Youthful Romance... Dangers of Dating... Part 1

Over the next few weeks, I'd like to share something I wrote last week.
...derived from a sermon by Johnathon Lindvall with added notes by me.
**Disclaimer: I do not, necessarily, recommend his sermons
nor do I agree with everything he says, however,
the principles are still based on Truths **



Romance is one of the most wonderful things God made.
What do we do with wonderful, valuable things??
The more valuable your treasures,
the higher your fences around them –
you guard them!

God has placed some very high fences
around this wonderful treasure He created.
God intended a relationship between a male and female
not only for the passing on of life, but for pleasure as well.
But God has placed some strong Scripture against its misuse…
Such as “Thou shalt not commit adultery” and many other
scriptures against adultery and fornication.
What pretty much sets in many a Christian young person’s mind –
“OK... adultery... fornication…bad!
I’m not suppose to do those things!
But let’s define our terms. How far can I go? Where is the line?”

So many times we can read a book or listen to a tape
or sermon on ‘How far can I go’; but realize that everyone
has a slightly different answer. And sometimes not so slightly!
Even in Christian circles there is a wide diversity
of viewpoints on ‘How far can I go’.
This does not mean there isn’t a firm answer.
Just because opinions differ
doesn’t mean that God hasn’t spoken on this issue.

Let’s really try to address this issue from God’s Word;
Let’s look at what God’s Word says.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 He says,
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,
that ye should abstain from fornication:
That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
in sanctification and honour;
Not in the lust of concupiscence,
even as the Gentiles which know not God:
That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter:
because that the Lord is the avenger of all such,
as we also have forewarned you and testified.”

Now there’s a problem with this question “How far can I go” –
Anyone who has any wisdom in the Lord
can tell what’s implied by this question.
It’s really saying “Tell me where the line is, and I’m going
to get as close to that line as I can without crossing over.”
Is that pleasing to God? NO!
God wants us to give Him our hearts; where we would say,
“What would be God’s ideal?
How much can I possibly please God?”
Let’s go for God’s ideal- What is His highest standard?

In this passage (1 Thess. 4:6) there are 2 things
Paul says we are to be careful of.
“That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter:
because that the Lord is the avenger of all such,
as we also have forewarned you and testified.”

One is that we do not go beyond. And then he dropped it.
The other is that we do not defraud.
Let’s talk about them both.

Concerning ‘not going beyond’
implies that even though this question
(‘how far can I go’) has some problems with it,
it is one that must be answered.
How can we ‘not go beyond’ if we don’t know where the line is?
Where’s that line?
And then we’ll come back to defrauding, because frankly,
that’s going to push the line even further – to the glory of God.

In Matthew 7:12 we have ‘The Golden Rule”:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them…”

Let's illustrate with a story...

There was a well known Bible teacher who had a son
that was one night going on his 1st date.
Now, his son was really nervous, so he decided to ask
his dad if he could talk for a minute.

“Dad, I need some advice. I’ve never gone on a date before –
what should I do? Should I hold her hand?
Should I kiss her? What do you do on a date?”

“Well son, let me ask you a few questions.
Tell me, are you going to marry this girl?”

“Marry her?!?! Dad, it’s only a date! I mean, well,
it’s possible that some day I might marry her, but probably not!
No, no! I’m not going to marry her!”

“OK, fair enough, I just wanted to know.
Son tell me, if you don’t marry this girl,
is it possible someday you might get married?”

“Well, I think so. I’d like to be married some day.”

“OK. Well now, if you don’t marry this girl,
what are the chances of her marrying someone else?”

“Well, she’s a nice girl. She’ll probably get married some day.”

“OK. So tonight you’re taking out some girl
who’ll probably not be your wife.
And in fact, some day she’ll probably be someone else’s wife.
So- you’re taking out somebody else’s wife tonight!”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of it that way, dad.”

“Well, OK, I’m just thinking here.
You know son, if you don’t marry this girl,
that means you’ll marry some other girl.
What do you think the chances are that that girl,
whoever an wherever she is, could be going on a date?”

