LAMAR ODOM LIVING OUT SEXUAL FANTASIES

Lama Odom will go down no doubt by many as the man who went down living out his sexual fantasies. He will join the likes of Tiger Woods who is still struggling to make a personnel recovery both in his personnel and professional life. To be honest, I had to look up what a brothel was. Hopefully my wife does look at my Google Searches and see that I was looking up "Brothels" I could have problems in my own house, real quick! Obviously I had a sneaking suspicion what it might be, but I had to see for sure. As I was reading about what a Brothel is and specifically the Brothel in Nevada, I thought immediately of a Harem. I thought of King David and King Solomon who lived in Brothels, they just called them Harems or concubines, instead of Brothels, but they were always sleeping with different women. They called them Concubines instead of ........Times changed didn't they? In the New Testament Christians begin to preach "husband of one wife". The standard for morality becomes monogamous relationships, polygamy becomes outlawed, unless you're a Mormon. I will never know how God worked out his relationship with these two men (David & Solomon) through out their years on earth, but we know that God did have a relationship with them; especially with King David. David's "faux-pas" was women.  It's funny to sit here and write on David's "faux-pas", Lamar Odom's "faux-pas" and Tiger Wood's "faux-pas". Are we talking about the faux-pas of a few men or are we talking about the Achilles Heal of every man? From the basest of sinners to the loftiest of Evangelicals and all men in between, there are many who have gone down by this Achilles Heal of man.  Not every man (actually I would say most) isn't going to be caught in a brothel. For one, most have too much to lose, most don't have the resources(it is reported Lamar spent $75,000.00 [surely he bought himself a harem]), most don't have the guts or insanity (however you look at it) and a few simply would not do it because it's simply immoral! Lamar had nothing to lose, he felt like he'd lost it all, he might as well go out in a blaze of glory.  Even David, who was considered "a man after God's own heart" had a brothel. Solomon slept with thousands of women. We certainly live in different times, but even in the Old Testament, in Malachi God judges these men for not being faithful to "the wife of their youth".  There's no mixed signals from God, He always knew where He wanted to go in this area of relationships between men and woman, and that was "monogamy". God could have given Adam an Eve, a Lisa and a Debbie, but God gave him one EVE. GOD inspires the author in Proverbs to write "may you rejoice in the wife of your youth...may her breasts satisfy you always". Why is this there? Simply for the obvious reason that with men, we are looking to venture in other fields and most men, with money, power and influence, often do. It is a fact, that most, rich business men cheat on their wives on business trips, "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". That's not just a cute cliche. When I was in the Marine Corps, most of the men cheated on their wives when we were in Japan, Singapore & Australia where it was quite easy to "hook-up", thousands of miles away from home. "Who would know the better?" Hugh Hefner & Dennis Hof (the owner of the Brothel in Nevada) are modern day King Solomon's. They have all slept with thousands of beautiful women. I was speaking with a gentleman at the gym one day and he was telling me about his sexual exploits and I told him, " I don't go there, I am a Christian". He said, " I am too, but women are my weakness". I thought, "where does this guy come from that he thinks he is unique in saying "women are his weakness, is he a moron?" Imagine if all men excused their infidelities by simply saying, "I would resist, (like you), but unlike you, women are my weakness". It's probably a very good thing that sex is not a part of Heaven. It seems every good thing God gives us we abuse and ruin. What's the sum of life? Having sex for hours on end (thence the sexual supplements Lamar took so that his episode would not be short lived). Many Preachers have now put in their wedding vows "forsaking all others and saying yes to one". That's the reality of marriage. We live in different times for sure, but we are where God always wanted us to be, a man and a woman, faithful to one, faithful to each other. It is a high and sometimes seemingly impossible feat, isn't' it. As the years go on and we put on weight, our appearance changes, our attitudes towards each other changes, for the worse, the romance dies with kids, bills & work and we do not keep ourselves and present ourselves to our spouses as when we were courting in those early days. The women were out to get their man, and they knew how to lure him. The man was out to catch his prize and he knew how to do that. Years later, it's sweat pants and a baseball cap and 25lbs of life added to the body. And yet we hear the call, the challenge, "faithful to the wife of your youth". It is honorable, it is quite Godly and respectful, it is a great Christian virtue that is practiced by many. They say most men "don't cheat" because they've never had a true or tempting opportunity. There may be some truth in that, but the other truth is many men have had opportunity and temptation and said, "NO!" The Family, the honor of the wife, the standard of morality and what we are teaching our daughters and sons all comes into play in this one simple decision when who choose to say no, I will not indulge myself in man's most primitive nature. What separates man from animals is we don't' indulge ourselves in our base instincts, we exercise self control, we suppress and conquer what is wrong and immoral (even if it is creeping up within us) and we take the high road, at all costs. In the end we are better for it. Relationships are preserved, hearts are not broken, families are not divided and love wins! Lamar Odom is not an evil man, he's not a weird pysho pervert, he simply at a very, very low point in his life, gave in to man's base instinct, his flesh, in the worse case scenario. I don't excuse his behavior or condemn it in anyway, but I just think of Solomon and his harems and David and his concubines and realize, this is an age old problem. The right thing to do, we know, but every now and then a man gives in to his base instinct and makes the headlines and the rest of the world reads on and wonders...but we men, at least most men, know that this base instance, this capacity to be very immoral lurks within most men, while most men wont' actively pursue this in the open and be an active participator and buy a harem, they instead indulge themselves in a lessor, more discreet version called "internet pornography".  Nobody knows, they keep their marriages, their families (until they get caught) and keep their dignity in their local community and work place. But in the end, how different are they than Lamar Odom, who had nothing to loose, at least in his mind. The coward does it in secret, the mad man does it in the open and the righteous and honorable man does it neither in the open or in private and he passages on a heritage to his sons. "Many will proclaim himself faithful, but who can find a faithful man" Proverbs 20:6