abandoned to Christ.

Twenty-eight years ago, the Lord moved me to Southern California as an answer to my cry for help. My faithful and merciful Father God had graciously and mercifully endured, preserved, and persevered me through 13 years of severe and brutal persecution. But because I did not heed His exhortation and admonition in Deuteronomy 8:11-20, I forgot that it was by His mighty hand that I received relief from my enemies. Much like the Israelites whom the LORD kindly saved and freed from the bondage of Egypt, I fancied that this reprieve was due to something good I had done—and for three years, I entertained the fallacy, that I deserved every good I received from the Lord. I behaved as if God owed me for my obedience, rather than remember that even my obedience was a gift from Him, through Jesus Christ; who through His death and resurrection, freed and enabled me to do what I could never do on my own—please and honor the one and only, holy and righteous God (Heb 11:6). During th...

Walmart has pulled a toddler Halloween costume off their shelves after receiving many complaints by outraged parents who deemed the costume as inappropriately sexual for children. The name of the costume is "Naughty Leopard", but as you can see, the actual costume itself isn't sexual or even slightly immodest. As a matter of fact, it has more material on it than most women wear, as well a what most parents dress their little girls in. The dictionary definition and common understanding of the word naughty is "disobedient; mischievous (used especially in speaking to or about children)." I honestly find this parental outrage quite hypocritical. Let me tell you why. Parents dress their babies, toddlers, children and even teen girls in clothes that are highly sexual, extremely provocative and yet, because the label that's on the name of the shirt, dress, skirt, etc. doesn't have a "naughty" name attached to it, it's okay. Ha...

There is much talk within the Christian community about modesty, yet, most of the focus seems to on the exterior appearance of a woman, rather than on what Christ said: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."  (Matthew 6:33, ESV) And again we find these wise words from the Scriptures, "but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."  (1 Peter 3:4, ESV) The dictionary definition for modesty is: the quality of being modest; freedom from vanity, boastfulness, etc.—regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc.—simplicity; moderation. In 1 Timothy 2:9 the original Greek word used for "modesty" is, αἰδώς, transliterated "aidós" which means: the idea of downcast eyes; bashfulness, (e.g., towards men). As you can clearly see, this attitude of "modesty...