“I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose, maybe.”

“All right. Tell me son, what would you like the guy who is
taking out your future wife to do with her on a date?”

“Oh! I see! The golden rule!
Do unto others as you’d have them do to you.”

It’s very clear, isn’t it?
And yet that principle is so seldom applied to
romantic relationships in young people.
We don’t think in term of ‘property’ and ‘ownership’.

In 1 Corinthians 7:1, Paul takes it even further.
“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me:
It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”
Now what things do you think the Corinthians
could have written to him about?
Maybe, just possibly, asking the question of “How far can I go?”
Now that’s a pretty straightforward answer! –
‘It is good for a man not to touch a woman.’

We, parents and young people,
need to set our standards high, saying,
“I’m going for God’s best.
That’s what God says; I’m going to do it!”
Not touch? Well, what does that mean?
No holding hands? No shaking hands?!
Where do we draw the line?
In fact, the issue is not so much the physical.-
If you want to be safe in the physical area,
you have to take it further to what’s in your heart.
In Proverbs, the son was told not only to keep
his body from ‘strange women’, but was told to guard his heart!
The heart is the issue! Guard your heart!
Not only are we to be physically pure,
but we need to be emotionally pure.


{{more to come next week...}}

May we spend some heartfelt time
in deep meditation and prayer,
seeking God's Truths, will, and best.

A Plan...

Since I rarely seem to find time to post,
I thought I'd set aside special days for it,
as an attempt to blog more regularly
and make good use of my time.

My plan is to post as follows (if able)...

EVERY MONDAY ~ A spiritual post
EVERY THURSDAY ~ An update post with photos

There may be a few impromptu posts here and there,
but I will try this schedule and see how it works out.
I hope you enjoy your weekend.

"See you" on Monday, Lord willing!

Being Right With God

As I needed a lot of rest yesterday,
I seized the opportunity of listening to a few sermons.
I absolutely had to take notes on this one...

Being Right With God by Dr.Bill Behrins:

Being 'right with God' is to be 'useable of God'.
When we 'get right with God', we're putting ourselves
in a position where God can use us.
Now, if you have something that isn't useable,
it's worthless, is it not?
A highway is pointless to have if noone can use it.
God says in Isaiah 40:3...
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
The Lord is likening our lives to a highway.
He wants so much to use us,
but that highway needs to be of quality condition.
Someone may have all the talents in the world,
but that person's abilities are worthless
if he is not right with God.
In the next verse, the Lord gives us
4 things to perpare our highway:
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain "
and hill shall be made low:
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough places plain:"


1. "Every valley shall be exalted..."
He's not going down into the depths and then up.
We need to raise the low places in our lives.
We can NOT live in the world with filth and sin
and ever hope to be used of God.
Christians are saying and doing things today
what they wouldn't think of doing years ago.
We have become so accustomed to the sin of this world.
We have truly lost sight of how God looks at sin.
He says in Proverbs 26:11 -
"As a dog returneth to his vomit,
so a fool returneth to his folly."
Think of just how disgusting it is for a dog to vomit,
and then go strait back and eat it!?!
If we'd get just as sick about sin,
we'd have a lot less sin in our lives.
We mustn't compare ourselves to the rest of the world,
but to the Word of God.
We had better worry about what God thinks of us
rather than what other people do.


2. "...And every mountain and hill shall be made low..."
We need to bring the high places down.
Can anyone guess where this might be directed to??
Pride!
Are we looking at other's faults or our own?
Well, we're going to answer for our own problems, not others'!
We have enough in our lives to pay attention to!
We need to really see that God not only doesn't like pride,
He HATES it!
He's not going to put up with a proud person!
"...him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer."
Psalms 101:5
Pride says "I know an area I need to deal with, but won't do it."
It is a satanic sin saying we don't need God in some areas,
when, in fact, we need Him in ALL areas in our lives!
As soon as the Holy Spirit deals with us and we resist it;
it may seem like a small thing to us,
but we're literally going to battle against God!
"...for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble."
1 Peter 5:5
This is very serious going against God!
We cannot win.


