Paul Washer on Radical Christianity

We talk so much about being radical Christians. Radical Christians are not people who jump at concerts. Radical Christians are not people who wear Christian tee shirts. Radical Christians are those who bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Radical Christians are those who reverence and honor their parents even when they feel like their parents are wrong. Radical Christians are those who do not––now listen to me. This is going to make you mad, and I’m talking to boys and girls. Radical Christians are those who do not dress sensually in order to show off their bodies. If your clothing is a frame for your face, God is pleased with your clothing. If your clothing is a frame for your body, it’s sensual and God hates what you’re doing. ~from the transcript of the Shocking Youth Message (http://adidab.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/paul-washer-transcript-02-shocking-youth-message/)

Modest Closet: Exercise & Swimming!

I Stand Before the Cross

I stand before the Cross and I profess a love for this Man, this One, Who has taken my place on it…

and I turn away…

and I go shopping and I buy a bikini…

I can justify it because it is so cute on me and anyway…

if a guy looks at me to lust, it is all his fault for not controlling himself…

and not my fault at all.

I go to church and I worship this holy God…

and I turn away…

and I go home and I turn on the television…

and I watch…

and as I do I fill my mind, my heart, my eyes with things that I would be ashamed to watch…

if Jesus were here…

but, He isn’t…

and I justify it, because it is a good show…

and, after all, God is a God of love and He just wants me to be happy.

I kneel before my God and I pray…

Thy will be done…

and I get up…

and I go about doing my will…

with everyone that I meet…

in everything that I do…

not for a moment thinking…

that I am sinning.

I open up my Bible and I read about the wonders of God…

and my heart rejoices…

I read of His love, His mercy, His tenderness…

sometimes, I come to passage that shows more than that…

where His holy anger towards sinners is revealed,

and it makes me nervous, uncomfortable…

but, I turn the page,

and I read more about how very much God loves me,

and I read into it how much He longs for me to respond to Him,

and I think how cool it is that this God of the whole universe needs me…

me…

and I determine to try to find something really nice to do for Him…

sometimes.

I reach out to my God in my need…

and I can’t find Him…

and I ask Him, “Where are You?”

but, He doesn’t answer me…

and, I don’t understand His silence…

I run towards where He was but find only darkness …

I seek Him out and I ask, ”Why have You abandoned me?”

“Where are You, God?”, I plead…

and it’s then that I realize…

that I am alone…

and He doesn’t seem to hear me…

at all.

And, in the echoing silence, suddenly I hear

a still small voice,

saying, “If you love Me, you will obey Me.”

And I fall on my face…

and I weep.

10 Modest Closet "Essentials" via loveLAUGHliveFAITH

Spotlight on Modesty: a great new blog to check out

Hey girls,

My sister Nadia and I wanted to take a moment and let you know about a blog you ought to check out. It's called Teen Style U: How to be beautiful, fashionable and modest and can be found at http://www.teenstyleu.com/ . It's a fun blog to visit and look around because you can check out your fashion style, learn about what colors look good on you and find some great ideas on how to look nice while also maintaining modesty. I hope y'all enjoy it as much as my sister and I did.

Have fun!

Tia

Female Piety—The Young Woman's Guide through Life to Immortality by John Angell James, (1785—1859)

There is neither Jew nor Greek—there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

I can think of no subject with which more appropriately to commence this work, than the influence of Christianity on the condition of woman.

Our first attention must be directed of course to the condition of the female sex beyond the boundaries of Christendom.

It would seem from the words of the original denouncement upon Eve for her transgression in eating the forbidden fruit, that while yet the first pair were innocent, there was a more entire equality of condition and rights between the sexes than there has been after the fall. "Your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you." This sounds like something penal, though perhaps some would regard it as merely predictive, and intended to describe the cruel and brutalizing tendency of sin, in turning man, who ought to be the loving companion of his wife, into a tyrant. How fearfully, if predictive, this sentence has been fulfilled, the degradation of woman, her wrongs, her sorrows, and her vices, in many cases, most painfully attest.

