Pages

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Praying In The New Year

Let us pray;

My thoughts for the new year, Father, I submit them to You right now. If they are not in line with Your heart and goals for me then they are not my goals or hopes.

I choose to and only want to obey and flow with Your Holy Spirit’s anointing and calling upon me I want to move to the rhythm of Your heart beat.

How could I hope to hear that rhythm unless You hold my head closely against your chest, or take me inside of your heart?

Do it Lord, both now and for the rest of my life, take me into your heart so that I can only hear it’s deafening beat that drowns out every worldly sound. Hold my head so close to your heart that my thoughts align with its rhythm. I want to be Your dancer on the world’s stage until this dance is over and I am with You in heaven forever.

Earnestly, Father, earnestly! I seek You for grace to help in my time of need! I do not claim to be strong or have great insight, wisdom, or discernment, rather, I see things dimly. I cry out to you, like the blind man who could not be shamed into silence, for his need was greater than any pride he had.

Help me Lord! Give me eyes to see, strength to run, ears to listen, and a heart to obey You. Fill me with grace to discern Your will and what is good in every matter and fill me with grace to walk in accordance with it and to bring everybody You give to me as a friend, closer to You, with me. We need You.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Monday, December 26, 2016

No Hollister for the Holy Day


Why I Don’t Want Hollister Clothing Or Perfume on my Family

Feelings * Related Bible Verses * Research

Feelings, nothing more than feelings…Music Background

Having walked into a Hollister store I was swept up into the smell, sound, and overall entertaining/ vacation like virtual experience. It was fun.

I was aware that I felt worldly, and sensual and found myself studying the models on the wall and considering how attractive I would look in their clothes.

After looking at a few price tags I stumbled back and left the store in shock. I didn’t want to PAY that much for the experience of buying a piece of clothing in such a provocative store.

But what was deeper- I felt a darkness, guilt about the store, it appealed to, and celebrated the flesh especially the pride of life, lust of the eye. It was a sensual experience that begged my loyalty to Christ to be shared with the spirit of the world.

To one with untrained senses- it’s just cool. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I have been training my senses to discern what is pleasing to God since my youth, and my senses told me this was not.

So after that initial experience, I avoided the store.

When my children asked to go into it, I declined, saying I felt it was worldly.

To me going in there and taking my children in there, or letting them wear that brand of clothing, or wearing it myself would be a break in my loyalty to the Holy Spirit who trained my senses to discern between good and evil. I can not in good conscience encourage my children to go in there or wear those clothes or that perfume.

When this Christmas one of my children bought clothes from this store for their siblings and my husband, I felt very uncomfortable with it. I wanted them to take it back, and go shopping elsewhere, especially because the brand name was very evident on all the products.

I did not want my family to advertise for a store and brand that I felt was in complete opposition to Christ. And I did not want any part of the worldly spirit to be on their bodies.

Bible Verses Related To My Reasoning:

Clothing Counts:
And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy but with fear, loathing even the clothing spotted and polluted by their shameless immoral freedom. Jude 1:22-23 http://bit.ly/2hqrkJt

Train Senses To Distinguish Good and Evil:
Concerning this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull and sluggish in [your spiritual] hearing and disinclined to listen. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers [because of the time you have had to learn these truths], you actually need someone to teach you again the elementary principles of God’s word [from the beginning], and you have come to be continually in need of milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who lives on milk is [doctrinally inexperienced and] unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a spiritual infant. 14 But solid food is for the [spiritually] mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and what is evil. Hebrews 5:11-14http://bit.ly/2hqwpBz

The Spirit of the World Defined:
16 For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever. 1 John 2: 16-17 http://bit.ly/2hqwSDS

Research on Hollister Company as it Relates to Christian Values:


Faith Equality Index- Faith Consumers; is a website like Common Sense Media that assesses the Christian values of companies. They gave Hollister a 1-star rating for the following reasons.
GENERAL FACTS:
Abercrombie & Fitch is an international specialty retailer of casual apparel for men, women, and children – with particular focus on young adults, teens, and pre-teens.  The Ohio-based company operates more than 300 stores in the U.S. and is affiliated with Hollister and Gilly Hicks.

After a seven-year hiatus, A&F recently resurrected its controversial for sale catalog, which features barely clothed young adults in highly sexualized contexts that cross the line into pornography. With a heavy focus on sensuality, A&F has a long history of inappropriate and controversial advertising not suitable for any age group – much less its targeted young audience. A&F’s full embrace of the political and social goals of the homosexual, bisexual and transgender movement – including same-sex marriage

Forces model to masturbate

Nude models in quarterly magazine

Sells padded bra/swimsuit to 8-year-old demographic

Abercrombie & Fitch is fully committed to the promotion of the homosexual, bisexual and transgender political and social agenda in the workplace and beyond.  Under the leadership of its openly homosexual CEO, Mike Jeffries, A&F has publicly taken a corporate stand in favor of same-sex marriage.

A&F has been named a “Best Place to Work for GLBT Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign seven times.

More so than perhaps any other American corporation, A&F has a large section on its website devoted to ... significant sections on sexual orientation and gender identity.

A&F has a work policy that all associates must undergo diversity and inclusion classes to make sure behavioral change is accomplished.

Overall Ranking-
strongly leaning against a Biblical worldview
http://bit.ly/2hqwbKC

Hollister: known for promoting sexual immorality to pre-teens
Since its re-establishment in 1988, Abercrombie & Fitch has faced numerous accusations regarding its employment practices, merchandise, and advertising campaigns which have been described as sexually explicit and racist.[19][77]
Advertising[edit]
The company has received criticism over its provocative advertising.[78] The company has been accused of promoting the sexualization of pre-teen girls, for example by marketing thongs to 10-year-olds and padded bikini tops to 7-year-olds.[79] http://bit.ly/2hGBe5M

Hollister restricted by Christian College in FL
Appropriateness in dress is related to the setting and activity. In this Christian college setting, care must be taken to avoid association with companies (Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, etc.), lifestyles, and trends that oppose Christian values  http://bit.ly/2hGwcpI