3. "...And the crooked shall be made straight..."
A hard fact of life is, that some people
may never be able to sing,
play music, be good at conversing, be very intelligent, etc...
We sometimes focus on all of the things we can't do.
But there is one thing everybody CAN do,
and that is to DO RIGHT!
It doesn't matter who you are or what your background is,
if you really want to do what's right, you can do it.
We sometimes give the devil too much credit.
"The devil made me do it" is the lamest excuse.
He does not take our free will and force us to sin!
If we really, truly, want to, we can do what's right.
We can be the right daughter, right sister, right friend;
have the right attitude, listen to the right music,
speak kindly, be obedient, tell the truth.
Doing right is always a choice,
which everybody CAN make!


4. "...And the rough places plain:"
So many times we justify some pleasures as 'little sins'.
No sin is little to God.
Who sets the sensitivity level of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
Why is it when a sermon is preached
that it just grips some hearts,
but with others it's like gripping jell-O (... unaffective)?
The Holy Spirit has the same power in everyone's lives...
some are just more willing to let it convict than others.
We need to desire a high sensitivity level.
Sin may seem to start out "small" and maybe "cute" or "fun";
but it doesn't remain small, cute, or harmless.
But maybe we think 'we can handle it'.
Well, The Lord says...
"...And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
James 1:15
It is very important that any 'little' sin in our lives
we must get rid of as soon as possible.

Now, God says
"For he that soweth to his flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth
to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
Galatians 6:8
If we are willing to do all of these things, there will be results.
We will have real peace and joy.
We will be a real testimony to the world around us.
One of the biggest reasons that family, neighbors,
and people around us never come to Christ is
because they do not see any difference
or anything they want in us.
But if we are truly right with God, others will notice.
And though at times they may mock, in their hearts
they truly desire the peace and real joy they see in us.

So in order to be right with God,
there are things we need to add and get rid of.

What an admonition from the Lord!

Vacation Bible School...

Last week was Vacation Bible School.
The theme was "Dino Detectives".
I thought I'd share some photos of the great week.
(You can click on the pics to enlarge them)

Mom and I did registration and handed out snacks...

We were wearing dinosaur hats that the
2,3,4 class was so generous to lend us ;)
(Excuse the photo... it's a bit grainy)

All of the children(and adults) had a great time.
We were very blessed to have quite a few visitors!
Here is Carolynne in her class(2s,3s,4s)...


Beth in her class (K-3 grade)...

It is very strange to say that my younger
sister is going into 'first grade'!
It's bittersweet watching them grow up so fast!

Here is Will in his class (4-6 grade)...


I took advantage of the quietness,
before handing out snacks, by reading "A Virtuous Woman"...


I made all of the snacks during VBS
and I think Tuesday's was the favorite...


I'll try to post the recipe for these sometime.
It literally took me almost all day to make them!

In addition to Rally Time (singing, penny offering, etc...)
there was a nightly puppet show...


I did the radio while the others did the puppets...


Here is my dear friend and I...

Miss Stephani in the 2s,3s,4s class.


Miss Ally :)

The last night was an ice cream fellowship.
All of the children (and adults :o)
enjoyed ice cream after the VBS classes.
For every night a child was there,
they were able to get an extra topping.
Mom and I (and 2 other workers)
helped with dishing out the ice cream...


It was a great week of Vacation Bible School.
Sorry it has taken me so long to update.
This week my mother came down with bronchitis/pneumonia.
I believe she is starting to feel better, praise the Lord :)
So we've been pretty busy.
I hope you all are enjoying your August!

Here At Home...

We arrived home last Saturday!
It has been very nice to be back home
and reunited with Daddy.
We also took an additional member home...

Suzie. (She just had a haircut before we left.)
She was my Gramma's dog but she decided to give her to us.
I must admit, even though I'm not much of a dog person,
she is a cutie and, overall, I do like her a lot :)

It sure was nice to be reunited with my babies, though!