History, which will ever be found to corroborate revelation, proves that in most Pagan and Mohammedan nations, whether ancient or modern, woman has been cruelly and wickedly sunk below her proper level in social and domestic life, "hated and despised from her birth, and her birth itself esteemed a calamity; in some countries not even allowed the rank of a moral and responsible agent; so tenderly alive to her own degradation that she acquiesces in the murder of her female offspring; immured from infancy; without education; married without her consent; in a multitude of instances sold by her parents; refused the confidence of her husband, and banished from his table; on his death, doomed to the funeral pile, or to contempt that renders life a burden." In such a condition she has been the household drudge, or the mere object of lust. She has ministered to the gratification of man's indolence or sensual appetite, but has not been his companion, his counselor, or his comforter. In barbarous countries she has been a slave; in civilized ones very generally little better than a kept mistress. Her mind has been left untaught, as if incapable or unworthy of instruction. She has been not only imprisoned in seclusion by jealousy, but degraded and rendered inferior and miserable by polygamy. Sometimes worshiped as a goddess; next fondled as a toy; then punished as a victim, she could never attain to dignity, and even with all her brightest charms could rarely appear but as a doll or a puppet.

Exceptions to some extent may be made in favor of the polished Greeks and proud Romans—but only to some extent; for did time permit, and necessity require, it could be shown that neither Athenian refinement nor Roman virtue gave to woman her just rank by the side of her husband, or her proper place in his affection, esteem, and confidence.

"Neither Paganism nor Mohammedanism ever yet understood the female character, or conceded woman's just claims. In many nations the degradation has been excessive. You remember probably the reply of a Pagan mother, who having been expostulated with for the murder of her female child, contended that she had performed an act of mercy in sparing the babe the miseries of a woman's life. All travelers and all missionaries attest the fact of woman's humiliation, beyond the boundaries of Biblical revelation."

If we go to the Bible, we shall learn that it is to Christianity, as contrasted even with Judaism, that woman owes her true elevation. Polygamy is, and ever must be, fatal to female dignity and happiness—this, or at any rate concubinage, was practiced, no doubt under mistaken views, by the patriarchs; not that it was ever positively sanctioned by God, for from the beginning he made one woman for one man, and by the providential and remarkable fact of the general equality of the sexes as to numbers, he still proclaims in unmistakable language the law of monogamy. But to use an expression of the apostle, "he winked at" these things—he did not regard it as innocent or convenient, yet he did not say much about it, or punish it—but left it to punish itself, which it most certainly did. If we examine the Levitical code we shall find that even it, though a Divine dispensation, contained some regulations which evinced that the time of woman's full emancipation from a state of inferiority had not yet arrived—and that it was reserved for the glorious and gracious economy under which we are placed, to raise the female sex to its just position and influence in society.

Christianity as in other things, so in this, is an enlargement of human privileges; and among other blessings which it confers, is its elevation of woman to her proper place and influence in the family and in society.

Let us now consider what there is in Christianity that tends to elevate and improve the condition of woman.

To read in full, please go to http://www.gracegems.org/20/female_piety2.htm

The Man Worth Waiting For

WHAT MANNER OF MEN

“. . . that He will again raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ [revival]. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labour and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”

Arnold Dallimore,George Whitefield

The Ministry of Being a Sister (via A Daughter of Vision)

I am sure a good many of my readers have the blessing of being a sister,  and I am sure many of you do view that as a blessing,  but do you view that as a ministry?   One of the most important ministries a young lady can be involved in is being an sister (older or younger).    It is your choice as to whether you will be faithful to this ministry,  or to discard it as something of little value.   

When we argue with our siblings or yell at them,  I think we often do not realize the cost of what we are doing to the relationship.   Before I was a Christian I demanded that my younger sister obey me, and of course she never would.  For a very long time I thought the problem was with her,  after all,  as the older one I thought I was simply entitled to her respect and obedience.  But I was wrong,  the problem was with me.   Because I had yelled and argued over insignificant things (in fact, there is nothing worth yelling over) I had lost her trust and respect,  so why would she want to obey me?  If you have the trust of your siblings treasure it, protect it, and grow it by kindness.   

How can we aviod conflict?  It is as simple as one sibling making the right choice.   99% of the things most brothers and sisters argue over really don't matter anyway,  so why are you risking your relationship by fighting?   It won't kill us to let the other person win.  So next time your sibling tries to catch you up in an argument and sends you angry words, return them with kind ones.   Soon, as your siblings learn how much sweeter it is to live in peace and unity, they will stop instigating arguments.   Loving and blessing our siblings is a choice,  and once we make that choice the results will be amazing.   


There are many ways we can minister to our siblings and the more we get to know them the more ideas we will get.   I'll share a few ideas of things I do with my sister,  I hope they encourage you to be creative and think of ways you can bless your siblings.



To read in full, please go to http://adaughterofvision.blogspot.com/2011/03/ministry-of-being-sister.html

Asking Why?

