Women Show Off Cleavage in Church??

One of my FB friends posted this and the article discusses a question I also have - Why do Christian women of faith not serve Christ in the way they dress? Please read the following article written by Jennifer Leclaire. Feel free to leave a comment - lets talk about this.

Please also read the post I wrote on this same subject - Link to my post here - A Christian Woman's Dress

Link to the article site here:Watchman on The Wall

Why Do So Many 'Born-Again, Spirit-Filled' Women Show Off Cleavage in Church?

1:30PM EDT 7/25/2013 JENNIFER LECLAIRE

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Some women—and I am talking about mature believers, not lost souls or baby Christians—come into God’s sanctuary on Sunday morning dressed for clubbing. What gives?

“I know I’m inappropriate, but I’m trying to save time. I know I’m in the wrong. My mother would not approve. But would it be better that I not come?” Those were the words of a 30-year-old woman entering church in Maryland wearing a revealing tank top and tight pants.

God bless her, but that’s in the same spirit as saying, “I know it’s inappropriate to cuss in church, but I can’t think of any better way to say it,” or, “I know it’s inappropriate to smoke during praise and worship, but I didn’t have time to finish my Marlboro on the way here.”

Some women—and I am talking about so-called "mature believers," not lost souls or baby Christians—come into God’s sanctuary on Sunday morning wearing clothes you might rather expect to see them wearing at a dance club on Saturday night. Their blouses cling to their bodies, their necklines dip so low and stretch so wide that they reveal cleavage, and the slits up the sides of their skirts offer more than an innocent glimpse of their thighs. Again, I’m not talking about sinners seeking God or new believers who plain don’t know better. I’m talking about thsoe who claim to be "born-again, baptized, blood-bought" (even tongue-talking) members of the church!

Paul instructed Timothy that women should “adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation” (1 Tim. 2:9), and he told the church at Corinth that “our unpresentable parts have greater modesty” (1 Cor. 12:23). Regardless of how hot it is outside or how busy we are, there’s no justification for Spirit-filled women to come to church wearing clothes that cause some men to pay more attention to the things of the flesh than the things of the Spirit.

But rather than repenting, some of these progressive women are lashing out against campaigns likeModest Is Hottest, calling it sexist. In her critique of Modest Is Hottest, Sharon Hodde Miller, a doctoral student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, argues, “A woman’s breasts and buttocks and thighs all proclaim the glory of the Lord.” Maybe, but I somehow doubt Jesus intended for this aspect of His glory to manifest in church.

Worship artist Jaime Jamgochian launched Modest Is Hottest to reach out to teen girls with the love of Christ. She says, “I feel like there’s always more to it when a girl is dressed inappropriately than ‘I just want to look cute.'”

I agree—and the same goes for older women who call Jesus Lord. I’m not suggesting that women subscribe to the Holiness Movement’s guidelines for women’s clothing and makeup. No, I’m not suggesting religious rules and regulations. But I don’t think Christian women should dress like the worldly women in church or anywhere else. It’s not about a shame-based approach to modesty that Miller opines about in her column. It’s about self-respect—and respect for others.

“I love what Jaime is doing; she is right on: Modest is hottest! I think this is such a good message to convey. Jaime is not being sexist but rather sharing that as beautiful women of God we can look so gorgeous without being revealing,” says Alyssa Shull, a youth pastor at Words of Life in North Miami and founder of The Pink Lid, a conference designed for girls between the ages of 12-18 where beauty and purity are key themes.

“You are respecting yourself and those around you when you are modest," Shull says. "Lust is very prevalent in our culture, but Jesus says in Matthew 5:28, even if you look at a woman with lust in your eyes it is adultery. So I believe that women can do their part and display themselves in a beautiful way without promoting lust. You can be stylish and modest!”

I agree with Shull and, as the mother of a 16-year-old girl, appreciate what she and Jamgochian are doing for young teens. I got more than 100 comments on my Facebook page in less than two hours this morning when I asked, “What’s your view on women coming to church in skimpy tank tops and tight pants? Shouldn’t we come to church dressed modestly?” In a testament to the division in the body of Christ, quite a number of them were offended that I asked the question and accused me of having a judgmental spirit for suggesting that it’s inappropriate to dress immodestly in church.

