USPS 44 -Cent Stamp Celebrates a Muslim holiday.
the United States Postal Service to
REMEMBER and HONOR the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative 44-Cent First Class Holiday Postage Stamp.
REMEMBER to adamantly & vocally BOYCOTT this stamp, when you are purchasing your stamps at the post office.
All you have to say is " No thank you, I do not want that Muslim Stamp on my letters! "
Apparently they think that putting hearts and butterflies on the new stamp will make most people not realize that the rest is Arabic and probably not something we want to support.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
adam and eve
God approached Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and said unto them, “There remain of my gifts to mankind only two items, but I have yet to decide how they shall be divided between man and woman.” And Adam said, “Tell me of these wondrous things, for I am the man, and by virtue of my closer resemblance to Thee, I must be given the first choice.” “Well,” said God, “the first item is an extraordinary arrangement of tubing and erectile tissue that will allow you to urinate while standing up.” “That’s it!” said Adam. “I’ll take it.” “But this other item . . . ” “No, no,” said Adam, “that’s what I want, God, and I want it right now.” The moment the item was installed on his person, Adam gave a gleeful shout, then rushed off to urinate on trees and write his name in the sand, feats that to this day have eluded every woman on earth. God and Eve stood alone in silence, looking one another in the eye. “Ok,” Eve said at last, “what’s left for me?” And God said, “It’s called a brain.” -May 2009 About the Author John Gamel is Professor of Ophthalmology
International Women’s Day
Mary Kassian | March 8, 2011
March 8th marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton marked the occasion by handing out “Women of Courage” awards, and by launching the “100 Women Initiative,” bringing 100 women leaders from 92 countries to the United States to nurture them in political, economic, and civic leadership.
“We’ve come a long way, ladies,” First Lady Michelle Obama declared from the East Room of the White House. She said that while women are breaking barriers and excelling in careers their mothers and grandmothers believed were off-limits, more progress is needed to achieve true equality. “We as a nation benefit from every girl whose potential is fulfilled, from every woman whose talent is tapped.” President Obama concurred, “We will not rest until our mothers, sisters and daughters assume their rightful place as full and equal members of a secure, prosperous and just world.”
The same message resounded around the globe. Google celebrated the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day with a special Google Doodle image that transformed the “gle” in “Google” into images of women as doctors and graduates. In Britain, the UK Guardian released a provocative video starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, and narrated by Judy Dench. “We’re equals, aren’t we 007?” asks Dench as M, opening the film in voiceover, as Craig walks towards the camera. Dench launches into a bleak monologue about the state of women while Bond reappears cross-dressed in drag—as a woman.
The message is that “true equality” requires that women be treated exactly the same as men. Women will not be equal until the sexes have interchangeable roles, interchangeable jobs, interchangeable responsibilities . . . and even an interchangeable identity. Equality means interchangeablity. The sexes will not be “equal” until a man can metaphorically “cross-dress” as a woman, and a woman as a man—until husband and wife, mother and father are superfluous terms, and the world reflects a socialist, gender-neutral 50/50 division of labor in every sphere of life.
Role interchangeability was the vision embraced by those who launched the first International Women’s Day (IWD) a hundred years ago. IWD, originally known as International Working Women’s Day, was started by German socialist, Clara Zetkin. It was an effort to unite the labor movement and provide international impetus for the spread of socialism. Zetkin wanted to harness the anger of female factory workers to force political change.
And in Russia, IWD did just that. In 1917, demonstrations marking International Women’s Day initiated the first of two revolutions that led to the collapse of Imperial Russia, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the beginning of Communism. Lenin subsequently established IWD as a national holiday in the USSR “in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction.”
The new socialist order granted women more political and legal “equality” than any capitalist country, before or since. Reforms such as the right to vote and divorce were introduced within weeks. The legal concept of illegitimacy was abolished and in 1920 abortion became legal and free. Women were granted equal pay, and affirmative action ensured that they were equally represented in all professions.
Also fundamental to this process was the freeing of women from the burdens and constraints of the nuclear family. In socialist thought, the family systematically restricts and devalues the role played by women in society.Women need to be freed from the traditional roles of wife and mother in order to be equal.
The emerging utopian socialist society aimed to relieve women of their private responsibilities within the family and have the familial role traditionally filled by women provided publicly by the state. By 1919 over 90 per cent of Petrograd had access to communal restaurants, government childcare and laundry services. As Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky said, “the revolution made a heroic effort to destroy the so called family hearth—the archaic, stuffy, and stagnant institution in which the women of the toiling classes perform the galley labor from childhood to death.”
