I have lost 30 pound in the last year. I still need to loose a lot more. Some have asked me how I have done it. My method is nothing special just eat less and exercise. This is something I have been trying to do for more than ten years. So why has it started working in the last year. My view has changed.
This morning I was struck with a revelation on how marriage and weight loss are similar. Many people approach marriage as, if this does not work out I will just get a divorce. You are setting yourself up for failure. Big problems are going to come into your marriage and in order to get through them you have to believe the marriage is important. Not something to be tossed aside.
Weight loss is the same. Many people hop on a diet thinking if I don't get the result I want I will move on. They are setting themselves up for failure. You are going to hit plateaus in your weight loss. You are going to have set back. What you have to decide is the long term benefit is worth the permanent change in your diet.
The principle here is that a good objective requires work and sacrifice. You want a good marriage, you have to work at it. You want to be healthy, you have to work at. You want a quality education, you have to work at. Work and sacrifice does not mean you will achieve your objective but a lack of work and sacrifice guarantees your failure.
This is a blog about anything. My loves include my Lord Jesus, my family, the Bible, computing, gadgets, astronomy and photography. But mostly it will be about things in life that triggers an urge to write.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Christian Sex Resources
After a recent conversation I was made aware that some Christians have a desire to know what God says about sex but find that many other Christians treat sex as a taboo subject. To help people understand here are resources that I recommend. You can always use my contact page to get my direct views.
Bible
This should be our first resource. In the Bible three sections sum the positives of sex that we Christians should not be afraid to talk of in public.Genesis 1:27,28
God created sex and blessed it. Sex is a gift from God.
Song of Solomon (the whole book)
It is appropriate for married couples to explore and indulge in sex even if it is just to please one another.
1st Corinthians 7:3-5
God commands married couples to have sex.
Other Books
Sexual Intimacy in Marriage by William Cutrer and Sandra GlahnBirds and Bees, A Conversation About God, Sex, And Sexuality by Gregg Matte
Internet
Warning: Internet sites are dynamic and changing. Typos can also take you to the wrong site. Be careful. These sites are good sources for quick answers to specific questions. They all use the Bible as their primary source for what is right and what is wrong but that does not mean that they fully agree with one another.themarriagebed.com
A balance site. The kind I wish that I had the literary skill to write.
pureintimacy.org
Published by the Focus on the Family group. It is very conservative.
christiannymphos.org
This site encourages you to keep sex fun and enjoyable in a Christian marriage.
Remember that in the end the only person that you are accountable to is God.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Put Down the Phone
You could ask any of my friends, I love technology and the convinces of tech but risking your life is crazy. When you are in the car leave your phone alone. There is no need to text, check email, or carry on a long conversation. When you talk on the phone and ignore you passenger annoy them.
If your life is so busy that you feel you have to conduct business while driving then you are to busy. Cut out something or hire a driver and get more work done. Most people are not that busy they just have something they feel they need to say. Think about all the things people tell you. Now average out how important you find that information. That is how import your stuff is to them.
While I am at put down the Whopper and the taco. Maybe you want a quick snack. I get sometime I do to but get something that is not messy. Looking down and cleaning your shirt is just dangerous as texting.
A good thing to do in the car is to think. Think about your day and what your really need to do or what you really need to say to someone. Just talk to God and thank him for your blessing. If you have passengers listen to them. Your mouth does not have to run all the time.
I don't think we need outlaw this behavior. It is my understanding that every state that has enacted a law forbidding texting and driving the number accidents involving texting has gone up. If someone is driving home at night and sees a blue light in her mirror I want them to be able to call 911 and verify that it is a cop. The best reason that we don't need a law is because laws don't fix stupid. You know I am right.
Really consider what you do behind the wheel of car. The life you save maybe your own.
If your life is so busy that you feel you have to conduct business while driving then you are to busy. Cut out something or hire a driver and get more work done. Most people are not that busy they just have something they feel they need to say. Think about all the things people tell you. Now average out how important you find that information. That is how import your stuff is to them.
While I am at put down the Whopper and the taco. Maybe you want a quick snack. I get sometime I do to but get something that is not messy. Looking down and cleaning your shirt is just dangerous as texting.
A good thing to do in the car is to think. Think about your day and what your really need to do or what you really need to say to someone. Just talk to God and thank him for your blessing. If you have passengers listen to them. Your mouth does not have to run all the time.
I don't think we need outlaw this behavior. It is my understanding that every state that has enacted a law forbidding texting and driving the number accidents involving texting has gone up. If someone is driving home at night and sees a blue light in her mirror I want them to be able to call 911 and verify that it is a cop. The best reason that we don't need a law is because laws don't fix stupid. You know I am right.
Really consider what you do behind the wheel of car. The life you save maybe your own.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Clothing, What is appropriate?
Recently a big name minister tweeted, when did it become appropriate for women to wear pajamas in public. My first thought was where have you been living for the last ten years. Personally I don't see what the big deal is. Pajamas are certainly not as revealing as a tube top and leggings. I remember when it first became popular for guys to wear their pants loose exposing there underwear. Oh how people complained. All this got me thinking what is Biblically appropriate.
The most direct instruction giving in the Bible is "in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,"(1 Timothy 2:9, NKJV). In the context of this verse modest is contrasted with flashy and expensive. It is not contrasted with revealing as most people assume. The next most direct verse is one that forbids a woman for dressing like a man. That one has been twisted so that at one time people taught that it forbid women from wearing pants. Which is stupid because at the time the verse was written the men did not wear pants. The verse is about women looking like women and men looking like men.
