevating sex and sexuality to the upper echelon of relevancy / importance within our menial lives (from childhood onward).  

Yet, the Bible states that it's best to remain single if you're to most effectively be positioned to execute God's work, putting marriage one notch (if several notches) below bachelorhood.  

So that begs the question that I believe needs to be asked once more.  What exactly is marriage?

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Marriage is like clothing.  Not really necessary but so effective at fleshing out a holistic understanding of ourselves as God's created beings.  As such, marriage speaks to our then fully realized identity.  

But remaining naked is admirable (according to Scripture).  For clothing can certainly embolden us in ways that serve to take our focus from Christ and our relationship with him due to the time / energy required relative to upkeep (of each other / offspring).

And then there's the reality of sex within marriage which runs counter to everything our culture indoctrinates us with 24/7/365.  

Sex isn't supposed to be polarizing.  It wasn't created to be.  It also wasn't created to be elevated as it has as the primary achievable / enviable attribute of every human being.

Car designs might be polarizing or architectural styles but not sex, sexuality.  

Madonna Ciccone's entire career is a representation of the distortion that our sexualized culture has embraced.  All the material wealth she's obtained is built on a distortion of one of the most overrated / blown out of proportion attributes of marriage.

We need knowledge to gain back the ground that's been lost in this regard.  The time is now.  Snap out of this ruse; wake up to reality.

Recommended Reading From The Gospel Coalition

 If God Rescued Me, He Can Rescue Anyone (thegospelcoalition.org)