I missed singing with them and training them.
I'm glad to say that they are both now quite tame!
I clipped Fluff's wings the other day so
now she can't fly away from me :)

It was very nice, too, to fellowship with my best friend
after so long of being apart!
We had a sleepover last night to make up for the 5 weeks :)
We had a great time and recorded some songs I thought I'd share.

Since I was/am teaching her violin,
we've been playing a lot of violin duets, as well
as with the guitar and banjo!
Here's a song that she can play very well
and I accompanied her with :)
(Excuse the editing on these clips...
the move clip editer wasn't behaving right)




We also decided to record a few of our favorite songs
that we sing everytime we get together...
(Double click each one to play.)

What A Day That Will Be
(My birds were happy to sing with us too ;)




Well, just thought I'd share!
I hope you all have a great weekend!

Tidbits From Our Trip

We've been here about a month now
and my Gramma seems to be doing a bit better.
We hope to travel home in the near future :)
It's been very busy between doctor appointments,
visiting other family, cooking, cleaning, etc...
I have, however, found time to upload
some pictures online for viewing. :)
Since I had some extra time on my hands today,
I thought I'd post some pictures of the trip here.

One of my favorite highlights of our trip
was watching baby sparrows grow up...

The mommy fed them nonstop from 5am to 9pm!
They're now all out and flying!

My Great Gramma likes it when I play music for her.
It's a great blessing to me to bless her
with good, godly songs...


While staying at Gramma and Great Gramma's,
we often visit my Grampa
who lives only about 20 min. away.
A few weeks ago we went fishing at the pond near him.


My aunt and uncle came as well...


One day there was a great
storm while we were driving...

Tornado sirens were going off and I think it
may have been a funnel cloud that left a lot of damage.

For the 4th of July we went to my aunt and uncles'.
The children had a watergun fight and as I was taking
pictures I noticed it wasn't just the children who enjoyed it...

:o)

Later on we drove up to a park and watched fireworks.



A few projects I've done are
repainting my Gramma's flag...


Also, sewing myself, Beth, and my mom's friend's
2 young daughters dresses...


Wednesday we celebrated my
Great Gramma's birthday at her son's.
My Uncle now owns, what used to be
her business, cottages on the lake.
It was nice to revisit the familiar place that I knew as a child...

He had done a lot of renovating and remodeling as well,
but Lake Huron was still as beautiful as it ever was...


I also had fun attempting to
tune his baby grand(!!!!!)...

I only fixed a few notes because I bent his tool!
The piano is extremly old and the pegs were firmly set,
thus they didn't want to be moved to tune :)

Also, my dear cousin had her baby.
I confess I miss holding babies,
since my siblings are bigger now... bittersweet.
It was nice to hold my 2 week old cousin...



Well, we need to get going
to take my grandma to the doctor.
I just thought I'd share some pictures!
The next time I post I hope to be back home!
Have a great week!

Bloggie Break!

I'll be taking a long break
as we are taking care of my gramma for a while.

I hope you all have a great month
and enjoy your summer!

Farewell to Cutes

I'm so very sad to say that my precious
Cutes (the blue one) was not a healthy bird.
I noticed that she tended to pluck her
feathers out, breathe with her mouth open,
and not like to hop around.
Today I noticed she had a red and puffy eye
and that she was itching it against the perch.
I called the vet and he said it sounds like she
had a respiratory infection and needed to be treated.
MY POOR BABY!!!
I don't have the money to take her to the vet,
so I had to exchange her for another parakeet.
(Thankfully there's a 7 day warranty on them.)
I felt so bad and sad giving her back and
knowing that she's suffering. :( :(

Now that I've been able to read about how to tell
if a parakeet is healthy or not,
I chose a (hopefully) healthy new one.
I was going to name her Cutes in honor of the last one,
but she looked like something different...



I love her white colors!
So I took to naming her Fluff.
So now I own Fluff and Puff.

