Part I: Rant
Egh. I hate it when pastors say what they think women think as fact. They aren’t women-all they can address is what is Biblical for women to do! Or if it is not even listed in the Bible, they can say, “I have noticed that....”, or “My wife feels....”, not how all women actually feel! They don’t know! Pastors shouldn’t even draw generalizations about women from their wife, as their wife’s opinions probably reflect on their (the husband/pastor) own beliefs/values.

Part II: Confusion
This week I have hated what the Bible has said about certain things a lot. It has confused me- I really like the Bible. I find it interesting, and necessary and important. But this week, I have disagreed/not understood with an aspect of Christian life a tremendous amount. Maybe it is a matter of just not being spiritually mature, or not recognizing God’s wisdom, or thinking I know better, or at least feeling that it is wrong, or hard and therefore ridiculous, and doesn’t make sense to me. Paired with sermons by preachers who state that this teaching was something that all women agree with bothered me even more. I am waiting for my God to break my heart about this, as otherwise I think I will become embittered.
I think I understand why homosexuals walk away from the church.
I think I understand why feminists disregard scripture.
But I don’t want to do either in the slightest.
I just want to understand.

Part III: Question
Al Mohler said:
“Second, the Bible presents celibacy as a gift — apparently a rare gift — that is granted to some believers in order that they would be liberated for special service in Christ's name. Paul's discussion of celibacy indicates that this gift is marked by the absence of lust and sexual desire that would compromise or complicate ministry as an unmarried person.”

I have a friend, who is of marrying age (actually, now that I think of it, I have plural friends in this situation). They really like members of opposite sex (in the they- find-them-physically-attractive-type-way, ect.), and in the past were quite certain they wanted to get married, have a brood of kids, ect. However, lately ministry has become a bigger deal. So much so, they are shutting down anything that could potentially even look like it could be bgr-esque in the future.

Has this previous desire of non-celibacy excluded them from having the gift of celibacy? Is this period of choosing to be single for a time to devote to ministry okay, even if it turns out in a couple of years they change their mind and get married, so it is not a life-long commitment of serving God? Or is this just them pushing off the commitment of marriage in order to avoid facing spiritual/personal maturity which is normally found in adulthood? Is pursuing ministry for a couple of years in young adulthood an okay reason to push off serious relationships, even though some would argue that marriage is normative in adulthood, as well as advocated by the Bible, and therefore should be sought out sooner than later ? (I think those are mostly derivatives of the same question)

I am very interested in hearing people’s thoughts. Please respond.