Many Christians in the past have avoided the arts. Many Christians coming out of the Reformation feared beauty and all that was related since they worried about it might corrupt the church. After all, Satan’s beauty corrupted him.
I think it’s time we rethink that, and I will tell you why.
I grow orchids, and I love watching them come into bloom. First, an orchid forms a bud, which swells gradually swells until the petals separate. What am an amazing experience! I feel like I am watching God’s hand at work. Many orchids have an intoxicating aroma that’s only present during the day while the flower is fresh. Watching this beauty unfold taught me something about God. I truly believe he is incredibly stunning. The psalms agree.
Watching this beauty unfold taught me something about God. I truly believe he is incredibly stunning. The psalms agree. You’ll see verses there that talk about his majesty.
However, in times past, Christians have avoided beauty and creative art since they saw it as a stumbling block. After all, Satan was gorgeous, but he became self-absorbed and fell into sins. The Catholic church had a similar problem. After the reformation, Puritans built their churches simply without the glitter of popery.
The arts and beauty can be part of our lives. I recall that runner, Eric Lidell, who said he felt God’s presence when he ran. I feel that way with my orchids.
Lora Zill is my guest today. She is an artist and has written about creativity for the believer.
Women like clothing. That’s a part of who we are. I think about the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, if they had been there long, (I don’t think they were) I suspect Eve would have found a way to decorate and dress up. Maybe it would have been as simple as a flower in her hair, or maybe a necklace of four leaf clovers. Eve was a woman like we are, and we love to enhance our appearance. I have this longing inside to live in the Victorian era when dresses were lush and elegant. But today there’s a trend toward torn and ragged. Not my style!
Unfortunately, we have to watch what we wear because men are attracted by the visual. Job talked about making a covenant with his eyes, and he lived a long time ago. Scholars think Job was one of the first books penned, and yet he knew to watch where his eyes landed.
Look at what Paul wrote to his mentee, Timothy: “ Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments; but rather by means of good works, as befits women making a claim to godliness.” (I Timothy 2:9)
How can we obey this passage and not look frumpy? When I was pregnant with my fifth child, I said I would never dress blah. People would say I was worn out. I like to sizzle with an outfit that coordinates. Many of you ladies feel the same way.
Today my guest is Allie Shirley. Allie teaches about modest clothing and clothing website where you can buy your next outfit.
2:00 What is modest?
4:20 What are some things you can think of when you go shopping?
I’ve always hated exercise. Water makes my hair look funny, and sweating is water. I’d rather read a book. In gym class, I always stood in the back of class cause I was so uncomfortable. When they taught us tumbling, the teacher told us we could break our necks if we did it wrong. That was it, I froze up and couldn’t do any of it right.
When I was a girl in elementary school, a doctor scolded me for being overweight. That totally caught me by surprise because no one had said a thing. Mom never complained.
Right out of high school, I studied nursing and became an RN so I understood the important of exercise and diet and exercise. But there’s also a spiritual component here. 1 Corinthians 6:19 to 20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” As believers, we should take care of the body God gave us. That’s where the Holy Spirit lives.
I guess you can say I grew into exercise and watching my diet. Not that it’s easy, but I try to think of it as a lifestyle.
Michelle Medlock Adams is my guest. She teaches exercise classes and wrote Love and Care for the One and Only You. A new version is coming out with recipes in the back.
2:30 What effect does TV have on how we see ourselves?
4:50 How can diet become a lifestyle?
7:40 How can we learn to drink water?
10:00 Rewarding yourself and easing into better habits
11:40 How can we avoid perfectionistic attitudes about food?
13:00 Stay on a diet at a birthday party?
15:30 Not everyone has an hour-glass shaped figure
Difficult relatives can make your Christmas miserable. Family can give us the most fulfillment when we actually connect with them, However, they can also cause the most heartache because we love them and long for their approval. With the holidays coming, we all dread grumpy Uncle Bill or feisty Aunt Sally. Past hurts can also intensify the impact of uncomfortable encounters.
My father used to crack the same jokes every year and expect us to laugh. If I didn’t respond to his humor, he’d tease me about how my face looked, as if he thought I was holding in my response.
Mother would make a huge meal for Thanksgiving. I’d select certain foods, but not others, knowing I couldn’t eat it all. She would always point out what I missed, as if I overlooked that dish by accident. Plus she would attempt to get us all to eat more, even when we were full.
My grandmother would make snide comments with an innocent look on her face, and she’d do annoying things. she favored boys over girls and she’d always make sure we knew how much she spent on the boys. If we asked her to do anything, she’d do the exact opposite.
Well, you know how it goes. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Wow! That’s a hefty command.
Today I have two guests. The first is Angela Breidenbach. She’s a life coach and a terribly fun person. The second is Linda Rondeau. Both can give insight on this issue.
I take a regular exercise class several times a week. On Fridays, the teacher dismisses with “Come back on Monday and we’ll start this process all over again.”
She always laughs when she says it, but it makes me feel like a gerbil on those round exercise balls that spin over and over. You can get in a routine, even a good routine and a sense of boredom sets in.
Get up in the morning, head off to work, or maybe you’re a mom with little ones. You feed them, change diapers and you do it all over again the next day. When my children were little, one would come and ask when I’d fix dinner. I’d get a little silly and say. “I fed you yesterday. You want to eat again.”
But you know what I mean. Ecclesiastes a time for everything under heaven: a time to bake, and a time to discard what was baked;
Have you ever wanted to live an extraordinary life? What makes life have pizzazz? I believe having a purpose does that. You live for something bigger than yourself. The apostle Paul said he longed to know Jesus Christ and to become holy like he would be after he was raised from the dead.
An indescribable life? An un-explainable life?
My guest today is Erica Wiggenhorn, who just completed a Bible study on Acts, An Unexplainable Life.
2:10 What is one of your favorite lessons from Acts?
3:45 Give us examples of how the Holy Spirit worked differently in each life?
5:45 God’s exciting creativity.
6:30 Similarities in the OT stories and the tongues of fire spoken of in Acts
9:20 How did the disciples change after the Holy Spirit came? Especially Peter?
13:00 Explain the importance of the clouds in the ascension of Christ?
15:13 Share the role prayer played in the book of Acts. How is it important today?
16:55 How was Stephen’s life unexpected?
19:25 How can the book of Acts encourage us today?