The USSR sought to promote the equality of women by ensuring that women fulfilled the same role in society as men. The attempt failed miserably. But the feminist movement nevertheless idealized a gender-free societal division of labor. And this precept is still popular in current culture. The message we are hearing this International Women’s Day is that women will only be equal when they assume the same roles as men. Enforcing “sameness” will uphold woman’s worth and dignity.
I beg to differ.
Men and women are equal, but different. I believe that we will see the dignity of women upheld when we embrace our God-given differences—not when we deny them. What we women need is to be women—to be the relaters, responders, mothers and nurturers that God created us to be. And we need you men to step up to the plate and be men—to be the providers, protectors and fathers that God created you to be. We need you to assume the responsibility of leadership in our homes and communities and to go to bat for women who are abused, downtrodden, oppressed, and forgotten. We don’t need women to be more like men—or men to be more like women. We need radical, counter-cultural men and women who dare to delight in God’s design.
I know that as long as we live in this sin-tainted world, women—the softer, more vulnerable sex— will suffer unjustly at the hands of sinful men. Legal protection/intervention is absolutely necessary to try to alleviate her plight. But gender-bending and role obliteration does not help our cause. It just makes matters worse. It is when men sense their responsibility to benevolently protect and provide that women will experience the dignity and respect that is their due.
Equality will not be achieved by pushing for gender-neutralization of male and female roles. Women do not need to be the same to be equal. On this International Women’s Day, I encourage you women to embrace and delight in what it means to be a woman. But more than anything, I call out to you men to step up to the plate and be men.
Sexting from www.girlsgonewise.com
Sexting from www.girlsgonewise.com
Mary Kassian | April 3, 2009
This a portion of the article
Law enforcement agencies are struggling with how to manage the sexting phenomenon. In several cases across the nation, prosecutors have threatened child pornography charges against teens who received or sent the text messages. In Pennsylvania, a prosecutor threatened to charge three teenage girls with trafficking in child pornography after photos of themselves topless or in their skivvies ended up being sent to classmates’ phones. A kiddie porn conviction could mean jail time or even registration as sex offender. The district attorney offered that in order to avoid the charges, the girls participate in a five-week re-education program, in which they would discuss “what they did wrong” and “what it means to be a girl.” But their parents and the American Civil Liberties Union intervened. They argued that these young women had every right to send the explicit photos.
There’s so much that could be said about all this, but what’s so interesting to me, is the district attorney’s insistence that the girls needed to be “re-educated” about “what it means to be a girl.” The irony of the situation is that the actions of these girls are totally in line with our culture’s definition of womanhood. The reason they’re sexting is because they HAVE been re-educated about what it means to be a girl! They’re the first fruits of a truly feminist culture. They’ve been taught – and they truly believe – that women have the right and the power to do and be whatever they want. Women define themselves! So in their minds, they haven’t done anything wrong. Sexting is just another expression of Girl-Power. It’s nothing but a practical application of Betty Friedan’s mantra that “We (women) need and can trust no other authority than our own personal truth!”
The authors of the Sex and Tech survey conclude that teens need to think before pressing “send” and that parents need to talk to their kids about sex and technology. This is undoubtedly true. But until we present our young women with a new and beautiful vision of womanhood – a biblical vision . . . a high and noble vision that speaks to their true identity and purpose – they will continue to pursue the modern sexualized ideal, and slither further down the slippery slope. Women, it’s time to reject the feminist notion that women can define what womanhood is all about. It’s time to look to our Creator for a true definition of womanhood. It’s time to stand up for the minds and hearts of the next generation of women. It’s time for a holy counter-revolution.
Women, Clothes and What the Bible says
first i am sure it is a hard thing for a christian women to figure out as she is growing up how short or how tight she well wear her clothes
she has society saying to wear clothes as short and tight as possable and she has her girlfriends telling her if she wants the attention of guys she has to look more attractive then the other women around her and she has her own internal struggle with wanting to look sexy
then she also hopfully wants to look respectful keeping in mind she is a christian women.
www.girlsgonewise.com
Mary Kassian | May 17, 2011
In 1 Timothy 2:9, the Lord provides three guidelines that help Christian women figure out what and what not to wear: “She adorns herself with respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.” Let’s examine these three guidelines to help us ensure that our looks are in good order, properly arranged, and ready to display Christ.
