Wednesday, January 28, 2009

True Liberation



A dear reader writes in response to my recent post:

Four years ago, God showed me the post I had left in the hands of others so I could pursue the lies of the world. Today, I am trying to take back what is my responsibility and teach my five daughters not to make the same mistake. I know I shared in the destruction of the family in our land by ignoring God's roles for me, but by the grace of God alone, I am given a second chance to right my wrongs, step up to my responsibilities, and be part of the 'revival' of God's vision for womanhood.

I couldn't help but to think about the feminist movement and the desperate cry for liberation.

As women and men...

only God's Word truly liberates us.


Praise God that this reader had a second chance---to love her husband, her daughters and her home and reclaim what was hers all along....all the precious things we take for granted everyday---and she took action.

Unlike many other women who sadly came to the realization, when it was tragically too late.
My heart goes out to them, but we can surely learn from their mistakes.



(Please remember there is always hope in Jesus Christ. He redeems the time and can restore any family situation.)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Pioneering Biblical Femininity in a Post Christian Culture



We are currently living in a post Christian culture.

With that in mind, we need to understand that the of model biblical femininity-more than every before in history--needs to be resurrected, revived and restored.

We may feel that examples of true biblical femininity are virtually non existent but it is the privilege of our generation to purposefully and deliberately pioneer and bestow this example on the world around us.

We must lead the way for millions of young and older Christian women who need to see the example of what a godly woman looks like, understanding that many generations will be impacted by our firm decision to be steadfast in God's calling to be such. We cannot shrink back, we cannot be ashamed, we cannot be fearful....for this is the battleground and we will not be an army that retreats but we will defend the Truth and advance for His kingdom.

I believe much of our battle begins as we allow the seductive lies of feminism to dance around and tempt our mind and spirit. A Christian woman needs to be reminded to look at the world through the Bible and not look at the Bible from the worlds point of view. Compromise can never be an option for too much is at stake.

The Botkin sisters express their thoughts on this very important matter...

"Feminism has been around since the garden of Eden...four hundred years ago women were building America, now they are tearing it down. If you were to ask me now what I would attribute the singular weakness and growing apostasy of America I might say 'to the selfishness and pettiness of their women'....

Feminists claimed that they would go down in history as heroines, but in the end, the only thing feminists will go down in history for is breaking up families, tearing down homes and contributing to the mud-slid of cultural disintegration..."

They go on to describe the modern day woman compared to the virtuous women of the past who sacrificed to build our country:

"They are the complete opposite of the virtuous woman,
When they were strong, now they are weak.

Where they used to be models of sturdy virtue,
Now they are examples of flimsy immodesty.

When they used to understand the importance of children and selflessly sacrifice for them,
Now they murder them in the womb as a testament to their own selfishness.

And a a result of this---our nation is perishing."

Indeed, our nation is perishing.


That is why there must be a call back to biblical femininity. We have abandoned our posts-- our husbands, our children our homes. If not in a physical state, then we have done it emotionally and have detached ourselves from all that God has rendered to us as a high calling... all because we have believed the lies.

We must choose today to take back what has been stolen from us--

to replace the lies with the Truth,

to rebuild our marriages,

to take back our children,

to restore our homes ,

to renew a nation that desperately needs godly womanhood

to reform the culture around us

for as we do so,

we understand,

we are ultimately...

reviving and reconciling a dying and lost world to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And the impact of that thought alone---renders me speechless.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Wise Thoughts on Proverbs 31


Author Anne Ortlund came to this conclusion about the Proverbs 31 woman:

"I noticed that twenty-two verses [of Proverbs 31] describe this woman's kindness, godliness, hard work, loving relationships--and only one verse out of the twenty-two [verse 22] describes how she looked...seeing this kind of proportion in Proverbs 31... I prayed 'O Father, I want to give 1/22 of my time to making myself as outwardly beautiful as I can; and I want to give all the rest of my time, 21/22 of my life, to becoming wise, kind, godly, hard-working, and the rest.'"


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Where Are the Mothers?