Again, it’s not about the sinner coming in to look for Jesus or the baby Christian still shaking off the dust of the world. We’re talking about tongue-talking women wearing clothes so tight they may as well have been spray-painted on and cleveage falling out of their blouses. That’s why Facebook comments like this one trouble me: “Get to where God sees and don’t worry about the wardrobe of another person unless you are inclined to buying them new clothes to wear.” And this one: “Even if they aren’t lost, they have an identity issue. Who are we to judge?”

If we can “judge” that they have an identity issue, can’t we judge that they shouldn’t be showing cleavage in church? And it’s not our responsibility to buy a woman new clothes just because she’s wearing seductive garb to church. But it is our responsibility to speak the truth in love to those who may not know better and to lead by example. In too many ways—including sometimes our wardrobe—Christians have conformed to the world. Paul warned us not to “be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).

It’s not about being the fashion police, and it's not about condemnation. If the Holy Spirit convicted your heart about the way you dress as you read this, don't let the devil beat you up. Just buy a few new outfits and keep praising God! It’s about not purposely opening the door to the spirit of immorality. Sure, as one Facebook commenter noted, a woman could wear a burlap sack to church and still find lustful eyes upon her. But does that mean we let it all hang out in the name of liberty? God forbid. 

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Spiritual Warrior's Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can email Jennifer at  jennifer.leclaire@charismamedia.com or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

The Christian Response to Homosexuality ( from my home church )

This past Sunday my home church held a special session to talk about homosexuality and to give us some guidelines as to what our response as Christians ought to be. As we all know the homosexuals are forcefully pushing their way into our communities and schools. I want to share some of what was shared by our church leadership. Perhaps it will help those of you who read my blog to be encouraged.

The Bible teaches us firstly to love God and secondly to love your neighbor. There is no greater commandment.
Mark 12:30-32 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

What does this look like?

1 Corinthians 13 has the answer - verses 4-5  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Love must not be only in words - it must be words and actions.

Sex is a gift of God to be experienced only within the bonds of covenant marriage between man and wife. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman. There are no other options.

Homosexuality is sin, as is every other form of sexual activity outside of the one man and one woman covenant marriage. This is counter cultural.

Romans 1:26-27  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

How do we as Christians respond in our culture?
We must show respect and honor when dealing with those in authority over us, but we must remember to obey God above men.

 If we are being asked or required to do things contrary to the teachings of the Bible, we must always obey God even if this means hardship to us - such as loss of a job, loss of friends or persecution and imprisonment etc.

We need to stand up, speak up, protest in a peaceful way.

We must be willing to listen to those expressing an opposing view and always remember that what the homosexuals really need is salvation through Jesus Christ.

We must never slander the homosexuals, nor gossip, nor disrupt meetings

Canadians need Jesus.

Our goal is not to merely make morally upright people - our goal is to bring people to Jesus for salvation. 
To have people come to know Jesus is the fundamental need.
We need to speak out - there is a time and place to declare that homosexuality is sin.
We must not be quiet nor run and hide.

Fear and hate have no place in our conversations.
Be very very cautious with "righteous anger".

We are not abandoned in this world.
The Holy Spirit's job is to convict the world of sin.
It is not our job to force people to change. Our job is to bear witness to God. Let the Holy Spirit convict.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Ask God for wisdom.
Our goal is not to only prove our point but to point people to Jesus.

Becoming Practical
* Pray Pray Pray - for the teachers, the teacher's aides, the schoolboard, the government

* a child's greatest influence comes from their parents - so make a point to teach and influence your children.* as parents, we have been commanded to teach our children

* let your kids see you speaking out in love, your children will learn how to respond when you do this

*examine your life - show grace, mercy and truth


As Christians we are representatives of God in this world.
Speak the truth in love.

Drought Awakening 2012...