Is It Becoming or Unbecoming?
Kosmio is the descriptive form of the Greek noun kosmos (to put in order, trim, adorn, or decorate), which is related to our English word cosmos—the universe. The Greeks regarded the universe to be an ordered, integrated, harmonious whole. Kosmos is the opposite of chaos. So when Paul told women that their adornment should be kosmio, he meant that like the universe, all the parts should be harmoniously arranged with the other parts. It should be “becoming”—that is, appropriate or fitting. Given the context, I believe Paul was implying that our adornment ought to be becoming on a number of different levels.
First and foremost, your clothing ought to be becoming, fitting to, and consistent with your character as a child of God. But it also ought to be becoming to your body type, becoming to your femininity, becoming to your husband, becoming to the other clothes you are wearing, and becoming to the occasion and place you intend to wear it. There’s a tremendous amount of guidance in that small word, becoming. It challenges you to evaluate your clothes, shoes, purses, makeup, and hair from multiple angles as part of the harmonious, integrated whole of your life—to line up the seen with the unseen and the temporal with the eternal. It challenges you to bring a cosmic perspective to bear on your everyday decisions.
I like the word Paul chose. It has enormous implications. Kosmio means that a Christian woman’s “look” ought to be consistently put together, inside and out. This challenges those who put an undue emphasis on external appearance as well as those who neglect their personal appearance. It’s a corrective to women who dress extravagantly. It’s a corrective to those who dress seductively. But it’s also a corrective to those who think that “holy” means frumpy, ugly, unfeminine, and out of style. Becoming indicates that running around in baggy jeans and T-shirts all the time is just as inappropriate as being obsessed with stylish clothing. It means that a woman’s appearance ought to be put together nicely. It ought to be pleasant and attractive—on the inside and the outside.
Is It Decent or Indecent?
The second word, aidous, is based on the Greek term for shame and disgrace. The word is a blend of modesty and humility. When I think about a word picture that personifies this concept, I think of approaching God with eyes that are downcast.
It involves a sense of deficiency, inferiority, or unworthiness. It suggests shame, but also a corresponding sense of reverence and honor toward rightful authority. It’s the opposite of insolence, imprudence, disrespect, or audacity. Downcast eyes are the opposite of defiant eyes.
So does dressing with your eyes downcast mean that you are self-conscious? No. It means that your clothing tells the truth about the gospel. Your clothing shows the world that Jesus covers your shame and makes you decent. Your clothes cover your nakedness as the clothing of Christ covers your sin.
Dressing “with eyes downcast” means that you choose clothes that are decent in His eyes . . . not clothes that are provocative, seductive, and that honor nakedness. When you dress decently, you recognize that God ordained clothes to cover, and not draw attention to, your naked skin. You cover up out of respect for Him, the gospel, your Christian brothers—and out of respect for who He made you to be. Decency means you agree with the Lord about the true purpose of clothing and set aside your self-interest to dress in a way that exalts Christ.
So in that dressing room trying on that skirt, take time to sit, bend, and stretch in front of that mirror, and ask yourself, Is this skirt decent? Does it do what it should do? Does it properly cover me up? Does it showcase my underlying nakedness—or exalt the gospel of Christ?
Is It Moderate or Excessive?
The final thing to ask yourself about clothing is whether it is moderate or excessive. Paul uses the Greek word sophrosunes. It means “of a sound mind; curbing one’s desires and impulses, self-controlled, temperate.” The word indicates that our adornment should be reasonable and not crazy. We ought to rein in our impulses and avoid extremes in fashion, hairstyles, and makeup. We also ought to avoid spending crazy amounts of money or stuffing our closets full of crazy quantities of clothing. We ought to govern our wardrobe choices with a sense of moderation, simplicity, and self-control. If the outfit is crazy extreme, crazy expensive, or if it’s crazy for you to be buying another one, then you ought to pass it up.
Understanding the purpose of clothing and asking yourself the three questions, Is it becoming? Is it decent? and Is it moderate? will help you figure out how to dress. And don’t forget to include your “Helper” in the process. The Holy Spirit is an invaluable source of assistance when it comes to figuring out whether or not your appearance glorifies God. If your heart is right and you seek His guidance, He will be your personal wardrobe consultant and teach you what and what not to wear.
