Counting The Cost

Random thoughts on walking with Jesus in this turvy-topsy world

What Jesus is Worth

posted by: Jrobbins at 17:09 | link | comments |
if i gained the world

Counting the Cost Celebrates One Year!

                

        Well, here it is – the one year anniversary of Counting the Cost!       I really can’t believe that it has been a whole year.    But what a year!    I have been SO blessed by the Lord through this blog, and I have enjoyed meeting all of my mo’time friends.    When I first sat down to start a blog I couldn’t have imagined how much it would mean to me and how much closer I would grow to the Lord by doing it.    So, I was wracking my pea brain to come up with an amazing, awe-inspiring post to celebrate my one year anniversary.    And the only post I could come up with that would show how much having my blog has meant to me was to share the words that mean the most to me in the world – my favorite passage in the Bible.    Ephesians 2:1-9 is my favorite passage because it exactly describes how the Lord Jesus has completely transformed my life through His love.    He is the inspiration for my blog because He is the inspiration for my life.   So, I wanted to share my favorite words about my Lord with you on my one year anniversary.    Thanks so much for making it an amazing year!!

 

 

 

 

Ephesians 2:1-9

Made Alive in Christ

 

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

 

 

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

 

 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:44 | link | comments (2) |
one year anniversary

The Choice to be Chaste

From Radiant Magazine:

 

 

Sexless in the City

Written by Tia Stauffer

 

A New York City daily editor by day, Dawn Eden takes on the blogging world at night, where she composes passionate essays on everything from pro-life choices to what’s happening in the rock world. In her first book, The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On (W Publishing), Eden tackles the Sex and the City set to whom “chastity” is a four-letter word.

 

How did you get the idea for the book The Thrill of the Chaste?

I was brought up a Reform Jew and was an agnostic for my adult life until age 31, when I had a faith experience that turned me into a committed Christian.

My new faith forced me to examine my life in light of Jesus' teachings. I knew that, as a Christian, I should not be having premarital sex—but trying to reconcile that knowledge with my behavior was another matter.

By that point, I had been sexually active for nearly a decade. The willingness to have premarital sex had become part of my makeup; it wasn't something I felt I could simply switch off because it was a no-no.

Over the next few years, in a fumbling kind of way, I began to explore what it meant to live chastely. Gradually I learned that if I viewed sex within its proper context—marriage—the rest of my life as a marriage-minded single woman would acquire its proper context as well. I became happier, more hopeful, more confident around men and far less cynical than I had ever been when I was having premarital sex.

There is, as far as I can see, no book for women who are where I was and want to get to where I am. Other books about chastity are generally directed toward virgins, telling them to "stay pure." When the authors of those books address non-virgins, if at all, they're usually writing from the perspective of one who really doesn't know what it's like to change from one lifestyle to another. I've been there, so I thought I would have something new and valuable to say.

 

The main theme of your book is chastity. Can you describe what that word means to you/represents for you?

Chastity is a state of mind. It entails viewing other people as valuable, even delightful, in themselves, not as means to one's own pleasure or gain. For a single woman, chastity means a refusal to objectify others or allow one's self to be objectified. In the plainest sense, it means reserving the gift of one's sexual _expression for one's husband, because only within marriage—with its complete commitment—can it become a gift of love, free from the confines of self-interest.

 

How do you hope this book will help women today?

For women who want to be married and feel caught on a merry-go-round of dead-end relationships, and for women who seek emotional intimacy and find themselves settling unhappily for sexual intimacy, I hope it will help them build the emotional foundation they need if they're to hold out for their heart's desire.

 

How do you think media affects women and their view of sexuality?

Through the media, women are taught that their sex lives are based on a world of commerce: They are valued for their most superficial qualities and can hope only to find a partner whose qualities are of equal value.

The media also teaches women that they "deserve" whatever they desire, and that there are no wrong desires. Therefore, in the media's view, if a woman chooses to live a life where she allows herself to be objectified and objectifies others, she should be encouraged, because she is simply trying to "have it all." I believe that truly "having it all" is something far different than memorizing Cosmopolitan magazine's "110 Sex Tricks"!

 

You talk a lot about your personal experiences in this book. Was it hard to be vulnerable about your own life?

The hardest thing wasn’t so much being vulnerable as it was trying to show some of the men I’ve dated in a better light than myself. The easiest thing to do would be to blame certain men for having treated me badly. Although I do say that I made bad choices in terms of whom I dated, I didn’t think it would be fair to present myself as a victim. Certain men may have corrupted me, but in choosing to be with them, I was corrupting them as well.