Those of us who watch the news regularly will know that there is widespread drought in North America, both in the USA and in parts of Canada. The experts are warning us of higher food costs due to the very hot and dry weather that has kept the crops from producing the normal bushel amounts. So when we see this we can not help but wonder what is going on and why is this happening? The scientist blames it on climate change but I disagree with that. I certainly do not have the all the answers but as I read my Bible, I get a small glimpse as to the reason why God sent droughts at other times. I believe that God is in direct control of the weather as well as who He allows into government, etc and I believe we can trust Him with every area of our life.
This morning as I read my Bible, I was in Haggai chapter 1 for part of my devotional time. I was kind of shocked by what I read. The people were building up their own houses and wealth but were not giving God what was rightfully His - that is they were not giving Him the glory and honor that He deserves. Please read the following verses from Haggai 1: 3-6  Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” ⁵ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! ⁶ You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”
So while the people were living selfishly and kept busy working to build up their own properties, for their own pleasures, they were neglecting the things of the Lord. In those days God required the temple - that is His House to be kept up in a certain way but the people had not done so. In Verse 7 and 8 God says : Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! ⁸ Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord.  Notice that God specifically asks that they do this in order to please Him and to bring Him glory.
Because they were not living in obedience to the Lord, He continues in verses 9-11 ⁹ “ You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”
God says that He called for the drought to come because His house lies desolate. So thinking about our life today and making application here - I have to ask the question - By sending the droughts in 2012, what is God saying?? Is He saying that He is not pleased with the way the Christian church ( as Christians we make up His temple today)  is operating and that Christians are living selfish and worldly lives? Has the Christian church lost sight of Christ and become too much like the world, becoming more and more a place of entertainment rather than the place where people are called to repentance and to faith and to solid Biblical teaching? Is the church teaching life-altering faith in the Lord Jesus that is committed to following Him and will  not run with the world? Are these droughts indicators of the spiritual condition of the Christian community today? These are the questions that I am asking? When I think of my own church that I attend regulary, I would have to say that there is both there - people to are deeply commited to the things of the Lord and others who try to make it a place of entertainment, a place to show off your fashions, and  to distract from honest worship.  It is heartbreaking to see the looseness of so called Christians. How long has it been since your church has preached to warn people of the ongoing sin among so called Christians - such as abortion, homosexuality,sex outside of marriage and  pornograghy, as well as immodest dress, alcohol and drugs, immoral music and movies, the excessive spending, the saturation of oneself with pleasures, etc.  I would have to say that at my church these issues are not being addressed.
So we can see that the drought is not only real in the fields and crops across North America but the drought seems to also be equally as real in the church itself in the lukewarm pleasure seeking hearts of those who worship the pleasures of this world. It is time to come back to the Lord and seek Him with our whole heart. I believe God is drawing a line and is waiting for people to turn back to Him in sincerity and truth. Let's earnestly pray for people to turn back to God, to give Him the glory and the honor that He so very much deserves. Time is of the essence here.
Psalm 33: 17-21
¹⁷ An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
¹⁹ To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
²⁰ Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
Heavenly Father, In the Name of Jesus, I ask you for a real turning in the churches today. I ask that You would help people to see where it's really at and that in repentance we would all seek You and turn from the wickedness within our hearts and within our churches. I especially ask You to alert the Pastors to what You are saying and where it is all heading. Thank-you for Your loving "nudges" that You give. Amen

The Olympics - London 2012

1 Corinthians 9:25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

London is currently hosting the Olympic games 2012. Many people are caught up in the excitement of it all. Our athletes have worked very hard to get to where they are - able to compete on the world stage and much money and time has been spent to prepare for this event. We are happy for our athletes when they win their medals and we are proud to see our country's flag held up.
I want to discuss two aspects of this applied to our spiritual life. The first is taking pride in our country and the second is putting effort into our goals.