Emails raise fresh questions on Obama energy loan
www.reuters.com
Emails raise fresh questions on Obama energy loan
WASHINGTON | Sat Oct 8, 2011 2:36am EDT
(Reuters) - An Obama administration appointee at the Energy Department pressed White House analysts to sign off on a $535 million loan to Solyndra even though his wife worked for the failed solar panel maker's law firm, according to internal emails made public on Friday.
The revelation adds new drama to a political battle over the administration's backing for Solyndra, which has filed for bankruptcy and has been raided by the FBI. The newly disclosed emails reveal "a disturbingly close relationship" between the White House, campaign donors and wealthy investors relating to Solyndra, a senior congressional Republican said.
Later on in the article
The White House, which has aggressively defended decisions made on the loan guarantee, turned over the emails on Friday to the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, which has been probing the loan for the past eight months.
"The paper trail released by the White House portrays a disturbingly close relationship between President Obama's West Wing inner circle, campaign donors, and wealthy investors that spawned the Solyndra mess," Representatives Fred Upton, the panel's chairman, and Cliff Stearns, the head of the investigation, said in a statement.
The emails show Spinner discussed the pending final decision often with Solyndra officials, Energy Department colleagues, and the White House budget office, the New York Times said.
Later on in the article
"Ultimately, DOE's determination that the restructuring was legal was made by career lawyers in the loan program based on a careful analysis of the statute," an Energy Department spokesman said.
.........................
even though they could find no legal wrong doing this is a great example of how this get so messed up
Newsweek editor Tina Brown on Pres Obama
By Scott Whitlock, foxnews.com
September 28, 2011
During an appearance on "Morning Joe," Tuesday, Newsweek editor Tina Brown made an off-hand remark about Barack Obama, conceding that the politician "wasn't ready" to be President.
Brown has previously attacked Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives for daring to oppose the Obama
While discussing whether New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will
change his mind and run for President, the former New Yorker editor
blurted, "Actually, I just hope he doesn't, because in the end, you
know, his tremendous misgivings, maybe he is right. I mean, We had
this with Obama. He wasn't ready, it turns out, really."
September 28, 2011
During an appearance on "Morning Joe," Tuesday, Newsweek editor Tina Brown made an off-hand remark about Barack Obama, conceding that the politician "wasn't ready" to be President.
Brown has previously attacked Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives for daring to oppose the Obama
While discussing whether New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will
change his mind and run for President, the former New Yorker editor
blurted, "Actually, I just hope he doesn't, because in the end, you
know, his tremendous misgivings, maybe he is right. I mean, We had
this with Obama. He wasn't ready, it turns out, really."
My Fellow Americans
WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S. PRESIDENT,
DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?
'My Fellow Americans:
As you all know, the defeat of the Iraq regime has been completed.
Since Congress does not want to spend any more money on this war our mission in Iraq is complete.
This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq.
This action will be complete within 30 days.
It is now time to begin the reckoning.
Before me, I have two lists.
One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict.
This list is short.
One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict.
This list is short.
The United Kingdom , Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there.
The other list contains every one not on the first list.
Most of the world's nations are on that list.
My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.
Most of the world's nations are on that list.
My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.
Let me start by saying that effective immediately,
foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases indefinitely.
foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases indefinitely.
The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war.
THEN EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER It'll GO TO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM
SO IT WONT GO BROKE IN 20 YEARS.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third
world Hell holes and watch those government leaders grow fat on
corruption.
Need help with a famine?
Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France ...
Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France ...
In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this
money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at
home.
On that note, a word to terrorist organizations.. Screw with us
and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends
from the face of the earth.
Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France or maybe China .
I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France and Russia.
Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from
Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from
NATO as well.
I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing
the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan
with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed.
I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this.
You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets.
the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan
with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed.
I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this.
You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets.
Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious
Benze and Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world.
Benze and Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world.
I love New York.
A special note to our neighbors: Canada is on List 2. Since we are
likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want
to try not ticking us off for a change.
Mexico is also on List 2.
Its president and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment.
I will have a couple thousand extra tanks and infantry divisions sitting around.
Guess where I am going to put 'em?
Yep, border security.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty
Its president and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment.
I will have a couple thousand extra tanks and infantry divisions sitting around.
Guess where I am going to put 'em?
Yep, border security.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty
- starting now.