"So why do these women dress and act in such a way?   Why do most young ladies feel "uncomfortable" in long skirts and dresses?  Why don't they take on the roles they have been called to as Godly wives, mothers, and daughters?   I think that a large reason is simply because they do not know how.  They hardly ever see a maiden of virtue, but instead they constantly see women who dress like men, who are loud, disrespectful, and disobedient to authority." ~ A Daughter of Vision


(http://adaughterofvision.blogspot.com/)

An Attitude of Modesty (via A Daughter of Vision)

Today I wish to share with you a very important topic - developing an attitude of modesty. A godly young woman should adorn herself with this beautiful aspect of purity, because modesty is so much more than simply dressing in a way that will not cause others to stumble, it is truly a heart issue. 

A Christian young woman’s attitude towards modesty is one of the things that sets her apart from the world. When dressing modestly, the goal is to draw attention to your countenance, not your body. When people look at your countenance, it should be a reflection of Christ and of purity, certainly not of immodesty! It is such a shame to see a young lady who is dressed with the intention of modesty, and yet all is wasted because her attitude does not shine with purity. But a godly young woman can be a powerful witness with her life - when people look unto her countenance they see Christ, they see radiant purity, and they realize that she is set apart. She brings honor to God and to her father.

So what is a modest attitude? A modest attitude is something that is easily recognizable, yet sometimes difficult to describe, so I will not be able to point out all aspects of a modest attitude. I encourage you to go to the scriptures and search for yourself to see all that the Lord tells us on this subject. One aspect of a modest attitude is certainly a meek and quiet spirit - A young woman who does not seek to draw attention to herself by speaking loudly or boastfully about herself, but instead uses her life as a witness and a tool for sharing the Gospel with others. She seeks to uplift Christ, and to draw attention unto Him, not to herself. 

To read in full, please go to http://adaughterofvision.blogspot.com/2011/04/attitude-of-modesty.html

About Dressing Your Young Daughters

Young girls deserve to be dressed modestly. So let's not cheat them from a lifetime of confidence and positive self-image by dressing them like super-models before they can even talk!! It is generally agreed that young women should take great care to dress modestly after they have reached puberty. But the question arises: Is there a special way of dressing before that age? As the mother of a three-year-old girl, I have faced this question many times and reached the conclusion that it is very important to dress young girls with the same levels of dignity and respect to which modest women themselves are accustomed. Treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves will help ensure that our daughters grow up with confidence and self-respect. Any parent of a young girl has certainly experienced the shock of trying to find decent clothes for his or her daughter. On a recent trip to a popular clothing store in our area, I was stunned to discover that all of the clothes for little girls are designed to enhance their female traits (breast, hips, legs, etc.) which are not even developed, while the styles mimic those of older teenaged girls (who have also been short-changed by society's molding of them into miniature women.) Even a lot of the shoes sport high heels! Simply put, there are no clothes for little girls. So it is not surprising that we find most girls in the US dressed in styles which do not suit them and which also contribute to them being harassed by boys and later (as they grow older) by men. Though it is widely acknowledged by society that the early years are the formative years, it is strange that so little attention is paid to how young girls dress. After all, it is a well-known fact that many women suffer from low self-esteem and other problems related to body image. This is not something which suddenly occurs once a woman reaches maturity: most likely it has been taking place since girlhood as she learned that sex appeal is synonymous with popularity. Having attended public school in the US since the age of four, I have witnessed this phenomena firsthand and can say with certainty that such roles are learned just as soon as boys and girls come together in one environment, whether children are capable of understanding that or not. As women raising children to be modest adults, we must take extra care to dress our young daughters accordingly. They should, in my opinion, be dressed modestly in long, loose-fitting clothes. They should also wear pants under their dresses because girls at this age play a lot (doing cartwheels, rolling around on the ground, etc.), and they should have the freedom to do all that without the embarrassment of having their undergarments exposed.

http://www.stevishabitat.com/modesty6.php

Voddie Baucham on Dating

You Should Wear Skirts or Dresses To Church by MInTheGap

If you were going to have an audience with the President of the United States, how would you dress?  Would casual attire or torn blue jeans be considered appropriate, or would you at least dress in office work attire or better?

If you answered the latter, then there’s this question:  Why is it that when you go to corporately worship the King of all Kings in a place designated for worship that you would wear anything less.

I mean, a few of our former Presidents believed that they shouldn’t even be in the Oval Office without a coat and tie, how can we enter into His official presence without dressing up.

THERE’S ALWAYS BEEN A DRESS CODE

After Adam and Eve had sinned, they found that they were naked, and were ashamed.  They decided to make clothing for themselves to cover their nakedness.  When God appeared, He determined that there clothing was not good enough, and made clothing out of animal skin for them.