Taking Pride in your Country - I am happy and thankful to be a Canadian. We are blessed with a good life here - peace, freedom, shelter and plenty of food available. You could say I am proud to be Canadian.  More importantly than that though and what I value more than my Canadian citizenship is the fact that I am a Christian. Phillipians 3:20 says  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ 

Our Citizenship is HEAVEN! When this life is over and we are gathered together in Heaven, it will not matter if you were a Canadian, or American, or Russian, Chinese or Iranian etc. All that will matter is that Christ Jesus is your Savior.  We will not be in competetion with each other - all of those that are gathered together in Heaven with the Lord are one huge happy family. So my question is - Why as Christians are we shy about wearing our Heavenly colors here? If we take pride in our country and earthly citizenship - should we not be even more bold about representing Christ here on earth? We should be willing to take a stand for Christ, be bold in witnessing, and share the truth of the Gospel even if it means we are frowned upon by the world. Christ is our passion. He is our hope. It is for Christ that we live! One thing that I have admired about the Muslim peoples in our world is that they are not ashamed to wear their religion so everyone can see what they believe. If you are out and about, perhaps shopping - you can clearly see the Muslims carrying their faith with them. We have a local doctor here who is Muslim and she wears her head scarf as she works. The Muslim faith is a false faith and can never bring them to God. It is not that I am embracing their faith, I am only saying they are not ashamed to show it. The fact that we are Christians should stand out. People should be able to see it in how we love, in our values, our focus in life, our choices in education and dress and entertainment. James McDonald has said ( this is not a direct quote)  As Christians, we should not allow ourselves to be entertained by pagans who take the Name of our Lord Jesus in vain and deny His teachings we find in the Bible.

Put Effort into your Goals - Just as our atheletes have spent hours, days, months and years in training and disciplining themselves to prepare for the Olympics London 2012, so also we need to be putting effort and discipline into our Christian life on a daily basis. If as Christians, we say that we are living for Christ, then Christ should have His way in every part of our life. There cannot be any part of our lives that He is not welcome in. He must have authority in our jobs, in our marriage, in our sex life, in our recreational choices, in our finances, etc. The Bible has clear teachings on what the life of a Christian looks like. The questions we must continually be asking oursleves are  - Does this please Christ? Does it bring Glory to Christ? Do I want this for a selfish pleasure or will Christ be honored in it? Is it of this world alone or does it benefit for eternity? Will it help another person?

 If we are focused on the Blessed Hope -(Titus 2:13   looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,)   We wait for Jesus to come at any time, and we know that we will give account for our choices here, and rewards are available to us (for that which we have done for the Lord ) at the judgement seat of Christ. We now have a whole new way of looking at our life that we live here on earth.  We love what God loves and hate what God hates.

Luke 13: 23-25
²³ Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’

Peter Pan Christians - Sermon Review

Sunday Sermon Review - Peter Pan Christians

This Sunday, the church service was cancelled in my home church that I attend. So on days when that happens, I listen to a sermon on the internet. Today I listened to a sermon by David Jeremiah. I like his style of preaching because he chooses a passage from Scripture and then picks up points and lessons from that passage and applies it our daily walk with God.

So from a message taken from Hebrews 5:11-14
Hebrews 5:11-14 says -
¹¹ Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
¹² For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
¹³ For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
¹⁴ But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

David Jeremiah began by discussing the problem of our day of the Peter Pan Syndrome. You may have heard of it before. It is the difficulty that young people have of growing up - from moving from adolesence to adulthood. Peter pan could fly, fight Pirates in Neverland and so also today people refuse to grow up but rather spend hours playing video games and think they should be able to eat pizza for every meal.
A person must grow up and become responsible in life. Adults should not act like children. A person must grow up and take responsiblities upon onself  and do what needs to be done.

David Jeremiah warned us to not drift in our faith and to not be entangled in unbelief.
Verse 11 - "dull of hearing" . A person who is dull of hearing wants to be left alone, is lethargic, does not have a desire or have motivation to learn more things of faith, especially the deeper truths in the Word. Becoming dull of hearing is a process in which a person drifts away from faith taking his faith and what Christ has done for granted.

In the Great Awakening of the past, people studied shorthand in order to be able to take sermon notes. They were hungry for the Word of God and didn't want to miss anything.

