At this UK hotel, Gideon bible is out, 50 Shades of Grey is in the drawer now

I just finished writing a blog entry about how hard it has been for me to find a well-written, non-sentimental Christian fiction book to read. And that secular fiction is even more hopeless. Profanity, blasphemy and immorality is everywhere.

I want to honor Jesus with my eyes and my ears as well as my heart and mind. I don't want to look at anything or read anything or watch anything or listen to anything that would dishonor him. Therefore blasphemous movies or shows or impure books are out. Why? The bible has the answer--

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness." (Luke 11:34)

I want to capture every thought. "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:5)

This means that there are some thoughts which are an enemy of Christ. Some thoughts oppose Christ. If we fail to capture them and demolish them, we allow that thought to grow. It grows from a tiny manageable pet dragon to a huge dragon that will spit fire and consume you, one day. I certainly do not need to entertain thoughts that I KNOW beforehand are going to get me into trouble. It's hard enough staying pure. Yet thousands of Christian women are flocking to these thoughts they should know better than to entertain. They are hurling themselves at the altar of flesh known as the movie Magic Mike, about strippers and gigolos and hucksters. And the book 50 Shades of Gray is soft-core pornography, pure and simple.

I've written again and again how satan targets women. The Mommy Porn industry is going strong. The latest version is a book called Fifty Shades of Grey, spawned from the vampiric Twilight series, another genre seducing women into eroticism and occult.

What are women doing, entertaining thoughts from such God-dishonoring entertainment? I am mightily flummoxed.

The New Zealand Telegraph wrote an opinion piece called "The 'mommy porn' seducing women'" in which it is explained, "The e-book went on to sell 250,000 copies, hitting number one on the New York Times e-book bestseller list and attracting huge publicity. Its apparent housewifely readership inspired the term "mommy porn".

Jenna Goudreau of Forbes asked, "Will Fifty Shades Of Grey Make 'Mommy Porn' The Next Big Thing?" "In early March, it catapulted to the top of the New York Times best-selling e-book fiction list and to No. 3 on Amazon’s best-seller list, leading Knopf Doubleday’s Vintage Books to shell out a seven-figure sum for the three-part series, which it plans to re-release. Surprised and pleased by the sudden interest in the romance sub-genre, publishers are scrambling to ride the wave, saying Fifty Shades will likely generate a fresh cycle of female-targeted erotica packaged for the mainstream reader. “It’s always been around but never caused this kind of excitement,” says Judith Curr, EVP, publisher and founder of Simon and Schuster’s Atria Books, who publishes the successful Zane erotic series. “Now it’s got a credibility that only high sales will give you.” Curr predicts more book stores will now carry and display erotic books, encouraging more traditional publishing and self-publishing of such titles."

I bet they will, too.

She is right to say that this kind of stuff has been around forever, and mommies have always enjoyed a prurient afternoon reading salacious books. I remember growing up, my circle of high school friends got their hands on Rosemary Rogers' "Sweet Savage Love" that had been carefully hidden (but not careful enough!) in mom's bureau drawer. Curious, we'd turn to all the pages where the mommies had crimped the top edge of the page to bookmark it, read it aloud, and collapse into giggles, at once attracted by the licentious passages and repelled that our mothers liked this stuff too. Back then these books were called bodice rippers, and there was a sense of shame to be caught reading one.

Not anymore. Here is today's news:

’50 Shades Of Grey’ Replaces Bible At British Hotel
"Last month, a hotel in Britain stirred up some controversy when it replaced the traditional bedside bible with a kindle. Well, the Damson Dene hotel near Windermere, Cumbria, is taking things a step further. The hotel is leaving a copy of the erotic novel “50 Shades Of Grey” in the bedside table instead of Gideon’s bible."

What? But wait! There's more:

Hotel manager, Wayne Bartholomew told the Daily Mail:

“Fifty Shades of Grey is all that people are talking about at the moment, but I know that some are too shy to buy it for themselves…. I thought it would be a special treat for our guests to find it in their bedside cabinet and that includes the men.” Bartholomew said that the Gideon Bible is full of “sex and violence” so people shouldn’t be too shocked at the contents of “50 Shades Of Grey.” He did add, however, that E.L. James’ steamy novel ”is easier to read” than the bible."

My heart mourns the dishonor of this situation, one which I am sure is not isolated. As a matter of fact we can generalize, and in all ways apply this incident into the larger picture: toss the bible and all it means, and bring in sin with all that means.

"Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,' (Isaiah 5:18)

Purity is a word not heard much these days. Not only not heard, but mocked. I'm not talking chastity, which is another issue, but purity. Pure mouths that do not swear. Pure hearts have good intentions. Pure thoughts do not dredge your brain through a wash of  "accepted" porn like Magic Mike and 50 Shades.

I believe that women are targets for satan, constant and perpetual, and this latest iteration is one aspect. The Lord's word told us in the days of the end we would trade good for evil and evil for good. That we would become rebellious and lawless. Oh, my goodness.

In the Garden when the serpent tempted Eve, he beguiled her, and when she saw the fruit she saw that it was pleasant. But the Hebrew word for pleasant is explained. It means "to desire exceedingly, greedily, intensely". Satan reduced Eve to a slavering, drooling puddle of desire for that fruit. If he can do that to Eve, who had no sin-nature in one conversation, and over fruit, what will he do to us? We're sitting ducks. And too many women have abdicated their position as warrior and satan is leading so many women down the path of sinful desire... Why invite satan by purposely celebrating and allowing this kind of impurity into your body?

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah 5:20)

"The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him." (Proverbs 15:26)

O sweet sister, O holy helpmeet, O precious widow, stay pure for our perfect Savior! Reject those thoughts, capture them. If your friend calls you to go to this kind of movie or to participate in this kind of mommy porn, please say no. And tell them why- you want to honor and please your Lord, who is pleased by a pure bride.

Yes, you may be mocked. If you're younger, I am not unaware of the pressures of your peers to devolve into this kind of activity and the temptation it presents for you to go along. If you are a lonely wife, bored by the mundanity of motherhood, and I know it is mundane, I encourage you not to lose yourself in a fantasy that will never raise you up but instead will bring you down. It will make you discontent. O aged widow, longing for the touch of a departed husband, remain strong. Secret indulgences are not secret to the One who sees you (Gen 16:13).

He died for your sin of lust. He died for your sin of pornography. He died for your sin of covetousness. Don't trample the blood on your way to the movies to indulge in those same sins He died to pay for. Instead lift your eyes to the pure, reach for Him, seek him, appeal to Him to resist these impurities and capture each thought.

If you have already indulged, if you are saved in Jesus, you are saved, He won't cast you out. (John 6:37). But do repent. Too many people out there want you to trade good for evil. Don't help them along by accepting it.