We are tired of the one-way highway.
Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come.
If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision,
I refer you to List 2 above:
pick a country and move there.
Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come.
If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision,
I refer you to List 2 above:
pick a country and move there.
It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens.
Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, 'darn tootin.'
Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, 'darn tootin.'
Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around
the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about
everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America ..
It is time to eliminate homelessness in America .
To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thank you guys.
We owe you and we won't forget.
To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to learn to speak Arabic.
God bless America ...
Female Beauty Matters
www.girlsgonewise.com
Mary Kassian | May 28, 2011
Recently, several bloggers tackled a highly sensitive and debated topic— the need for women to attend to their beauty and appearance. I published a post, extracted from my Girls Gone Wise book, which examined some Scriptural directives for women on what and what not to wear. I came under fire for focusing on such mundane matters rather than really important stuff—like comforting the sick and war-torn.
I admit it. The topic of woman’s appearance is trivial compared to the war on the other side of the world – but given the reality of our culture, it’s a battle that hits much closer to home.
The Debate about Female Beauty
Tim Challies, a popular Christian blogger, published his thoughts on women “letting themselves go.” While he was careful to stress that “the beauty the Bible commends is the beauty of character more than a beauty of appearance,” he suggested that inner and outer beauty are actually inexorably connected, and concluded that women need to make the effort to remain beautiful to their husbands.
Another blogger, Rachel Held Evans, was disappointed by Challies’ refrain that “outer beauty reflects inner beauty” and that “a good wife will keep up appearances for her husband choosing an attractive sweater instead of the stained Mickey Mouse t-shirt.” She argued that
The Bible never demands that women be beautiful nor does it justify a man’s infidelity because his wife “let herself go.” If anything, it presents a fairly consistent picture of beauty as a passing pleasure. Challies and company are free to teach that women should stay beautiful for their husbands, but I wish they would stop referring to this teaching as “biblical” when it is not.
The discussion surrounding this issue was intense. Challies’ and Evans’ posts attracted several hundred comments. When Mark Driscoll mentioned my “What Not to Wear” post on twitter, Girls Gone Wise got flooded with so many visits that it temporarily downed the site. Incidentally, Driscoll took a whole lot of flak, a few years ago, when he offered to take one for the guys, by decrying pastor’s wives for “letting themselves go.”
A Sensitive Issue for both Sexes
Woman’s appearance is a sensitive issue, because from a man’s perspective, a wife’s effort to be beautiful for her husband speaks of her care and respect for him, and communicates her desire to be sexually attractive and available for him. Making a reasonable effort to care for and beautify herself is a demonstration of her devotion. In his view, a lack of effort in this regard demonstrates a lack of concern for him. Bottom line – whether we like it our not, it’s important to our guys. Challies points out:
In all of these things, a woman ought to understand (and believe) that what a man finds (or ought to find) beautiful in his wife is more about care and respect and effort and availability than it is about figure and proportion. In too many cases a woman who lets herself go is simply symbolizing that she has let her marriage go. Conversely, care for herself shows her care for her husband, respect for him, love for him.
It’s even a touchier subject for women, because as Evans points out, “many are so burdened by the impossible standards imposed by our culture that they feel as though their efforts will never be enough.” Like Evans, I have never in my life met a woman who did not want to be beautiful for her husband.
When it comes to beauty, women react against the burden of expectation, the fear that they will fall short of the desired standard, the inevitability of decay, and the resentment that the script is different for men than women. A woman wants to be loved and accepted as she is. From a wife’s perspective, a husband’s attraction to/desire for beauty can magnify her feelings of personal inadequacy and insecurity, and she may fear that his love/acceptance depends on her ability to measure up.
Approaching the Discussion from a Different Angle
So who is right—Challies or Evans? Was Driscoll entirely off base in suggesting that it might negatively affect a pastor if his wife lets herself go? Or were his critics misguided in insisting that a woman’s lack of attention to her appearance should in no way impact her husband’s propensity to stray?
The stalemate in the discussion often boils down to the fact that women resent the fact that men are so attracted to beauty, while men resent the fact that women don’t make the effort to properly attend to it. So how do we resolve the impasse? In my opinion, we can’t hope to make sense of the question until we view woman’s beauty and beautification through the lens of the biblical typology of gender, and the eternal, cosmic meaning of sexuality.