 

What is your advice for women who feel like they've messed up too bad already to bother trying to be chaste?

Being chaste is something you put on, like clothes—except that unlike clothes, if chastity feels like the wrong fit, you will grow to fit into it after you put it on. If you feel like you've messed up badly, then you have nothing to lose by being chaste, because you know that what you've been doing has not gotten you the love you really want.

No one is going to give you a purity test and determine you're not pure enough to begin practicing chastity. If one had to be pure going in, I never would have made it through the door.

 

What are the advantages of writing more openly about real issues that women face?

I did not feel any pressure at all to keep the topics safe. My publisher has been wonderful in this regard. There was one single instance where I was quite graphic, and one of my editors—I'm not sure which one—made a note on my manuscript pointing out that my language might appear jarring to the reader. The editor was right. I toned down the language, and the point I was making became clearer. Quite honestly, I'm amazed at what they left in!

The advantages of writing more openly are that women know that I've been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, taken it off and put it back on again.

 

Tell us about your blog ... How long have you been blogging? What topics do you cover?

I started The Dawn Patrol (www.dawneden.com/blogger.html) in February 2002 when I was in between jobs. I wanted a site where potential employers could find links to articles I’d written, which, at that time, were nearly all about vintage rock ’n’ roll, as I was a rock historian at the time.

But immediately, I was tempted to write about my own life as well, and the blog turned into a personal journal for a year and a half. That changed in late 2003, when I heard WMCA radio host Kevin McCullough invite listeners to blog in favor of the campaign against the smutty Abercrombie & Fitch Christmas catalog.

Until McCullough made his on-air request, I had never thought of myself as someone who could write anything worth reading about a topic other than music. Still, I tried my hand at a blog entry promoting the Stop Abercrombie & Fitch campaign and was surprised and delighted when McCullough read it on the air.

From then on, I was off and running, writing about whatever was on my mind, which was largely chastity, since I was just beginning to get the hang of it around that time. Nowadays, having put many of my thoughts and stories about chastity into my book, my blog centers around pro-life issues, which are very important to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2006, Relevant Media Group

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:29 | link | comments |
sexless in the city

There's got to be a morning after!

What Happened AFTER the Feast
The Rest of the Thanksgiving Story

 

 

A Commentary by Chuck Colson

From Breakpoint Online

 

November 24, 2006

 

Thanksgiving is just about my favorite holiday—a wonderful combination of family, faith, and American-style religious freedom. I love the story of those hardy Pilgrims, and I love eating turkey and pumpkin pie and gathering with family.

 

Many of us tend to think of the first Thanksgiving feast as the official end to all the Pilgrims' difficulties. Wrong: Their survival would remain in jeopardy for years to come. And yet, no matter how difficult things became, they never failed to offer thanks to God.

 

As every school child knows, the Pilgrims arrived in the New World in the winter of 1620. As the freezing weeks passed, nearly half their number died. It was a terrible time, but by spring, things began to improve. Friendly Indians helped the Pilgrims plant their crops. By October 1621, the fields yielded a harvest large enough to sustain the colony in the coming winter. The grateful Pilgrims invited their Indian friends to a three-day feast of thanksgiving to God.

 

That's where the story typically ends—for us. But for the Pilgrims, the hardships went on. The next month, a ship arrived with thirty-five new colonists. But to the Pilgrims' dismay, they brought no provisions. The entire colony was forced to go on half rations that winter. At one point, with food running out, everyone was forced onto a daily ration of just five kernels of corn.

 

As my friend Barbara Rainey writes in her book, Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember, by spring, the colony was weakened by hunger and sickness. While the bay and creeks were full of fish, the Pilgrims' nets had rotted. Were it not for shellfish, which could be dug by hand, they would have perished. Despite the great difficulties, they thanked God for His provision.

 

More ships arrived that year, usually bringing newcomers with no supplies. Pilgrim father William Bradford wrote in his journal that, given the poor harvest, it "appeared that famine must still ensue the next year also."

 

By April 1623, the conditions were desperate. The Pilgrims planted double the corn of the previous year, only to see a drought several weeks long threaten the precious crop. In response, the Pilgrims held a day of fasting and prayer, asking God for rain. Pilgrim father Edward Winslow wrote that by evening, "The weather was overcast, [and] the clouds gathered on all sides." It was the beginning of two weeks of rainfall. The crop was saved, and that fall, the harvest was abundant. Another Thanksgiving feast was arranged, and again the Indians took part. As Winslow wrote, "Another solemn day was set apart . . . wherein we returned glory, honor, and praise, with all thankfulness to our God who dwelt so graciously with us."