There are 4 Causes of Spiritual Immaturity - 4 Causes of the Peter Pan Syndrome

1) Experience Unproductive Days
It takes time and effort to grow in maturity with Christ, To study and learn the Bible, and develop a relationship with Christ. As followers of Christ, we are all to become teachers, able to instruct others.  We are not just flipping days on the calender - there is work to be done for Christ in His kingdom.
There are three steps of growth in the Christian's life:
Step one - You need to be fed the Word of truth, the Bible
Step Two - You can feed yourself - you can study the Bible on your own
Step Three - Now you can feed others - share Biblical truth with other people

2) UnHeeded Doctrine
You need someone to teach you again the ABC's of Christ.
You need to relearn the basics of the Christian life\
Before you can teach others, you must be experienceing truth yourself

3) UnHealthy Diet
Spiritually immature feed only on milk
Solid food is not for Spiritual babies
It is an individual's choice whether he or she will do what it takes to grow and mature.
A heartbreaking thought to picture adults feeding as a baby does

4) Unnatural Delevopment
One must grow from baby Christian to maturity. It is not natural to stay on babyfood. Churches are filled with people who want just a tiny bit of truth, but not too much, not to the point of growth or to turn from evil ways.  Carnal Christians are full of envy and strife - " take my toys and go home"

There is a Cure for Spiritual Immaturity

Four Things that Mark Spiritual Maturity in a Believer

1) Exposure to Teaching that goes beyond the Basics -As we look back to our past,  we need to be able to see growth in our lives from where we've been to where we have come to.

2) Evidence of Growth in the Knowlege of Christ
Growing takes time but we need to know we are moving forward
Am I growing in maturity of Christ

3) Engage in the Challenges of Life
Practice your faith in the choices of everyday life

4) Exercising Discernment about Good and Evil
The Lord gives us like a 6th sense and that is discernment. You know when something is not the best God would have for you. Make choices that are God's best for you.

Note: Next Sunday, August 5,2012  my home church will be continuing the series on Worship - Worship in Marriage. Your comments are always welcome on all of my posts.

Ephesians 4 - Contrast of Good & Evil

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Sin is a blinder. Living in sin keeps a person from seeing truth and from seeing things from God's perspective. Sin grieves the heart of God. I have heard people say that sin is really no big deal to God and that He is bigger than all of our sin and weakness. I find such a statement almost blasphemous because of the huge sacrifice that was required to atone for our sin. Our sin costed God the death of His only begotten Son Jesus in order to make a way for us to get into a right relationship with God. To think that He was willing to do that for me ( so that heaven will be my eternal home) just fills me with joy and wonderment that He would do that for me. It also causes  a desire to spring up inside me to live my life in a way that pleases Him. I do not care to please the world or to live in its luxuries. My focus is on my Heavenly Father and the blessed hope of being with Him.
As Dr Randy Carlson always used to say ( when he was still on the radio in my area) "Find out what pleases Christ and then do it." So I ask myself - What pleases Christ? The Bible says we are to live a sanctified life. That means to be "set apart". As Christians, we do not live our lives in the same way as a non-Christian does. There is a difference because we seek to obey the Bible which is the Word of God.
In Ephesians 4 we are called to 1) walk no longer as the Gentiles do- in sensuality, and practicing all sort of immoral lifestyles 2) lay aside the old manner of life - falsehood, stealing, unwholesome talk etc. We are called to put on the new self which has been created in righteousness and holiness.

Just to see the contrast in the life of a saved person to a non saved lets look a little more closely into Ephesians 4 and 5. Some people believe that they can say they are saved and still continue living in the ways of the world but here are some  of the distinct differences in the fruits found in the life of the Christian and non-Christian.  Please take the time to read Ephesians 4:17-32 which I have posted below.

