by Kimberly | May 26, 2010 | Uncategorized, Women
Carolyn McCulley has been a blessing to me through her writing, speaking, and the few times I have been blessed to hang out with her. She cares deeply about Christ, the church, missions, and women. She cares about the gospel being lived out well by the women she is in contact with. That is why you can hear and feel her heartbeat in her latest book, Radical Womanhood.
I love hearing Carolyn’s story of God’s grace on her life. Saved much later than most, in her 30s, she saw great evidences of God’s grace in her life as He shaped, and continually shapes, her to be a Radical Woman. This book was written to help others who find themselves in the culture that displays very different standards for men and women when compared to God’s Word.
As a friend and I have read this book together over the past 2 months, we both said that it was very helpful to us. This would not be a book we would give to new Christians though, especially young women because of its depth. More so, I see this book as a crucial tool to give to women in our churches to see how their ideologies and performance-based theories of worth are not founded in Scripture – yet they are founded in the lies of Satan. If you did want to walk through it as a new believer, or even one who doesn’t know Christ, this would be excellent to go through with a friend. My friend and I were able to discuss it over sushi or pizza and salads. Made for interesting dinner conversation and I was thankful for the push!
This book has enough history in it to give one an overview of the three movements within Feminism. McCulley shows you the depth of which these movements have permeated every part of our society: our home, the work place, and the church. When reading through some of the tougher chapters, such as “The Mommy Wars” – one almost reads in defeat because of the overwhelming sin and destructive thoughts that permeate the area of birth control, Planned Parenthood, etc.
At the end of the chapters, Carolyn brings each of the matters a little closer to home with real life snippets of women who have been molded and shaped in these areas by the grace of God and for His glory.
Just some thoughts that I underlined:
“Sin also separates us from one another. We need to be redeemed from the consequences of sin – God’s righteous judgment and wrath – to experience true freedom.” (p 45)
“Every time my married friends spoke to me about their trials and temptations, I had the choice to influence them with the Bible’s perspective or with the latest self-help theories. We do not need the authority of personal experience to counsel one another because the Bible is sufficient for this task. But, we do need to know the Word.” (p 75)
“However, even among a large number of Christians today, the home is not as important as it once was, nor it is viewed as a place of ministry and outreach.” (p 104). Carolyn goes into this concept more in depth, especially for single women, in her book Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?.
Thoughts on Margaret Sanger (founder of modern-day birth control movement) – THINK about this – whether you are married or not: “Margaret Sanger was the founder of the modern birth control movement and a vocal proponent of eugenics – the theory of race improvement that was the cornerstone of Nazi Germany. Sanger believed that all evils stemmed from large families, especially large families of those she deemed as unfit. As she wrote in her 1920 book Woman and the New Race, “The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” (p 128) This will and should make you weep for the gospel and the coming of Christ.
“Without the cross, we are doomed. There is no hope for mercy to triumph over judgment unless it be at the foot of the cross.” (p 131)
Read, learn, engage the culture around you with the Truth of the Cross and the Word.
by Kimberly | May 26, 2010 | Uncategorized, Women
Relevant Magazine is a cutting edge, all about culture with a Christian view online/published magazine. Anywhere from politics to music to movies to personal attitude – all of these are discussed in this magazine.
Each week I get an email with what is new, this week’s definitely made me want to read it. Ed Gungor is an author, pastor, father, husband. He wrote an article for this edition of Relevant entitled “Does Modesty Really Matter”. I will attempt to respond to two things in this article.
Here’s where I agree:
“The apostle Paul wrote that Christ-followers should “dress modestly, with decency and propriety” (1 Timothy 2:9). Inherent in Christian thought is the notion of “modesty” (for both men and women), which implies a kind of reserve about how one dresses, along with a humility that willingly owns the fact that our actions and choices do affect others. Whether we like it or not, we can dress and carry ourselves in ways that illicit inappropriate and lustful reactions in others. But this opens up a proverbial can of worms—when is it, “I lusted and it’s your fault,” and when is it, “I need to be responsible for the fact that I am a lustful person”? The “who-is-culpable?” question is full of subjectivity and complexity.”
I have had many people over the years use the “I can’t help it if men stare at me and lust” excuse. You are right – you can’t help what the other person does. I love it though here where Pastor Gungor uses modesty also in the sense of the attitude/body positioning/eye winking mode. Two other books I’ve read recently, Carolyn McCulley’s Radical Womanhood Mary Kassian’s Girls Gone Wise both speak on this topic and would be worth your read. For women, especially, not only do the clothes matter but the heart matters as well.
Here is where I didn’t agree:
Fashions come and go. Skirt hems go up and down; clothing gets tighter in some seasons and baggy in others; sometimes necklines plummet to depths that leave little to the imagination—somewhere in the milieu of the fashion waterworld, believers need space to think through what they believe modesty, decency and propriety are. But you need to be honest about what constitutes inappropriateness within your particular cultural context. This is an issue that demands careful reflection in the heart and honest discussion with the community one is called to be a part of. (That being said, don’t necessarily let prudish church people tell you where the center on this issue is. In the fear of sin, church folk tend to overprotect and over-sanitize their views on just about everything.)