 

They prayed this, remember, at the end of two terrible years filled with famine, hard work, and the loss of many loved ones.

 

As we gather with our families to celebrate our blessings, we ought to remember what happened to the Pilgrims after the feasting was over. Their steadfast trust in God is a reminder that we, too, need to trust in God, even in the most difficult circumstances—and thank Him.

 

May God bless you and yours this Thanksgiving.

 

 

This commentary first aired on November 24, 2005.

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:53 | link | comments (1) |
day after thanksgiving

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

From Boundless Webzine:

 

What Are We Celebrating?

Written by Anne Morse

 

 

Before you loosen your belt and find a comfortable place on the couch to nap this Thursday, ask yourself:

 

What are we celebrating?
a) A feast day honoring the ancient god, pigus dermus.
b) The festival of the ancient god, pigus outus.
c) A feast commemorating the bravery of the Pilgrims who set sail for an unknown world 3,000 miles from home.

 

On Thanksgiving, who's the one getting thanked?
1) The Indians
2) Mother Earth
3) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

 

Why did the Pilgrims leave England for America?
a) They were seeking religious freedom
b) They were searching for a better environment for their out-of-control kids
c) It's a trick question. The Pilgrims actually came to America from Holland.

 

OK, how'd you do? If you're like a lot of Americans, you don't know as much about Thanksgiving's origins as you thought.

 

It's really not your fault. The holiday has fallen into politically-correct disrepute. Walk into a Border's Books, you'll find plenty of books about Thanksgiving. But most of them offer a deeply distorted view of the holiday. For instance, readers will get the distinct impression that the Pilgrims were atheists, because all mention of God has been omitted from many a modern holiday tale.

 

Pilgrim motives are under assault, as well. Some books, and even the exhibit in Plymouth, Mass. suggest that the Pilgrims came to America hoping to become Elizabethan versions of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet: They claim that the Pilgrims came to America for economic opportunity.

 

If money had been important to these families, they would never have left England in the first place. Most suffered serious financial reversals when they fled their homeland — reversals that dogged them the rest of their lives.

 

 

Still other books suggest the Pilgrims held their feast in order to thank the Indians. Wrong! Assuredly, certain Indians — Squanto, especially — were key to the Pilgrims' survival. But despite illness, homesickness, the death of half their members the previous winter and the ongoing difficulty of scratching out a living in an unknown land, the Pilgrims thanked God for blessing them.

 

 

Actually, the fact that they spent three days thanking God instead of cursing Him tells you much about what their motives. Their story began some 14 years prior to the Mayflower voyage. In England, in the early 17th century, you were a member of the Church of England — or you were in trouble. In 1606, those who objected to aspects of church doctrine formed their own secret congregations and were known as Separatists. These worshippers were persecuted by government authorities, prompting the Separatists to flee England for Holland in 1608.

 

 

While they now enjoyed religious freedom, they also suffered desperate poverty. Most had been farmers in England; now they sought work as wool combers, tailors, pipe makers and carpenters. They were growing old before their time and becoming discouraged.

 

 

But the Separatists had an even greater concern than putting food on the table. Their kids were assimilating a little too well into Dutch culture — an aspect of the Pilgrim story we hear little about today.

 

 

Pick up a copy of William Bradford's diary and you'll find him anguishing over the way the congregation's teenagers were imitating the bad behavior of Dutch teens. Of all the sorrows to be born, Bradford writes, the heaviest was that many of their children, observing

 

the great licentiousness of youth in that countrie and the manifold temptations of the place, were drawne away by evill examples into extravagante and dangerous courses, getting the raines off their neks, and departing from their parents.

 

Some of them tended to "dissolutnes and the danger of their soules, to the great greefe of their parents and dishonor of God," Bradford notes.

 

 

 

Bradford puts an end to the notion that the Pilgrims traveled to the New World to get rich quick. He writes that while the Separatists hoped day to day living would be a bit easier in America, their chief motivations were the spiritual welfare of their children and "a great hope and inward zeall [for] laying some good foundation ... for the propagating and advancing the gospell of the kingdom of Christ" in "the vast and unpeopled countries of America."

 

 

 

Although the plan to leave Holland "caused many fears and doubts amongst them selves," and some, "out of their fears ... sought to diverte from it," the little band ultimately decided that "