I am not doubting the sincerity of Christian women’s love for Christ, and so I am not saying that those Christian women who dress immodesty are doing it because they hate Christ. But the Bible does not say we are perishing because our lack of love, no, it says we are perishing because of our lack of knowledge: “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. ‘Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.’†(Hosea 4:6) Also, when you love someone you have to love that person the way they want and need. For example, if my wife wants to go to a certain restaurant but I take her to the restaurant I like then I have not expressed love toward her. So it is the same with Christ: we… read more
Testimony
Now, here is what I think are some of the reasons immodesty is such a big sensual problem in the church today: 1) I believe, the biggest problem with immodesty is that it is a very well disguised idolatry. Anything that we replace God with to make us feel whole, to fulfill us emotionally, to make us feel wanted and desired, to lift our self-image, to make us reach our goals (such as attracting a husband-to-be), or to make our lives feel complete is an idol. For example, a man does not lust for the sake of lusting: a man lusts because momentary this physically attractive woman makes him feel a satisfaction he hasn’t fulfilled with his relationship to Christ. The same applies to other sins such as getting drunk–nobody gets drunk to make a fool of himself—people get drunk to escape a reality they do not like because they… read more
I was so pleased when I saw this group of youth dancing for the Lord on stage at the 2011 Jesus in the City parade in Toronto. I was particularly glad because the dancers were dressed so modestly, and so they looked so beautiful—more beautiful than any lady I have seen in a long while. Sadly, modesty was not the norm at this event: there was a worship group from Ottawa composed of two ladies who were dressed so immodesty that I didn’t photograph them (I didn’t even watch them), because I would’ve been nearly impossible for me as a photographer to edit their photos to make them acceptable with Christianity’s teaching about modesty. There was also another two ladies in the crowd who I avoided standing behind them because they wore such tight pants (both, to avoid temptation and to avoid photographing them), and so you can imagine my… read more
Today I’m going to tell you a part of my testimony that I’ve hidden for a long time. I hid it because of pride, guilt, and shame. I hid it because that was exactly what Satan told me to do. That way I’d become a useless Christian immobilized by my own actions. I was ashamed that my life didn’t reflect the promises in Romans 6:6-7 “We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin. Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control.†Boy, that sure didn’t reflect my life… You see for more than 10 years (I honestly can’t remember when it began) I had an addiction to pornography and masturbation. These are two of my least favorite words in the world, the very words themselves… read more
The Testimony of Emma Nation reflects the pain and depravity that we face outside of Christ and the ultimate plan that the devil has for all humans which is death! But thank God that He has a better plan for us, a plan for life everlasting! Emma wraps up her testimony, with a revelation on how God is continuing to heal the scars in her life. Testimony My life still holds pain, but I have a faithful comforter and healer! I am still a broken woman, desperately in need of His strength, love, forgiveness and rest every single day, but I am a new creation starting fresh as a pure, lovely, redeemed, chosen, loved child of the Most High King. March 13, 2010 was the day that this verse became the true claim of my life. This was also the day that God changed my name from Emily to… read more
This is a continuation of the testimony of Emma Nation. We learned in the first part of her story, the struggles leading up to abuse and attempted suicide. God showed Emma that He loved her, by sending help just at the right time to pull her from the clutches of the devil, God had better plans for her. The image depicts the surgery that the Lord performed in bringing her out of bondage. Testimony Jesus saved my life in more ways than one. But the pain in my heart was very real and very alive. By that point it had already taken over me and cut deep holes in my spirit. I had already learned to use food in so many ways other than what it was intended for. Food was my connection to my mother as many happy memories with her from early childhood centered around food. Food was… read more
Today I have a testimony to share with you from Emma Nation. Emma describes her life and the miraculous journey that the Lord brought her through. Her life’s journey got so rough that suicide looked like a perfect way out, but God had greater plans for her! The image, depicts the gravity of her depravity without Christ. Testimony I survived childhood, but I definitely wouldn’t say that I enjoyed it. As I’m sure many of you have experienced, being a kid often times means being hurt. It’s so sad, especially because, each child is chosen and carefully created by a loving Father who has a specific plan and will for that child’s life. Sadly, each child is born into a world full of hurting people, people who hurt those that they ‘can’, because they themselves are so broken and wounded. God specifically chose to create me in 1981, in the… read more