Bottom line? I think you can get away with being as fashionable as you want, as long as your heart is clear and clean and you don’t have patterns of complaints from those you love and trust. If your heart is clear and clean, you can confidently tell the occasional accuser who makes the “you-make-me-lust” accusation to go look in the mirror for the source of his or her inappropriate desires.
I just won’t go that far. If what is fashionable is a halter top and a mini skirt – whether you have a good attitude about it or not – is not appropriate. If Madonna’s or Lady Gaga’s style is what is fashionable, or even Miley Cyrus or anyone else we watch on TV or see on stage, than I don’t believe we as believers, as women of God, seeking to build up the body of Christ and make God famous – can wear this – no matter what our conscience says.
Hear the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to the young pastor, Timothy: “Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.”
Not that I don’t want to be fashionable, but if it comes down to being fashionable or “proper for women who profess godliness” – I hope I always turn to the latter.
Thoughts?
by Kimberly | May 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
I love thin crust pizza. I love whole wheat crust. I love non-greasy pizza and ones with delicious toppings. And I love salads.
The Brixx
salad was simple and delicious: greens, goat cheese (I could eat this by the log), pistachios and croutons. Their housemade balsamic – man I would love the recipe for that. Fresh cracked pepper – fococcia (didn’t like that bc it was cold). Hmmm.
We shared a 10 inch whole wheat crust 1/2 pizza. The crust was perfectly thin and not too crispy so that it busted in your hands. BBQ chicken was the waitress’s favorite recommendation and is usually a favorite of mine. It was good – just nothing special. The other half was pear and gorgonzola. Subtle, slightly sweet, love the walnuts on it. Sauteed onions were simply delicious. Good choice.
Brixx. Would go again. Not the world’s best pizza. But, good for a chain. Salad was good. Can I honestly get a recipe for that dressing?
by Kimberly | May 25, 2010 | chocolate, Uncategorized
I serve in the college ministry here at my church – and what goes better with college students than brownies. As I told my roommate tonight, I explained that even though I have so many brownie recipes, I always try a new one. This one will make the top 5.
8 oz unsweet chocolate
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coffee granules
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Mix eggs through vanilla. Add in cooled chocolate. Mix dry. Combine and pour into a foiled/sprayed 9×13 pan. Top with walnuts. Bake for about 33 minutes. Cool, remove, cut. Enjoy with a glass of milk or ice cream.
by Kimberly | May 24, 2010 | Uncategorized, Worship
I’ve been thinking much about this the past few weeks, more in terms of how it is done/why it is done more than if it should be done.
I grew up attending a Christian school where I had to memorize a verse each week and write it out on the lined paper we buy in bulk at the beginning of the school year. When I got to seminary, Dr. Nelson made me memorize longer passages of Scripture, including Ps 19 and Col 1. These were very beneficial, even if I did cram them in at the dinner table at Lolley right before class over a bowl of cereal or kim chi.
Now I am pondering the mode of Scripture memory or why we want (especially children) to memorize Scripture and how we get them to do it.
Piper wrote a helpful article, one with which I definitely agree. How can we get children and teenagers to understand this. How do we put this forth as an example to others? This is from a friend, Tim Challies: (which one is most compelling to you and what Scriptures are you memorizing right now?)
A friend recently sent me an old article from John Piper entitled “Why Memorize Scripture?” Memorizing passages of the Bible is something I’ve developed more of an interest in over the past couple of years and, to my surprise, I’ve found that I’m actually able to do it–even to memorize extended sections if I am willing to put in the effort (not always a sure bet).
Piper offers a list of reasons why we should memorize Scripture. They are:
- Conformity to Christ – Bible memorization has the effect of making our gaze on Jesus steadier and clearer.
- Daily Triumph over Sin – As sin lures the body into sinful action, we call to mind a Christ-revealing word of Scripture and slay the temptation with the superior worth and beauty of Christ over what sin offers.
- Daily Triumph over Satan – When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness he recited Scripture from memory and put Satan to flight.
- Comfort and Counsel for People You Love – When the heart full of God’s love can draw on the mind full of God’s word, timely blessings flow from the mouth.
- Communicating the Gospel to Unbelievers – Actual verses of the Bible have their own penetrating power. And when they come from our heart, as well as from the Book, the witness is given that they are precious enough to learn.
- Communion with God in the Enjoyment of His Person and Ways – The way we commune with (that is, fellowship with) God is by meditating on his attributes and expressing to him our thanks and admiration and love, and seeking his help to live a life that reflects the value of these attributes.
These are six really good reasons. On the flip side, I suspect that the primary reason most of us do not commit more Scripture to memory is simply the difficulty involved. It is a difficult and time-consuming process to take those words and force them into our minds.
So how about you? Is Scripture memorization a part of your routine? Is it something you do as a regular part of your devotion to the Lord?
My answer to my posed questions from above:
1. Definitely 1 and 2.
2. Romans 8 and Col 1
Carolyn McCulley has been a blessing to me through her writing, speaking, and the few times I have been blessed to hang out with her. She cares deeply about Christ, the church, missions, and women. She cares about the gospel being lived out well by the women she is in contact with. That is why you can hear and feel her heartbeat in her latest book, Radical Womanhood. 