One morning I had a bit of a cold so I stayed and snuggled in bed for a bit longer and notorious reader that I am, I grabbed the nearest magazine off my nightstand and found myself reading through a lengthy article entitled "Too Sexy Too Soon" in Family Circle's December 2008 issue. The article was written by, I'm assuming, a non-Christian mom who's daughter had asked for a bra at the age of seven to be like her lovely friends at school.

She also pointed out how young daughters idolize pop culture as she narrowed in on a few trendy names like Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) , Cheetah Girls, and Bratz dolls and how these impressionable daughters imitate older girls and act more sensual (through dancing) and dress more seductively than their own age. (BTW, if you do a google search on the names above as I did, be prepared to brace yourselves to see who is leading the way for young girls today--girls as young as 5-10 years old are fans to these).

I couldn't have agreed more and then was even more astonished because a few pages later in the same magazine there was the latest advertisement for a Barbie movie, I couldn't believe what she was wearing. I was saddened to see it all go this far...what will it be like for the next generation of girls?

But my greater question that was sadly running through my mind is---where are the mothers? And the fathers? And even more so---the discernment? Do we not know if we put these types of 'teen idols' in front of them that they will mimick them?

Harmless, is the cry of the masses--why, don't you remember being that age? Indeed we do, we remember the heartbreak, the brokenness, the trading of our souls, the stolen innocence....all while we were being raped of our purity---what is there not to remember? That is even more the reason why we need to fiercely protect our children from the massive onslaught of the media and culture that finds pleasure in attacking and violating the helpless naivety of the young.

Now if you are a mother reading here today that has been allowing your daughter to engage in the likes of the people mentioned above, I want to greatly warn you of the dangers of allowing your precious children to 'keep company' with influences that will truly harm your children's lives. This is by no means to sound or be judgmental in anyway but with great love and admonishment that I plead with you to pray over and examine the decisions made over whom will influence your most precious treasure---your children.

Will they be the next generation that is strong and will fight for the Lord or will they be the generation that will succumb to this wasted world and be seduced by the devil and his cleverly wicked antics? Remember, what we put before them today will be a huge determining factor in the future of what they will become tomorrow and whatever a man soweth that is also what he will reap.

Finally, I'd like to add that there is a great need to pray daily for the 'teen idols' that are out there making a lasting impression on our youth today. We need to pray that they will turn from their wrong ways. We need to pray that they will turn to the Lord. We need to pray for a clear understanding of what their example is on others and its lasting repercussions of all parties . We need to pray for their parents that they would protect their children and use wise judgment. And most importantly we also need to pray God's love over them all especially for their salvation.

So parents, before you place anything before your child...

please think twice.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

He Is Mighty to Save


Isn't this what it's all about? I found this in my inbox earlier this week----

Mrs. Fuentes,

I wanted to thank you for your blog. Because of your blog I got curious about what it was to be a Christian so this Christmas I went to church for the first time in about ten years. I've been going steady for about a month now and last night, with the help of my new pastor, I accepted Jesus as my savior. I wanted to thank you for planting one of the seeds the blossomed into my new faith.

-Amanda

Allelujah! Amanda, you have made a decision you will never regret. I pray that the Lord will continue to help you grow closer to Him through all things whether thick or thin. This song is for you:




(If you click the box in the corner you can view this in full screen)

"In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10

UPDATE: Amanda has recently emailed me and has shared that the best part of the story is that she brought her fiance to church with her and he was saved as well!!! I got goose bumps just reading about it---God is SO GOOD!

**************************************************************************

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Clothing of Spiritual Beauty



Dear ladies, I have a question for you....

What are your clothes saying about you?

The type of clothes I am referring to is not something you can purchase at the local mall. It is not trendy and nor is it always comfortable. You cannot find it on the finest racks at Nordstroms or even find it on clearance at any sales. The type of clothing I am referring to is your clothing of spiritual beauty.

The clothing of spiritual beauty is much more beautiful than the cashmere sweaters, the silk dress, the leather skirt, the diamond studded belt---that moth and rust can destroy, for many reasons. Our spiritual clothing is beautiful in the eyes of our Lord for He is the great designer of it---and as others see it, they will see that it is the fruit of God's work in us.