When God gave instructions to Moses on constructing the Temple, His instructions not only came with details about the dimensions of the building, it came with instructions on how the priest and how the high priest should dress!

Multiple times in Scripture we see God talk about clothing– that He takes care to provide clothing and clothes the fields, that renting clothing is something done to register blasphemy, that seeing someone unclothed is a sin, etc.

So God has always had a dress code.

To read in full, please go to http://isthismodest.com/2011/04/29/you-should-wear-skirts-or-dresses-to-church/

For the Children: Are you Saved? - Paul Washer

A Christian Woman by Elisabeth Elliot

“We are called to be women. The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God’s idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be.” 

“God has set no traps for us. Quite the contrary. He has summoned us to the only true and full freedom. The woman who defines her liberation as doing what she wants…is, in the first place, evading responsibility. Evasion of responsibility is the mark of immaturity. The Women’s Liberation Movement is characterized, it appears, by this very immaturity. While telling themselves that they’ve come a long way, that they are actually coming of age, they have retreated to a partial humanity, one which refused to acknowledge the vast significance of the sexual differentiation. (I do not say that they always ignore sexual differentiation itself, but that they significance of it escapes them entirely.) And….by refusing to fulfill the whole vocation of womanhood she settles for a caricature, a pseudo-personhood.”

"Womanhood is a call...The strength to answer this call is given us as we look up toward the Love that created us, remembering that it was that Love that first…made us at the very beginning real men and real women. As we conform to that Love’s demands we shall become more humble, more dependent—on Him and on one another—and even (dare I say it?) more splendid."

A Family's Guide to the Church - Voddie Baucham

Can We Know Our Children Are Saved?

One of the ways I believe we can examine our children’s fruitfulness is their “heart” attitude in all that they do. Some questions to ponder:

1. Do they love God above all else?
2. Love His Word, music, worship, praise, people, church, activities and application of Christian world and life view to everything?
3. Do they want to spend “quality” and “quantity” time in the things of God?
4. Do they want to please their parents and do what is “just and proper” in the sight of God?
5. Do they have generous spirit and giving heart?
6. Do they obey those that rule over them, including their parents?
7. Do they respect their elders and those older than themselves?
8. Are they kind, tenderhearted, humble and forgiving?
9. Is their love shown in what they say and do?
10. Do they love God more than the things of the world, i.e., the lust of eyes, flesh and pride of life?
11. Is God in their future plans in education, career and marriage?
12. Have they made public profession of faith, exercised their faith and witness to others of their faith?
13. Are they obedient to the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper?

For more of this excellent article, please go to  http://reformedwomen.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/children-and-salvation/

For Mothers and Fathers

Mothers, touch your children,

Fathers, hug them tight,

Let them know you love them

morning, noon, and night.

Put your arms around them,

hold them near to you,

Feel the beating of their hearts,

the life that you made new.

Roll around the floor with them,

tease and laugh and play,

Listen to what they'll tell you,

they have so much to say.

Take time to get to know them,

see the colors in their eyes,

Appreciate that person

that deep inside them lies.

Let them run their fingers through your hair

and down your face,

Fill their hearts with words of praise,

make home their favorite place.

Cuddle with them on the couch

and watch a t.v. show,

Sing with them or share a book

and help their world to grow.

Take a walk into the park,

hold each other's hand,

Smell the flowers, feed the ducks,

build castles in the sand.

Mothers, touch your children,

Fathers, hug them tight,

Show them what a gift they are,

to love them feels so right.

Chocolate Chip Muffins!!!

From the girls: We love helping Mommy in the kitchen. This is one of our very favorite things to make. They are SSOOOO good! Please try them; you'll love them!

From the Mama: These are much-loved by my children. They are adapted (not by me) from a chocolate chip cookie recipe. I don’t care for chocolate so I left three of them without chocolate and added some pecans…then they were yummy! But (sigh!), my children are affected by the chocolate bug and they love them as they are. We doubled the recipe and two dozen weren’t enough to satisfy their cravings (of course, I was feeding 9 people, including me and hubby). I’m not really sure where the original recipe came from. Here goes!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin pans by buttering or spraying.

In a medium-sized bowl mix together:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix well and set aside.

In another bowl mix together these ingredients: (note from the Mama: I have found that 1/2 bag is plenty for us but the original recipe called for a whole bag; your choice!)

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir these together until well blended.

Then…

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the milk mixture and stir just to combine.  Stir in…

1 bag (11 ounces) of mini-chocolate chips 

1/2 cup chopped pecans or chopped walnuts (optional…we didn’t do this)

Then spoon your batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and cool for 5 minutes. Then, enjoy!