Fluff is still a bit shy in her new home,
but is a great singer and loves Puff!
Puff is still as lively as ever.
He's such a singer too!

My New Pets!!!

After a long time of planning and preparing,
I finally purchased my own pets last Friday!
Can you guess what they are???
Lets see, some hints can be...

They have no fur,
2 legs,
don't lay down to sleep,
can be trained to say words,
have no teeth,
(but they can nip you hard!)
like to play with toys,
and can even sing and talk.

Also, they're really the only
animal I would want as a pet...




Parakeets!
The blue female is Cutes,
green male is Puff.



They are so precious and cute!
They particularly like singing with me
every time I sing and play my guitar!
I love waking up and seeing them preen and poof up!
I keep them on my dresser so they can get sun.

But of course, upcoming is a few weeks
of taming and training.
I've been able to get Puff to perch on my finger
and to let me pet him and take him out of the cage,
but Cutes nips hard and won't perch yet.
Although she is getting closer to saying 'hello'!

Right now I'm borrowing my friend's cage and plan to
get my own cage after my next paycheck. (piano teaching)
Cutes somehow squeezed out of the cage yesternight
and my brother found her in his closet!

Also, I wanted to share a special event last Monday...



Happy (belated) Birthday Mommy!
You are such a wonderful Mother and friend to me.
Thank you for your love and care for me,
and for guiding me and helping me in my Christian walk.
You've always been such a great example to me.

"No man is poor who has had a Godly mother."
-Lincoln

"The mother love is like God's love;
He loves us not because we are lovable,
but because it is His nature to love,
and because we are His children."
-Riney

:)

Well, I need to go finish making bread.
I hope you're all enjoying your week so far.

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21

Weekend 'Sleepover'...

It was a bit impromptu last Friday as my parents
decided to go down to SC to get our house ready for selling.
Unfortunately, the house wasn't kept up so well
so it took them a few days to get it all nice and clean
after the renters had left.
So from Friday to yesterday,
we stayed at our close friends' house.

I had a wonderful time! (It was my best friend and all ;)
I enjoyed taking care of my siblings and
spending a lot of time with Stephani and her mom :)
I, being my mother's daughter (lol), took loads of pictures;
but will reluctantly choose only a few to share :)

The childrenreally enjoyed playing outside.
They loved riding their bikes together down the dirt road...



Stephani and I enjoyed relaxing inside.
We had fun chatting and holding guinea pigs...



Saturday was pretty busy.
The children played outside more.
They also had fun playing games inside...



Stephani and I rearranged her room and deep cleaned.
It was quite some work since she has 2 excersise machines in there!
We later sat around and sang a lot...



Sunday was more relaxing...



Also, I got a picture of our orchestra at church!
Since I started playing my violin (sometimes fiddle;),
another lady started playing her flute,
and our pastor's youngest son plays with us sometimes...



We really like having the orchestra, especially since
our church has only about 50 people (including children)!
A small church, yet so many ministry opportunities!
I'm very thankful for our church and being able to serve!
We then went home and took a wonderful, much-needed nap!
Pastor's message in the evening was very powerful.
I plan to post my notes on it sometime soon.

Monday, we had a Memorial Day grill-out.
The pastor and his family came over as well.
I laughed at how funny Mr.C was in his 'head garb'.
I told him that he must have been in Iraq too long!



While he grilled, we were preparing the other food...



I must admit, after weeding the garden and getting prepared,
my friend and I had to rest for a little while.
But, we didn't wake up until after pastor arrived!
It was kind of funny/embarassing, since we were on the couch!
We all had a good laugh, though!

After supper, the children all played kickball.
I came out to read and take pictures...





Tuesday was even more relaxing.
Stephani and I took a 2 hour nap!

Carolynne had fun dressing up...



It was good to have my parents home again.
They arrived in the evening and we all grilled out for supper.

It was a great few days.
I particularly enjoyed having
my quiet time early in the morning!
I liked being able to sit outside on their
porch swing and listen to the birds while doing it.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.