Now our spiritual clothing is exquisite and looks like this:

love
joy
peace
patience
kindness goodness
faithful
self-control
humility
strength
dignity
courage
forgiveness
meekness
steadfastness
gentleness
quiet
modest
pure
encourages others
always points to God

Very different from this kind of clothing:

loud
selfish
angry
irritated
revengeful
lustful
self-centered
greedy
discontent
slanderous
unforgiveness
bitterness
vain
hatred
jealousy
murder
malice
self-seeking
prideful
discourages others
always points to self




You can see the garments of spiritual beauty on a woman because it is very evident. Her clothing is in full view for others to see even while it is spiritual. It is seen in her conduct (how she carries herself), in her eyes, in her words and in her works. She possesses something that others do not and carries the spirit of the Lord with her. When I see these attributes in a woman it is hard not to notice. She is a rare gem and treasure that my heart desires to aspire to. I pray the Lord would help me to cultivate this type of fine spiritual clothing, though not to receive approval from man, but to be pleasing in God's sight.

The latter list of apparel is wretched. It defiles us and steals glory from God. It comes thundering in the spirit of Satan---loud, debaucherous, slanderous, and prideful. It seeks only self-gain and is quite deceptive especially to the person who wears them. It seeks to conquer, kill and destroy--much like the designer who designed it--- and yes, I said DESTROY. Not just destroy those around but the very person who wears the pseudo raiment.

And as a last word....sometimes are we not like trees that look full from afar but when you get up close they are empty? Or maybe we look like bowls of lush, fresh fruit but when you get up close we only find in dismay that is only wax? I am speaking here of authenticity. We can look like we are wearing the spiritual clothing that God has designed for us to our neighbors, on Sunday dressed in our Sunday best, at our women's Bible studies, etc., but are we sadly like the bowl of fruit that when people get closer find that we are not whom we portrayed ourselves to be?????

God's word is the final word on the matter on our authentic spiritual clothing:

"Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12

What will you pull out of your spiritual wardrobe today?



****************

















Are you encouraged here? I personally invite you to subscribe and get the latest posts sent to your inbox. Also, connect with us on Facebook and Twitter and get updates that are not posted here on the blog.



Thursday, January 1, 2009

Dreaming of a Happy New Year


It's that time again---time to break out the pen and paper and begin writing out those lists in planning out our New Year goals. I don't know about you, but I get absolutely giddy when I think about all the hours I get to plan out my life and jot my dreams down on paper--especially since I am a notorious list writer and this year I am emphasizing the 'dream''factor.

Every New Years day, my husband and I get together with our planners/laptop and work on our resolution and family goals. We include sections such as spiritual, personal, family, physical and dream. This year as my husband wrote out his section and I suggested he jot this down:

1. Dream
2. Dream Big
3. Make our dreams come true

He loves it when I talk like this!

As Christians we should dream big dreams for what we can do for the Lord. It is simply amazing how our dreams can be stolen away from us with the worries of this world. Remember when you were young and you dreamed of writing a book or doing this great thing or that? But as you got older different things started to snuff out the life of that dream and all of the sudden that dream was sooo far away?

As I have said before---I feel like I am living out my dream right now with a beautiful family and home to care for---but there are some things I have been dreaming about lately........some things that maybe others do not dream about. Like..........

CHURCHPLANTING!

I would love to see multi-site church planting in our area! I love reading about church planting and listening to podcasts from Acts 29. My husband often says "You are probably the only woman in the world who quotes Ed Stetzer, Nelson Searcy, Mark Driscoll and Darrin Patrick and likes them. You have got to be the only mom of 8 who loves listening to Acts 29 podcasts." Lucky for him, since he loves them all too!

Yes, I have to make a confession here, if you knew the real me you would be bored to tears because all I really want to talk about is church planting! To me there are few things more exciting. It might be because we came from a multi-site church...hmmm...

So whatever your goals or resolutions be sure to dream big dreams of what you can do for the Lord! Life is too short and valuable to not partake in dreaming...

You might be surprised where He leads you!