Today I have a testimony to share with you from my Flickr friend Andrew, he has a great testimony and it’s awesome to see the passion in his life. He has done some missions work and you can just tell that it has impacted him in big ways! Testimony I grew up in a very strong Christian family. We would always go to church and I was able to see Godly examples of life from either my family or the people at my church. But even so, I remember feeling from a very young age that I just didn’t think that I fit in very well. I wasn’t sure what it was at the time, but looking back now I know that it was a feeling of inadequacy, like I wasn’t living up to what was expected of me. I have two older brothers, both of which I thought always… read more
Today’s testimony is brought to you courtesy of Dave Berryman, he is one of the many wonderful people that I have had the privilege of meeting on Flickr. I take much inspiration from him, from both his style of photos and the awesome messages he includes with them. The idea of sharing others testimonies was actually from Dave and I would like to thank him for allowing me to share this with all of you. Testimony I grew up in a Christian home all my life, but when I left home I became addicted to porn. I went to church every Sunday but I could not stop my insatiable appetite for porn. I was on the church board, but I could not let go of porn…it had its hooks in me good! I led small groups but for some reason I didn’t have the ability to stop looking at porn… read more
Today’s testimony is brought to you by an anonymous friend, she has been a great encouragement to me and is an inspirational woman of faith. Testimony My siblings and I were raised by a single mother and the occasional step-dad (around three years in total with that guy). We moved a lot and rarely stayed in one place too long; I think four years may have been the longest. We were always either in trailer courts or government subsidized housing in the urban, inner city or suburban ghettos. We were rarely supervised so life was free and without rules, so trouble and/or bad choices seem to ensue where ever I lived. I can now laugh with my siblings and proclaim that we were truly feral animals. Due to this environment I learned a lot about how to survive mentally and physically. I did a lot of fighting growing up to… read more
I was raised in what I would call a semi-Christian home. I was never taught about having a personal relationship with Jesus, but I was taught the real significance behind Christian holidays and I was taught many of the same basic principles of the Bible for living my life. When I was 10 years old, we moved to a new city and some neighbors invited us to attend AWANAS. We began to attend church and by the end of my first year of AWANAS I had given my life to Christ. During my school years I had a great group of Christian friends and as a result I never got into alcohol or drugs or anything like that. It was really easy in my group to stay on the straight and narrow, which was really cool, but I never felt like I made a difference for Christ while at… read more
Hi, my name is Tyler A. van der Hoeven, I accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior for my sins at the age of four. Although my salvation didn’t mean a whole lot to me then, salvation isn’t about the saved, its about the Savior, and what He does to those he has redeemed. My testimony isn’t about me and all that Jesus saved me from, but rather its all about my Savior, the only Son of God, part of the triune Godhead, born of the virgin Mary, who lived on earth as the God/man and died on the cross, bearing the full, unrestrained wrath of almighty God against all my sins. I am the worst sinner I know, such a hypocrite, so prone to pride, to take the credit and pass the blame. It is such a wonder to me that God chooses to keep such a one as me,… read more
In my previous post A Dreamer – Escaping The Brokenness of Life, I shared with you a little of my life leading up to me being saved and being blessed with a spirit filled husband, today I will share how The Holy Spirit has blessed me with different gifts in order to share the Gospel. I’m a dreamer. I also am given many visions from the Lord. These are gifts from the Holy Spirit, yes. Joel speaks of this [ Joel 2:28 ] and again in Acts. [ Acts 2:17 ] The journey in Jesus and this walk, is painful and joyous. That is truth. Persecution has come in all different, shapes and sizes. but the outcome of these trials and tribulations is this. Jesus is LORD and He is KING! I become stronger in Christ. To press toward the higher calling in Christ Jesus. To persevere in Him. I… read more
Blessed Revelation Wallpaper. The book of Revelation was a book I feared to read when I became a christian; I thought I would never be able to grasp it, or if I did understand it, the book would make me too fearful and I would just worry about the future. The Holy Spirit kept prompting me to read it, I finally worked up the nerve and to my surprise, the very first verses gives a promise of blessing to the reader and the person who hears the prophecies, I got excited and I eventually read the entire book. Revelation 1:1-3 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ,… read more
One day I was speeding, I was driving 90 mph in a 60 mph zone! Yes, I was going pretty fast!! Well the State Trooper saw me, pulled me over and slapped me with a ticket! The incident spoiled my whole evening. I had to go home and explain to my wife what had happened and just thinking about it made me feel sick to my stomach, I could have killed someone or myself. I paid the ticket but a couple weeks after later I was driving on the I-95, this was going the speed limit, my car spun out in a light rain, that made the road slippery. My car was totaled!. This was a miracle in itself, because I was not hurt, not even a scratch. About two months later after a long search for a new car, with a few dollars to spare, the Lord blessed me… read more