What if you marry him and he is impotent?

For some reason whenever people (who are not abstinent) talk about those who have decided to be abstinent until marriage one question always seems to crop up:

What if you marry him and you find out that he is impotent????

Aaaarrrrgh the horror!!! (Sarcasm)

Well here is my response:

  1. I REFUSE to make decisions based on fear (Job 3:25)
    1. Because fear torments (1 John 4:18)
  2. God is a merciful God and he won’t do that to me
    1. Jesus died to redeem me from the curse (Galatians 3:13) – and disease (impotence) is a curse (Deuteronomy 28:15-27)
  3. Even if that were to happen, I believe in healing and my husband will be healed of this demise ASAP
    1. By his stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24)
    2. Bless the Lord who heals all our diseases (Psalm 103: 1-3)
  4. Even if he were not healed, marriage is so much more than just sex (see previous blog) therefore I will still have a better marriage than all y’all that decided not to be abstinent.

What other responses would you give to people who criticize your decision to be abstinent?

What other reasons have you heard on why it is dangerous not to “test drive” your future spouse?

Review: Gigi's Big Break (DVD)

Gigi’s Big Break (DVD) 

Gigi, God’s Little Princess

By Sheila Walsh

Retail Price: $14.99

ISBN: 1400315107

“The White Lie” and “The Pink Surprise”

“If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive…and cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.”  (ICB)

This was my first time watching the Gigi series* and it was very cute. I watched it with my friend’s children…and lets just say we watched the DVD over and over again…I even started to memorize the lines.

Gigi is funny and very interesting, and the lessons are biblical. The focus is on serving God in everything we do, and having fun doing it! Which is what God wants.

The White Lie talks about the importance of telling the truth, and The Pink Surprise talks about having younger siblings.

This DVD is highly recommended…your children will enjoy it, and you will find yourself engrossed in the movie as well.

For more information and to purchase this DVD click here.

Check out Gigi Princess Party Kit.

*Thomas Nelson provided me with a free copy to review

NLT Break Through to Clarity Bible Contest and Giveaway!

The New Living Translation Break Through to Clarity Bible Contest and Giveaway

Visit www.facebook.com/NewLivingTranslation and click on the tab that says “Sweepstakes”

Fill out a simple form, take a quick Bible clarity survey, invite your friends to join and you’ll be entered to win one of our exciting prizes.

With each fan number milestone a new prize will be given away.

Grand Prize

Apple iPad 64G and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the fifth milestone
Retail Value: $829.00

2nd Prize

32G iPod Touch and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the fourth milestone
Retail Value: $300.00

3rd Prize

Kindle DX and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the third milestone
Retail Value: $489.00

4th Prize

Apple iPad 16G and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the New Living Translation Fan Page hits the second milestone
Retail Value: $499.00

5th Prize

Apple iPad 32G and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the first milestone
Retail Value: $599.00

Prize Eligibility

Only persons residing in United States who are at least 18 years of age can enter.

Sweepstakes Starts

March 17, 2010 @ 10:24 am (PDT)

Sweepstakes Ends

April 30, 2010 @ 10:24 am (PDT)

Wait, there’s more!

Visit http://biblecontest.newlivingtranslation.com/index.php for a chance to win a trip for two to Hawaii!

Here’s the details:

Choose one of six passages of Scripture from the New Living Translation and consider:
How do these verses encourage you to know God better?
What is God teaching you in this passage?
How does this passage apply to your life?

Submit your answer and you’ll be entered to win.

Just for signing up: Everybody Wins! Win a Free .mp3 download from the NLT’s new Red Letters Project. It’s the dynamic, new presentation of the sung and narrated words of the Gospel of Matthew. You win the download just for entering! Or choose to download the NLT Philippians Bible Study, complete with the Book of Philippians in the NLT.

Every day, one person will win the best-selling Life Application Study Bible!

The grand prize: One person will win a fantastic trip for two to the crystal clear waters of the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu’s North Shore in beautiful Hawaii.

Sexist Bible

You know something that always bothered me about the Bible was that men were often mentioned in genealogies, while women were not. I mean it seemed to me as if the men were seen as important and vital to the story, while the women were seen as unimportant.

Nevertheless, knowing that God is good, I chose to trust Him, believing that I would one day get a revelation of why the Bible chose to do this.

The other day I was studying God’s definition of marriage and these 4 things stood out to me:

  1. Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image…male and female he created them
  2. Genesis 2:24  Man [shall] leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh
  3. Genesis 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them and called their name Adam
  4. Mark 10:6-9 From the beginning God made them male and female…and the twain shall be one flesh…what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Can you see it?

From the beginning God made Man- and within man was male and female. They were not separate creatures they were the same creature, just two distinct personalities of the same creature. This is why when two people marry, they become one flesh, just like in the beginning where God saw both personalities but called both of them Adam, because in his sight they were both one, they were both called Adam (not Adam 1 and Adam 2, or Adam and Eve).

