Miss Linda

I was having trouble connecting too, both last night and this morning but now it seems to be working. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Sloppy Joes or homemade burgers sounds quite good, LuAnne!! Do you put ranch dressing mix in your hamburger meat? Unfortunately, I am going to the dentist this afternoon so I'll be drinking my dinner through a straw! ;( Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Amen!!! From your lips to God's ear!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

YUM YUM YUM!!!!! May I join your family for dinner if I bring my world-famous chocolate cherry bundt cake with fudge frosting for dessert? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LOL!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Bless your heart!! Stay warm up there!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So sorry about all the bad weather. I hope things get better for you all. Is the rain going to freeze because of your cold weather or are you going to warm up above freezing before the rain? It's raining here but it's well above freezing, thankfully! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

LuAnne!! You poor thing!! Is it going to warm up for you soon? We are expecting 70 this weekend. Yea!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wherever do you suppose that fellow got that lime green shirt??? AND WHY WAS HE WEARING IT WITH A PURPLE JACKET??? That hurt my eyes. The big SBC church I used to attend was actually a little like this, it was quite a big media production with big screens placed throughout the sanctuary, an orchestra (!!!), etc. etc. Of course, now they are in the process of building their $100+ million "worship center" so who knows what it will look like when they get done. They still owe something like $60 million on the previous worship center. I do wish that people got as excited about worshipping our Creator as they do about professional athletics. I hear people talking so often about sporting events, their favorite teams and players, but you rarely hear them talk about God. It saddens me.

I must say that I am surprised and grieved to be called "eccentric" by several members of the forum. I certainly did not expect that from fellow IFBs.

This is an outrage!!!!! Fort Hood, Texas shooting first responders laid off due to budget cuts. http://www.stripes.com/fort-hood-shooting-first-responders-laid-off-due-to-budget-cuts-1.151483 You can bet your bottom dollar that the paper pushers who made this brilliant decision were the ones cowering under their desks when the gunfire started. Heartless heartless heartless.

Well, I must confess I do grimace on my treadmill at times, Sister Annie! And I'm embarrassed to admit I also perspire a bit on there too! That's actually why I prefer to exercise at home, in private, so I can grimace and perspire (and huff and puff -- lots of huffing and puffing I'm afraid ) without anyone seeing me! I would be too embarrassed to do that in public! Apparently it's too much of a spectacle for even the cats to witness because they usually slink into the other room when I get on the treadmill. (Good for you, by the way, for getting in shape with your husband. There was a time when I could eat anything I wanted, but I'd lose five pounds if I skipped lunch. Boy oh boy are THOSE days over!! Now I really have to work for every pound I want to lose!)

Your comment here touched on an issue that I encounter periodically. People will occasionally ask me whether I am Muslim or Mormon or Orthodox Jewish because I wear long skirts, long sleeves, and blouses with necklines above the collarbone. Most recently, I was dining at a restaurant with a small group of ladies from church and we were asked by the waiter whether we were Mormons. When we said no he immediately asked whether we were Orthodox Jews. We replied no again and one of the ladies said we are Christians. He looked genuinely surprised. He actually said, "I wouldn't have guessed that, you are all dressed so modestly and act so quiet and polite." *sigh* I've been asked similar questions in the office where I work. When I first started working at my current job people asked me whether I was a Mormon, a Muslim or an Orthodox Jew because of my modest dress and my eschewing secular entertainment. The last thing they thought was that I might be a Christian. It genuinely saddens me to think that non-Christian belief systems such as Muslims, Mormons and Jews are easily identifiable by their "set apart" lifestyle and modest dress but as Brother John has pointed out, Christians are not usually identified in this way. It does seem to me that Christians sometimes try to blend in as much as possible, not to be too different, too set apart. There is a danger in blurring those lines, not just for ourselves but also for those who make judgments on our faith based on their observation of our conduct. I do not think we should be asking how little we can do to follow Christ, but how much.

Thank you. I plan to print out your article and take it with me to Bible study Wednesday.

I am adding my prayers to all the others being offered for you and your wife.

Crushmaster, you have written a wonderful treatise. May I share this with members of my church? I know our elders and pastor would appreciate what you have written here. I am thankful to report that gender distinction in dress and deportment is periodically the subject of sermons and Bible studies at our church and I know they would be blessed by what you have written. I realize what you have written is not a popular viewpoint, the more secular "anything goes, let's look like the world" attitude is far more prevalent. I am thankful to God for your courage in sharing this and pray that you will remain steadfast in all things. "Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed." (1 Chronicles 22:13)

You will be in my prayers, salyan!

This was an excellent post. Thank you so much for this!

I agree that it is important to exercise and take care of the vessel that we have been given, but that can be done in a modest way without involving competitive sports. I walk 3 1/2 miles each day on a treadmill, and because I exercise indoors I can exercise consistently throughout the year regardless of the weather (it is 110 degrees outside today--so I am particulary thankful that I can exercise in my air conditioned home today!). Some of the women at my church prefer to exercise in a gym, and they all go to a women-only exercise facility. Most of the married women in my church have large families, and both the wives and older daughters get plenty of exercise chasing after fast-moving little ones all day long! As far as learning to work well with others (work "as a team", as it were) and put others before oneself, certainly that can be learned in team sports but I believe it can also be learned by serving one's family and church community.

:godisgood:

I don't see how female athletics inspire female virtue. In I Peter 3, Paul says that God highly values the cultivation of a "meek and quiet" spirit in godly women. The idea behind competitive sports is to beat the other team, while running around in front of other people in immodest garb. This is the antithesis of modest womanhood. How does participation in sports inspire meekness, modesty, placing others before yourself?

Amen!!

Modesty is a much larger issue than merely the attire one chooses--modesty relates both to dress and deportment. A modest woman would avoid placing herself in a situation where she was alone with men who were not related to her (father/brother/son/husband). A modest woman would never go to a bar or be out late at night without being escorted by men related to her (or being in a group of people--such as driving home from a church excursion). It simply isn't safe, and it certainly isn't seemly. A modest woman would not allow herself to be alone with a man who was courting her in a private place. Too many assaults on women, sadly, occur when women place themselves in these very situations. Like John81 said, "Not all rapes can be prevented, just like not all of any crime can be prevented. However, many could be prevented by women dressing modestly, conducting themselves decently, taking care where they go and when, not getting drunk or high on drugs, not being alone in potentially dangerous places, etc." In other words, dressing and conducting themselves modestly.

Salyan, our church does the same thing. Our dear pastor says "I'm not in the marriage business, I'm in the salvation business", meaning he's not obligated by God to marry anyone who happens to pass by and deisres to be married by him. He will only consent to officiate at a wedding when he knows the couple, and knows them to be mature spiritually and ready to abide by Biblical principles in their lives. The standards *must* be kept. Worldly attitudes, including secular music and immodetst dress that are often part of wedding ceremonies, cannot be permitted to infect the churches. In Joshua 7 Achan took silver, gold and a "goodly Babylonish garment" from the spoils that they were specifically commanded NOT to touch. His entire family, all his cattle, and servants were stoned then burned because of his disobedience. We have been commanded to separate ourselves from the world. The penalty for making compromises in order to "not seem too harsh or unloving" will mean death to us and death to those for whom we should be serving as a witness. You cannot make compromises even in seemingly little things (such as music for a wedding ceremony) because they invite greater compromises and greater sin.

Amen!! :goodpost: