"Bella? That's the name of the girl in the movie?" -Chuck (my boss)

"The daughter. Yes." -me

"That's like.. naming a boy Clang." -Chuck

Notes on Modesty

Annie and I are putting together a class on modesty that will last four weeks. I'm going to stick the outline on here.

POINTS TO MAKE (in no particular order)

• Definition of modest/modesty/discretion:
  To be discreet: prudent; wise in avoiding error and in selecting the best means to accomplish a goal; circumspect; courteous; polite; honest dealings.
• A time and a place for certain clothing.
• What is our goal when we dress immodestly?
• Being discreet starts with clothes and does not stop with behaviour.
• You can dress attractively w/o being immodest.
• Let's not walk the line of modesty/immodesty, let's run from it.
• Guys aren't saying we have to cover up every bit of skin. (I.o.w., no burkhas!) They just want our honest and simple help.

A FEW STATISTICS (www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/)

• Out of 1,211 guys of all ages, 1,179 voted in a recent survey on modesty that a girl can be attractive and modest at the same time. That's 78%!
• 387 out of 428 voted that modest girls make a big difference and are noticed.
• 934 out of 1236 voted that they have more respect for a modest girl. Only 144 were neutral.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

• Why do we dress immodestly? Is it insecurity? Peer pressure?
• What is one thing we can change? (Notebook paper is needed for this.)

IF you were saved before baptism...

Here are a dozen Bible proofs that it is impossible for you to be saved before your obedience to Christ's command to be immersed in water. Quotes in this study are from the NIV.

• You were saved before your sins were forgiven.

"Peter replied: Repent and be baptized everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." --Acts 2:38

• You were saved before your sins were washed away.

"And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name." --Acts 22:16

• You were saved before you were born again.

"Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.'" --John 3:5

• You were saved before you were joined with Christ.

"...for all of you who were united with Christ in baptism have been clothed with Christ." --Galatians 3:27

• You were saved before you were saved.

"and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also..." --1 Peter 3:21

• You were saved before the time the Lord promised He would save.

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." --Mark 16:16

• You were saved before you were freed from your sin by obedience to God.

"But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." --Romans 6:17-18

• You were saved before you entered into Christ and without His blood.

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." --Ephesians 1:7

• You were saved before your soul was purified.

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth..." --1 Peter 1:22a

• You were saved before you received the Holy Spirit, and without belonging to Christ.

"We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." --Acts 5:32 "And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." --Romans 8:9b

• You were saved before your faith had any value, before it expressed itself in love.

"...the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." --Galatians 5:6

• You were saved before obedience which Jesus required for all who receive eternal salvation.

"Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered, and once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him." --Hebrews 5:8-9

(C) 1987 Star Bible, Ft. Worth, Texas 76118 By Alvin Jennings

Tonight's Bible Class

Wednesday night Bible study at the church building.

What do you bring to math class when you attend?
A math book, right? Right.

What do you bring to Bible class when you attend?
A Bible.

Out of the 16 kids attending the Bible study, 5 of us had brought a Bible. Of the five, ONE was a guy. Think about it. The men are going to be the spiritual leaders, not the women. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

This evening, we were given blank sheets of paper and instructed to write:

P
S
C

vertically; all papers would remain anonymous.

Our teacher then said to put a "y" or a "n" for yes or no next to it when he said what they stood for.

"For the p, did you pray this week at least three times, not including meals or church; for the s, did you study the Bible at least three times this week, not including Bible studies with someone else or church studies; for the c, did you cuss this week?"

10 prayed. 6 didn't.
3 studied. 13 didn't.
9 cussed. 8 didn't.

Thirteen didn't study? THIRTEEN?! How convicting is that? Very, to me.

Do Hard Things. Study your Bible.
And next time, bring it to class.

Just feelings..

You smile to cover up the lies

and you're dying deep inside.

Every time you say you care,

no one else can see your stare,

or will ever know you dare to lie.

2008 Family Retreat, Hico Texas

Kitchen conversation:
"Yeah, just take a blue pill or a red pill!"- Gabe
"What was that from?"- me
"When did that happen?" - Mrs. New
"When did what happen?"- me
"It's from the Matrix"- Gabe
"Oh, yeah. I've never seen it, but Bryan said it was creepy."- me
"He did? I can't imagine anyone thinking that movie was creepy. Silly, but not creepy." -Mrs. New
*que strange look from Gabe*
"Yeah, it could be described as creepy...."- Gabe
"I didn't think it was THAT creepy!"- Mrs. New
"You WATCHED that?"- me
"Watched what?"- Mrs. New
"The Matrix!"- me
"Oh, no! I thought we were talking about the Princess Bride!"- Mrs. New
"Yeah, that was SO creepy."- Gabe
"I'm telling you, those R.O.U.S.'s will positively scare you to death!"- me

Quiet Time

Well, it's quiet time for me.

Meaning, daily, I find something to do where I don't have to talk, listen to anything, watch anything or do anything. I usually read, but at the moment, I'd rather write.

Midnight Sun Bible Camp is coming up, and I can't wait. It will be soo much fun. The only part I'm a lil' nervous about is the whole bathing-in-the-lake thing... I mean... ouch? Washing your hair in lake water? Ew. But Randi says even though it sounds nasty, it's quite fun and you really do get clean, provided you use lots of soap. (Uh, huh.)

I'm leaving the house early tonight to go hang out with Jessica Salyer (new girl in the youth group) at the church building. We're just gonna talk and sing and get to know each other.

Yesterday, I rode my bike to the Northway mall here in town. The trip there was similar to biking on Mars. To say the least, it was bumpy and uncomfortable. In fact, it could be likened unto driving in Oklahoma.

Ouch.

Well, I'm off to watch some tv or read or do something quiet and relaxing.

Adios,

Vaya con Dios.

Oh, dear.

"Annie goes to the jail on Saturdays, Dave goes to the jail on Mondays, and sometimes on Sundays."
"Boy. That's what you call organized crime."
(A quote from the phone call Katie made to me last night.)