Beauty has a Cosmic Meaning
Psalm 45 is a song celebrating the marriage of a Hebrew king to a foreign princess. But it’s also a messianic prophecy pointing to the relationship between Christ the King and His Church-Bride. The Psalmist notes that the king “desires her beauty”, and that the princess, in turn, makes herself beautiful—“all-glorious”— for him.
Scripture uses this imagery to illustrate how we are to make ourselves beautiful for our King. The Lord wants us to clothe ourselves in fine, spotless garments of righteousness—in holy character and holy deeds. (Rev. 19:7—8) He wants us to be beautiful, and through Jesus, we are! The great story of the gospel is that God gives us the opportunity to clothe ourselves in the beauty of Christ. He provides the beauty- and we don’t need to work or strive to measure up, nor do we need fear that we will fail to meet the standard.
So what does all this have to do with our discussion about female appearance? It has a great deal to do with it. We live—as C.S. Lewis coined it—in the “shadow lands.” The earthly, physical realities of our lives are but shadows—copies—of true and heavenly realities (e.g. Heb. 8:5; 9:24-25). The physical and temporal exist to point us to the spiritual and eternal. And nowhere is this more the case than in the relationship between male and female.
Human sexuality is a parable —a testimony to the character of God and to His spectacular plan of redemption through Jesus. This spiritual truth is so magnificent that God chose to put it on display permanently. Everywhere. Men were created to reflect the strength, love and self-sacrifice of Christ. Women were created to reflect the grace and beauty of the Bride He redeemed.
I believe that men are “wired” to be attracted to beauty in women because our Heavenly Bridegroom desires the beauty of His Bride. And I believe that deep down, every woman wants to feel beautiful and desired. This is the way that God has created us as male and female—and the illustration points to something far bigger than ourselves.
Beauty is More Than a Passing Pleasure
Many scorn beauty as “a passing pleasure.” They think that the illusive, fragile, fading, temporary, and wrinkle-and-stretch-mark-prone nature of female beauty indicates that men (and women) should just “get over it” and focus on more important things.
Beauty is indeed a passing pleasure. But I think there’s a deeper meaning here that we dare not trivialize. The symbolic importance of beauty/beautification is not unlike the symbolic importance of marriage. Woman’s beauty, and all the broken, distorted ideas about it, will not so much pass, as give way—in the end—to that to which beauty points. There will be no marriage in heaven because the shadow will give way to the reality. Likewise, the illusive, fading, temporary beauty of women will one day give way to the breathtaking, spectacular, eternal beauty of the Bride of Christ.
The gospel doesn’t negate man’s desire to enjoy beauty and woman’s desire to be beautiful, but it does shift the focus of our attention beyond the symbol to that to which it points. When we consider the jaw-dropping picture painted by Scripture, it would seem that our Lord finds our desire for beauty not too strong, but too weak. We get all wrapped up with the earthly and the superficial and temporal, while the supernatural and eternal is offered us. Like an ignorant tourist who spreads out his towel under the picture of the umbrella on the sign, because he does not know that the sign points to the beach. We are far too easily pleased. (Again, a favorite C. S. Lewis thought)
Embracing Beauty
Followers of Christ know that the symbol is not even fractionally as important as the reality. But they understand that it is not totally unimportant either.
So girls, let’s give the guys a break. Let’s stop condemning them for feeling attracted to beauty and wanting us to make a reasonable and sustained effort in that department. And guys… give us a break. Please understand how very personal and painful this issue can be for women. It’s very difficult to stay engaged in fighting a battle we know we are destined to lose. The beauty of our youth will inevitably fade. And most of us don’t have a hope of even remotely resembling the airbrushed model on the cover of the magazine.
And let’s always remember that the whole issue of female beauty is merely a signpost. It’s reminder to all of us—male and female—that the King desires our beauty, and that we ought to carefully attend to our character, and to making ourselves spiritually beautiful for that great destination wedding on the other shore.
In my opinion, the answer to the conundrum surrounding the discussion about female beauty is not to diminish or deny its importance, but to exalt and embrace the all-surpassing beauty to which it points.
Loving Your Man as God Loves You
This is true for either the husband or the wife in a perfect world they both would do this for each other
Loving Your Man as God Loves You
Author Cindi McMenamin
Note: This is the second article in a two-part series on transforming your marriage. Part I: What Speaks Love to Your Husband?
I was once a wife who was quick to point out my husband’s faults. Quick to let him know when he was falling short of my expectations. Quick to let him know when he wasn’t loving me as God does.