Sometime good meaning people give the rule, "A woman should not dress so as to tempt man to lust after her." There is several problems with this rule. One, for every different styles of clothing there is a man that has a fetish for it. I remember reading an article about a tribe in South America that was naked. The men found the dressed female researcher more lustful than than their native naked women.
Two, there is nothing wrong with a woman dressing to temp her own husband. A good case can be made that she should strive to tempt her husband. She should be very pleasing in his eye.
Three, it does not hold true when applied to men. Women tend to find men more attractive dressed. I am an over weight almost middle age male. I would be less attractive naked than dressed. By the logic of the rule I should run around naked. Not a pretty picture.
Four, if it was really Biblical then both men and women should just wear burkas when in public.
So what is appropriate for women and men to wear in public?
According to Genesis God made both Adam and Eve a tunic. That is a shirt like garment that hangs on the shoulders down past the groin area. The Hebrew word is used in several other places in the Bible. Looking at the time period in which Moses wrote, a tunic could be long sleeve, short sleeve or no sleeve garment. Also the length could be from just above the knees to as low as the ankles. At the minimum it would cover chest, stomach, back, pubic area and butt of both males and females.
Though the Bible does not say it explicitly but I think the Biblical description of marriage implies that the pubic area and butt of both males and females is best reserved for spouses eyes only.
Also the Bible makes it clear that children are to obey their parents. So long as you live with them you should obey their guidelines on dress.
Additionally the Bible tell Christians that we should strive to not offend others. The idea is that others peoples views of should matter to us. For example I had a professor who went on a mission trip to a dry hot African country. There it was considered improper for a woman to show her knees but it was normal for women to be bare breasted. Female missionaries traveling with him could not wear shorts which are perfectly normal here in the States. So there the women missionaries wore pants or long skirts. Every Sunday morning I wear a tie to church. Not because I like them but because I know that I will have more ears with a tie on than without one.
Beyond the Bible many professions have a uniforms. Some implicit and some explicit. You should wear nice work clothes when applying for job at a factory whereas applying for a job at a bank you better where a suit. Nurses wear scrubs, that is a type of pajamas.
I put all this together and give you the following guideline. You should wear clothes that cover your privates, that you find comfortable wearing, that are culturally appropriate for where you are and additionally when the situation applies your parent, guarding or boss approve of the garment. If your dad says the skirt is to short then it is to short but when you live on your own then you can wear it. If your college says that you must wear a tie to attend then wear the tie or go to another school. If you see someone wearing pajamas at Walmart then just mind your own business, they are doing nothing wrong.
The most direct instruction giving in the Bible is "in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,"(1 Timothy 2:9, NKJV). In the context of this verse modest is contrasted with flashy and expensive. It is not contrasted with revealing as most people assume. The next most direct verse is one that forbids a woman for dressing like a man. That one has been twisted so that at one time people taught that it forbid women from wearing pants. Which is stupid because at the time the verse was written the men did not wear pants. The verse is about women looking like women and men looking like men.
Sometime good meaning people give the rule, "A woman should not dress so as to tempt man to lust after her." There is several problems with this rule. One, for every different styles of clothing there is a man that has a fetish for it. I remember reading an article about a tribe in South America that was naked. The men found the dressed female researcher more lustful than than their native naked women.
Two, there is nothing wrong with a woman dressing to temp her own husband. A good case can be made that she should strive to tempt her husband. She should be very pleasing in his eye.
Three, it does not hold true when applied to men. Women tend to find men more attractive dressed. I am an over weight almost middle age male. I would be less attractive naked than dressed. By the logic of the rule I should run around naked. Not a pretty picture.
Four, if it was really Biblical then both men and women should just wear burkas when in public.
So what is appropriate for women and men to wear in public?
According to Genesis God made both Adam and Eve a tunic. That is a shirt like garment that hangs on the shoulders down past the groin area. The Hebrew word is used in several other places in the Bible. Looking at the time period in which Moses wrote, a tunic could be long sleeve, short sleeve or no sleeve garment. Also the length could be from just above the knees to as low as the ankles. At the minimum it would cover chest, stomach, back, pubic area and butt of both males and females.
Though the Bible does not say it explicitly but I think the Biblical description of marriage implies that the pubic area and butt of both males and females is best reserved for spouses eyes only.
Also the Bible makes it clear that children are to obey their parents. So long as you live with them you should obey their guidelines on dress.
Additionally the Bible tell Christians that we should strive to not offend others. The idea is that others peoples views of should matter to us. For example I had a professor who went on a mission trip to a dry hot African country. There it was considered improper for a woman to show her knees but it was normal for women to be bare breasted. Female missionaries traveling with him could not wear shorts which are perfectly normal here in the States. So there the women missionaries wore pants or long skirts. Every Sunday morning I wear a tie to church. Not because I like them but because I know that I will have more ears with a tie on than without one.
Beyond the Bible many professions have a uniforms. Some implicit and some explicit. You should wear nice work clothes when applying for job at a factory whereas applying for a job at a bank you better where a suit. Nurses wear scrubs, that is a type of pajamas.
I put all this together and give you the following guideline. You should wear clothes that cover your privates, that you find comfortable wearing, that are culturally appropriate for where you are and additionally when the situation applies your parent, guarding or boss approve of the garment. If your dad says the skirt is to short then it is to short but when you live on your own then you can wear it. If your college says that you must wear a tie to attend then wear the tie or go to another school. If you see someone wearing pajamas at Walmart then just mind your own business, they are doing nothing wrong.
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