Saved                                                      
Light - life, truth                                        
renewal of the mind, holiness                
righteousness, work and share,              
kind, forgiving, tenderhearted,               
forgiving, walk in love, thankful   

Not Saved           
 Darkness - hard hearted , callous
sensuality, impurity, greediness, lust,
deceit, immorality, filthy talk, idolatry
drunk with wine, lies, anger, stealing
slander, malice, coveting
 
This clearly points out that there is a difference between the saved and the unsaved person in his or her desires in living the daily life. The good news is that God wants all of us to come to Him for forgiveness and cleansing.    We can come to Jesus today and be saved.   Ephesians 2:8   For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:        

Ephesians 4:17-32    
     

¹⁷ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
¹⁸ Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
¹⁹ Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
²⁰ But ye have not so learned Christ;
²¹ If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
²⁵ Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
²⁶ Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
²⁷ Neither give place to the devil.
²⁸ Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
²⁹ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
³⁰ And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
³¹ Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
³² And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

                                                            
                                                                      
                                                   
                              

Fuel for the Soul!

The other day I went to the gas station to fill up the family van. The tank was mostly empty again. As I stood there filling in the gasoline, it reminded me of the importance of filling up our spiritual tanks regulary.  Just as we can not run our vehicles very far on an empty tank, neither can we live in victory as Christians if we do not take time with the Lord daily. It is important that as individuals we spend time reading our Bibles and praying every day. A person might say " I am too busy to read and pray, I have a lot to get done today." But from my own experience I can tell you that time with God is never time wasted. There is really nothing else as sweet as being in God's presence in personal time with Him. Someone has said that if we are too busy to read our Bibles and pray everyday then we are just too busy. I would say that for me, the day goes better if I make my time with the Lord a real priority.
The Bible likens feeding our souls to the intake of food or milk. In John 6:35 Jesus says : " I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
Jesus satisfies our deepest longings and needs. No one can do this except Jesus. When we take the Word into our own life and apply it to ourselves personally, we are really blessed.
In 1 Peter 2:2 it says - As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:  Just as a baby needs milk in order to grow and mature so we also need the milk of God's Word to grow in our Christian walk. We begin with milk and grow and mature in our faith and come to need the meat of the Word.
Someone may say - But what if I cannot remember what I have read, what does it help me?  When we put the Word of God in our minds through Bible reading, it slowly grows us and shapes us into right thinking and helps us to live a  God-honoring life. We need the consistant intake of God's Word to become  more and more like Jesus. Consider the  nourishing of our physical bodies with food, we cannot remember either what we have had for lunch or supper a couple of days ago but still it has nurtured us and helped us and carried us till our next meal. So it is also in our spiritual life. It helps us immediately and also in the long-term.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy  that the Bible is written by the inspiration of God Himself.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 says
¹⁵ And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

¹⁷ That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

As Woodrow Kroll says - God only wrote one book and He'd be pleased to have us read it.

Obama takes a stand against God's View on Marriage...

This week President Obama made history when he went on national televison and said that believes in same sex marriage. I am a Canadian so normally I would not comment on  American politics or on President Obama but this is a matter of faith. It appears that President Obama has taken a direct stand against God and the Bible.
It is God who created the whole world and everyone in it and it is God who has the authority to say what is classified as right living and what is sin. Marriage is God's plan and it involves only 1 man and 1 woman bound together till death parts the union. Genesis 2:24 - ²⁴ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

In the past hundred years or more, God has raised up many evangelists and preachers from the United States and has sent them out into the entire world to preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. We can think of even preachers of our day such as Billy Graham, David Jeremiah, Franklin Graham, James McDonald, John Piper, John McArthur, Vernon McGee, John McTernnan, Woodrow Kroll and others who faithfully teach the Bible and many have come to know Jesus through their ministries. So we can see that the United States of America plays a big role in God's preordained plan for the world to give everyone a chance to be saved. But now it seems that America is turning away from God and is no longer willing to lead the world as a Christian country that other countries and leaders can look to for direction and support. It is my hope that many true Christian leaders will now take a firm stand against homosexuality. It is disturbing to see what is happening to the United States going down this path away from the clear teachings of the Bible. One might say that Obama only speaks for himself so it doesn't matter but this is not the case. While doing his interview on ABC news, President Obama said that he and Michelle his wife are practicing Christians. If one is a practicing Christian, then a person will look to the Bible for direction and seek to do what the Bible says even if it is the unpopular stand to take. Christians seek to please Christ and obey the written Word of God. Instead of taking a stand for the Bible and righteousness so that other Christians also can stand stronger together, Obama causes division within the body of Christ by opposing the Bible's stand on homosexuality. It is a dangerous thing to oppose God and place one's own ideas above that of the Scriptures.
Romans 1:24-32 is somewhat a longer passage but I will post it since it is worth reading -