You can’t really blame me, can you? There isn’t a wife on earth who doesn’t want her husband to lover her unconditionally – as God does. But when I turned it around and started trying to love my husband as God loves me, that’s when things began to change in our marriage. I began focusing less on his faults and more on my own… and my own need for God’s grace in my life.
My husband and I were talking the other day about how there would be far less marriages struggling today if just one partner in every marriage practiced the Bible’s definition of love. Now, can you imagine what marriages would look like if both partners practiced unconditional, sacrificial and persevering love? There would be no strife, no stress, no bitterness, no built-up baggage. There would be no devastation or divorce. There would be two people, giving up their rights to themselves so they can serve one another. There would be a perfect picture in our love toward each other of God’s love toward us.
Maybe your husband doesn’t seem like the man he once was. Yet you are still with him. That is persevering love. That is love that says “I made a promise… now I’m keeping it.” God did the same with you and me. Take a look at His never failing, unending, persevering love for you and see if you can’t try modeling this to your husband:
1. He has promised He will never leave you. Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
Can you say this to your husband, and truly mean it as God means it toward you?
2. He is always thinking only the best about you. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. (Psalm 139:17-18)
Can you say that your mind is always filled with only good thoughts about your husband?
3. He is gentle toward you when you’re broken. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)
Are you gentle toward your husband even when he is angry or unlovable – which is how he often responds when he’s hurt?
4. He promises nothing will ever come between the two of you. (Nothing) will be able to separate us from the love of God... (Romans 8:39)
Are there any conditions or exceptions in your mind when it comes to loving your husband? Is there something in the back of your mind that he could do that would end it for the two of you? God holds none of those reservations about you. He has promised nothing – that includes nothing you can do – will ever come between you and God. Can you say the same to your husband?
5. He delights in you, quiets you with His love, and sings over you. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
Can you delight in your husband and rejoice over him, simply because of who he is – one who is loved by his heavenly father and by you? Think about the joy and comfort you have, knowing God feels that way about you. Now what would it add to your husband’s life if he knew you truly delighted in him?
6. He loved you so much He was willing to die so He wouldn’t have to live without you. For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
I once heard it said: don’t marry someone you believe you can live with. Marry someone you know you can’t live without. Have you cemented your love for your husband so deeply that you are convinced you would not want to live without him? In many ways, that’s how God felt toward you. He found a way so that the two of you would never have to be separated.
7. He loved you in spite of yourself and still does. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Would you show sacrificial love to your husband even if he didn’t deserve it? Even if he had turned his back on you?
Scripture tells us: “This is the kind of love we are talking about – not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.” (First John 4:10-11, The Message).
Now, from what you’ve seen about God’s persevering love for you, can you love your husband:
· Even when he’s annoying you?
· Even when he’s inconsiderate?
· Even when he’s clearly ‘unlovable’?
· Even when he’s clearly wrong and unrepentant?
Because we are not like God who never grows weary, we must know how to renew love for our husbands. We simply can’t wait for the feelings to be there. I’m so glad God doesn’t depend on His feelings for us. He has determined to love us, regardless. We must love our husbands that way, too. Because the world will take it out of us. Pain will take it out of us. The everyday stuff of life will take it out of us. But thanks be to God that He can replenish it in us.
In Isaiah 40:28-31, you have encouragement about this God who can fill you up with love for your husband:
Do you not now? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
· He will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom.
· He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
· Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
· But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
· They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
How do you renew that love you once had for your husband? How do you get back that delight in him when he – or something in this life – has taken it out of you? By waiting on the Lord for His strength to love your husband through you and by going back to what first drew the two of you together.
Sometimes the easiest way to fall back in love with your man is to remember what first drew you to him. Next time you’re tempted to start listing what your husband is doing wrong, I encourage you to start listing what you love about him. It’s what God would do, if He were in your shoes. By remembering what your husband does right, it will not only turn your heart back toward him, but it will be an outward sign to others that you love your man as God has loved you.
Cindi McMenamin is a national speaker and the author of several books including When Women Walk Alone, Women on the Edge, and When A Woman Inspires Her Husband (from which this article is an excerpt). She and her husband, Hugh, have also co-authored the book When Couples Walk Together. For resources and free articles of encouragement to strengthen your soul or your marriage, see her website: www.StrengthForTheSoul.com.
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