So when the genealogies referred to a man it was also referring to his wife, or wives because in God’s sight the man’s name encompassed his wife’s name (or wives’ names) as well…

Why else do you think men seem to be more emphasized than women in the Bible?

Book Review: Girls Life Application Study Bible

Girls Life Application Study Bible

List Price: 39.99
Sale Price: 29.97
ISBN: 978-1-4143-3397-7
Trim Size: 5 3/8 x 8 3/8
Binding: LeatherLike, Glittery Grape Butterfly
Release: March 2010

Features:

  • “What Now?” Learn how to make good choices in tough times
  • “I Survived!” Personal survival stories from older teens about how they made it
  • “Amazing Facts” Bible trivia
  • “At a Glance”—the lives of famous women in the Bible—good and bad—become lessons for teens
  • “Is It OK?” A reality check on what the Bible says about the questions that are really on your mind
  • 2-color interior; 16 pages of full-color illustrations about Bible times
  • Book introductions and timelines
  • Charts and 3-dimensional maps

So I’m a 100% KJV (King James Version) fan, because I feel that Bibles that try to make the truth too simple take away from it. Nevertheless, if we are to have a simple English version, then NLT (New Living Translation) is not bad at all. I would even go as far as saying that it is actually a pretty decent translation.

With all that said, my first reaction is that this is a very nice Bible*. It’s pink and purple combination is quite aesthetically pleasing (aka cool). I wrote in one of my other book reviews how much I enjoy reading pink books, and Tyndale must have read my blog, because here they are with another great pink book.

The additional features listed above are quite phenomenal…the timelines the way Bible lessons are applied to the kinds of challenges that a young girl would face etc. shows that a lot of time was put into this Bible. I could definitely relate to some of the stories and I could see young girls relating to the stories as well…this will be a great addition to your library…I know my little cousin will enjoy her new (read “my new”) copy.

For more information and to purchase this book Click here.
* Tyndale provided me with a free copy to review

Wow! They're Married…So They Can Have Sex Now…

A friend of mine recently got married and the first thought that came to my mind was

“wow, she can have sex now.”

I caught myself quickly and tried to “christianize” my thoughts, but it revealed something about the way I thought.

And if you were completely honest, you would admit that even you (Christians) have thought that at some point in time. Almost as if the only reason to get married is so that you can have “unlimited, legal, God-ordained sex.” While I believe that sex is one of the benefits of marriage, there is so much more to the thing…

My pastor has been focusing a lot lately about purpose..”If we don’t know the purpose of a thing, we will abuse it,” so what is the purpose of marriage?

  1. Companionship?
  2. Financial Benefits?
  3. Finding your Identity?
  4. Reflecting God in the world? (Matthew 5:16)

Ephesians 5:22-33 talks about how husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church…

And just as the two (man and wife) become one, Christ and the Church also must become one. Marriage is a new beginning, yet a continuation of our commitment to serve God, to die to our desires and to enjoy the benefits of serving God and others. We must learn to serve,  love and care for, our spouses even better than we care for the lost! (unconditionally). Marriage is an honorable thing (Hebrews 13:4) and we should look forward to it (if we are called to it), but let us not forget its purpose.

The Bible says that We are as Christ in this world (1 John 4:17), and that it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Romans 2:4). Brothers and Sisters, let us daily learn to be like Christ and reflect his goodness, so that many can be led to repentance (whether in marriage or in singleness).

So what is your perception of marriage? or what wrong ideas are you learning to change?

For more articles on Marriage:

God’s Kind of Love in Marriage

Sex is Not About Waiting

I Should Have Won

My short-film career has had some disappointing set backs.

I knew I was a phenomenal “short-filmer” and I needed to share this gift with the world (sarcasm).

I decided to enter three competitions and I was sure that I would place in at least two of the three.

I prayed for favor and was full of faith for all three, but I had some unbelief with regards to the third. So even though my faith was high for the third, my unbelief seemed to be drowning out my faith…but I held on to hope.

Needless to say…I lost all three!

So did God fail me??? – Did he not answer my prayers or did he answer the three prayers with a loud and final NO!!!

—

The Bible says: Ask and you will receive (Luke 11:9-12) not sometimes or most times, but all the time…Ask and you will receive. As long as you ask according to the will of God and you have faith, even as small as a mustard seed, and you have worked on eliminating your unbelief, then you will receive an answer to your prayers…And since God is always consistent (Hebrews 13:8) and his answers are always yes (2 Corinthians 1:20), then it must be that he never answers with a “No.”

Whenever we pray, God’s power is released (Daniel 9-10), but our ability to receive depends on various things:

  1. God’s will (James 4)
  2. Our faith (Luke 17:6)
  3. Our unbelief (Matthew 17:14-22)
  4. Demonic attacks (Daniel 10:1-14)

With this knowledge I will pray more wisely for any other competition I enter, but of course I will never give up because I believe in Deuteronomy 28: 1-14.

Check out Andrew Wommack’s teaching on Prayer and Faith.

How about you- can you remember a time you prayed and were full of faith, but you did not get it?

What other reasons are there for “un-received” prayers?