Romans 1: 24-32 says
²⁴ Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
²⁵ Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
²⁶ For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
²⁷ And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
²⁹ Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
³⁰ Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
³¹ Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
³² Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

I find it odd that President Obama would come to his evolving conclusions on gay marriage by looking at his daughters and their friends. He says his daughters would find it unthinkable that somehow their friends gay parents were different. Well, if Obama is a Christian as he says he is, then the right thing to do would be to teach his daughters what the Bible says about homosexuality and tell them that since God says homosexuality is sin - it is SIN, regardless if others are doing it, homosexuality is sin and will bring the judgment of God on those who do it and those who support those who do it UNLESS they come in repentance to God and find forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:9
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,

May God have mercy on us especially on those of us who love Him and look for His appearing.

Sports and the Bible

It may come as a surprise to some of you to hear that in the Bible we find passages that compare our life to sports. My family enjoys sports. Right now the NHL hockey playoffs are going on, so my boys have their teams that they cheer for. The Vancouver Canucks are out so will we become Ottawa Senators fans? Maybe, or maybe not.  My husband and  my boys have played as a team curling for several winters at our local rink and quite enjoy it, and everyone here enjoys a round of golf now and then. In high school, the younger of my twin sons  played pretty much every sport he could - in track running the 3 kilometer race provincially, also playing varsity volleyball, basketball, etc  and now in college continues to play team sports there. He has also enjoyed reffing hockey for the kids playing hockey locally. Playing sports is not only fun but it builds  many good qualities in person such as to persevere in difficult situations and to look out for others on the team, to be fair, and honest, to do your part in life and to encourage other people in the game we call life.   In 1 Timothy 4:8 it says  ⁸For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
We know that in order to keep our bodies healthy we need to eat healthy foods  and get some exercise but as the verse reminds us that our bodies are temporary - our bodies are for this life only here and now. Our soul is what will live on for eternity so that is why we are encouraged to focus on godliness.
We know that any person doing well in his chosen sport is a person of discipline, spending many hours practicing and working very hard to reach their goals. There is the need to eat right, stay hydrated and get plenty of rest and sleep.
 We see the influence that sports figures play in the minds of kids and people. An example of one who is using his influence to reach others in a positive way would be Tim Teebow.  He has been able to share the gospel very publically with the gift to play football  that God has given to him. Of coursewe can also  think of a few sports figures who have become a negative influence to others and become disgraced publically.
Let's consider what 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 says -
 ²⁴Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
 ²⁵And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
 ²⁶I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
 ²⁷But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
In the game of life, we seek to win. It says in verse 24  "so run that ye may obtain". So just as in sports, we also need to discipline ourselves in our daily lives in order to win in our Christian life.  The prize is to be in the presence of God with the Lord Jesus for all eternity. After we have made the choice to enter the race - that is we have chosen to become a Christian, we then seek to live to please Christ in all we do and say in our everyday life.  Just like an athelete  needs to stay well nourished with healthy food and water, we need to be in the Scriptures daily, reading the Bible and thereby  taking in Spiritual food and drink.  We need to be in communication with our Heavenly Father in prayer and filling our minds with wholesome God honoring stuff.  These disciplines help us to be strong and to win over sin in our daily life. We have no desire to live in the pleasures of the sinful nature because we seek to win the prize and it is our goal to  " break through the tape" at the finish line in Christ's strength and in victory.  Our crown as refered to in verse 25 is incorruptible which means it is a reward that will last forever throughout eternity. How long is eternity you ask - is it a million years? No a million years into eternity will be only the beginning of it. It will be forever and ever and ever. So it is definitely worth all our time and energy to run this race of life with eternity as the goal!