Soul and Spirit

The Older Women of “Team Jesus”

Teach what is good, and so train the young women...to be self-controlled, pure.

I read a gutsy article earlier this morning about modesty alongside a proclamation of Jesus.

I say “gutsy” because I imagine La Shawn Barber has already reaped plenty of scorn and condemnation for it. (Hopefully, some praise and commendation as well.)

Here are some bits from her piece as posted over at World Magazine:

As we entered the park, I noticed a large group of people wearing matching “Team Jesus” T-shirts.

I watched these teenage girls with “Team Jesus” displayed across their chests and wondered why their parents, particularly their fathers, allowed them to leave the house in such tiny shorts and made-up faces.

I observed the girls out of curiosity, knowing that some of the men standing in line observed them for other reasons.

Plus, as Paul writes in Titus, older women “are to teach what is good, and so train the young women…to be self-controlled, pure,” which will not only help discourage lust, but also encourage the wearer to seek holiness.

So even though women and teenage girls can show little or no flesh and still be the object of lust, Christian women should do their part, even in this age of political correctness, to deter sin by dressing modestly and encouraging their younger sisters in Christ to do likewise.

Girls: Beware of what you wear

Generally, I can’t figure out people wearing billboards, especially when they’re just providing free advertising for some clothing line. (If Nike would pay me to wear their swoosh, but when I’m expected to pay them to wear their ad at not cost to them…)

But that aside, if a woman wears one of these “Team Jesus” shirts, where exactly am I supposed to look if I want to read the finer print? And how do I look there without appearing to be looking there?

Of course, I don’t think it best for Christian women to wear T-shirts. And if consistency requires that Christian men not wear them either, I can live with that.

Kenneth Miller Files Appeal

His federal conviction should be thrown out because no part of the crime occurred in Vermont

I had forgotten Ken Miller’s appeal was in the works.

A Mennonite pastor from Virginia convicted of helping a woman flee the country rather than share custody of her daughter with her former lesbian partner says his federal conviction should be thrown out because no part of the crime occurred in Vermont, where he was arrested, prosecuted and found guilty.

Attorneys for Kenneth Miller argued in documents filed with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the effort to get Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella out of the country began in Virginia and ended in New York state when the pair crossed the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in September 2009 before flying to Nicaragua.

The documents, filed Monday in New York, said Miller’s right to be tried before a jury near his home could be traced to England’s Magna Carta in 1215, the basis for much of the U.S. Constitution.

[…]

The criminal case stemmed from a custody battle decided by a Vermont family court. Miller turned himself in to federal authorities in Vermont in December 2011, and was sentenced in March to 27 months in prison. His sentencing has been delayed pending his appeals.

U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin in Vermont said Wednesday he had not seen the appeal but would make the same argument as his office made to the trial court — that Miller’s criminal actions became complete once the mother and child left the U.S. and were therefore subject to prosecution where Miller was arrested.

“The crime was not completed until they entered Canada,” Coffin said.

Va. man appeals Vt. conviction in same-sex custody

Ken is called a Mennonite here. Close enough. I think he’s actually Beachy.

What If George Weren’t Free?

Has he now atoned for killing Trayvon Martin?

So George Zimmerman helped save the lives of a family of four that was involved in a single-car accident.

Would those four people still be alive if . . .

  • Zimmerman’s trial were still in progress?
  • Trayvon had killed Zimmerman?
  • George had been found guilty?
  • George had driven on by?

Possibly.

After all, George wasn’t the only rescuer.

And God could have easily saved these people with one rescuer. Just like He could have provided someone else as the additional rescuer.

But let’s suppose that these people would have perished had George Zimmerman not participated in their rescue.

Does his rescue of them somehow atone for his killing of Trayvon Martin?

(PS: There’s something wrong with that last question.)

What Marriage Isn’t

In the opinion of five people on the US Supreme Court

In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

That’s what the Defense of Marriage Act, Section 3 claimed for almost 17 years.

And what humanity claimed from the beginning of time.

And what God declared from eternity.

And what the Supreme Court of the United States today said isn’t so.

Well, what five members of that court said.

Actually, just one that mattered (if you want to look at it that way). If one of those five had voted differently, the outcome would have been different.

I wonder how those five propose to define marriage.

On what basis would they say these aren’t valid marriages:

  • Three or more people without regard to gender?
  • Two people sharing one or more spouses but not married to each other?
  • An adult and a teenager?
  • Two adult siblings?
  • Any two adults without regard to marital status or family relationship?

And how is denying such arrangements not a manifestation of bigotry, hate, phobia, and so forth?

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil — God says so.

Well, here’s another book for your consideration: Reforming Marriage

How to Ensure a Father’s Success

My number one tip for being a successful father

This is my Happy Father’s Day! tip to all of us fathers:

Walk humbly with your heavenly Father.

This morning, that’s my number one tip for being a successful father. If we don’t walk humbly with the Father, He will resist us instead of helping us.

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble'” (James 4:6, NKJV).

And now for links and/or excerpts from five fatherhood posts from the archives… Read it all

When Tolerance Isn’t Enough

And acceptance is merely the least despicable form of that phobia

Tolerant or accepting — which are you when it comes to your fears?

Acceptance or tolerance — to which form of coexistence do you aspire in relating to your phobias and hang-ups?

What if it has to do with those things which you believe to be wrong? (Sinful, you know.)

This is what got me going on that…

“Homophobia” is an interesting term. It is an entire lecture in a word.

I wonder if the Riddle would employ the same litmus test to society’s attitudes about Christians. It would be nice to feel a little support, admiration, appreciation, and nurturance. But failing that, I would settle for some tolerance.

Here, I propose a very simple test to “determine” whether or not you are consistent.

Where do you draw the line?

  • Is homosexuality on your side of that line?
  • Is homosexuality-is-sin on your side of the line?

Read it all

Above all, love God!