MInTheGap

The Key to Weight Control: Self Discipline

Good news!  A recent study just came out to say that the “Freshman 15″ is more like 5 to 7!  Of course, it’s followed by the “Sophomore 2 or 3″ but even that is 7 to 10 at best!

Amazingly, doctor’s aren’t satisfied with the results and see things to be afraid of.  They’ve even started naming the next generation “Generation XL!”

What I find interesting is this statement that is located near the end of the article:

No one knows why, but the researchers are continuing their study to try to find out. Possible explanations include more drinking (alcohol contains calories), more socializing that involves eating, high-fat foods in dorm cafeterias and less physical activity, the researchers said. (emphasis mine)

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Worldly Worship - Excellence

Why does your church have the activities and programs that it does?

Each ministry that a church has it has for a reason.  It might be that there’s a Biblical mandate.  It might be something that has an administrative purpose.  It might be something that someone thought was a good idea.

It would do us well to evaluate why we do things and what our purpose in doing that program is and whether it is accomplishing said purpose.  Read the rest of this page »

Protect the Children

Nothing is more precious than a child. They have a heart of trust, they wish to please their parents, and they have an innocence that should not be taken away.

Unfortunately, it seems that the only place that our perverse society has left to go– the only place that is still taboo– is to take advantage of and violate children.

But what about those who are supposed to protect children? Read the rest of this page »

Worldly Worship - Our Approach to Worship

How seriously does God take the worship of Him?  Does He really accept a “come-as-you-are” philosophy or does He place demands and expectations on us?  In “the church age” where we are “under grace” instead of “under the law,” what does God expect from His worshippers?

I believe that we have gotten away from thinking about what God would have us do because of the emphasis that has been placed on the act of salvation and on eternal security, and I’m not alone.

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Worldly Worship - Who Are We Worshiping?

A Sermon that I heard online this week from a radio station that plays chapel messages from Bob Jones University seemed to emphasize something that I have been thinking a lot about lately– and that is what of the worship that we do is pleasing to God and what do we do simply because it’s convenient for us to do or because the culture has influenced us.

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Those Flexible Kids

Anyone who has had children of their own know that kids are amazing.  They are constantly saying and doing things that surprise you.  In the case of Robert Moore, it was the latter.

This little child wanted a stuffed SpongeBob Squarepants from the vending machine and when he couldn’t get it with the claw, he climbed in when his grandmother’s back was turned.

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The Wedding that Almost Wasn’t

Juliana Redd wanted to marry Perry Myres in a ceremony at a Mormon temple, and her parents did not want her to– for reasons that CNN doesn’t give. So, what did they do? They kidnapped her!

They told her that they were taking her shopping for the wedding, and made her miss her rehearsal dinner. They returned after the couple was to be married.

Now, I don’t know why the parents were upset. It could be religious background of the parents and the woman were different than that of the groom. It could be that she had just told them she was pregnant (the couple are due to have their first child in May which would put the date of conception some time in August.)

In any case, this puts a fine point on who is in charge. Are the parents or is the woman?

According to the law, the woman was free to do whatever she pleased and the woman was kidnapped. However, if she was still living at home, or relying on her parents for transportation, is it still kidnapping?

We’ve had discussions before here at MInTheGap wondering about a woman’s place and covering. When is a child no longer the parent’s responsibility? Is it when the child leaves the house? When they file for emancipation? When they get married?

Biblically, I believe that it’s not until marriage– since the Genesis passages talk about that being the time that a person leaves their parents and cleaves to another. There are instances where widows have not gone back to their families (Ruth comes to mind) but women that were divorced were cared for by their husband’s family in certain circumstances.

In any case, I believe that children should obey their parents until such time as they are no longer under their authority. At that time it should change to honoring them. I don’t see how this whole proceeding of having one’s parents put on trial for kidnapping is honoring them.

A Guide for Adultery, Toplessness and Celebrity Gossip

How do we get from writing books about how a lady should conduct herself to books about the more seedy side of our culture?  Pretty easily– as a culture degrades and moves more toward Sodom, there will always be someone out there to show us how to do it with “class.”

The first edition of Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage has been a guide for high society for some time.

But according to its editor, Jo Aitchison, the new book “Etiquette for Girls” is a sign that the traditional arbiters of civility are catching up with the times.

“It’s a nod to the modern day,” she told Reuters. “We’re pulling Debrett’s out of Victorian times and trying to make it relevant to today.” The book’s advice ranges from how to conduct a sleaze-free office fling or a disease-free one night stand, to how to smoke at social occasions and what to do when you meet a celebrity.

“Avoid dark-alley gropery and unladylike fumbling in the back of a cab,” the guide says on the subject of one night stands. “Discuss the necessaries to avoid planting any love children or disease, and you’re away.”

On smoking it decrees: “Always use a proper ashtray — never a wine bottle, flower pot or used plate — and avoid allowing smoke to billow out of the nostrils. It is also inelegant to leave the cigarette unsupported in the mouth…”

Certainly the article continues to say that there are still subjects that are covered in here that are less risque– such as manners on a bus regarding cell phones– but the fact that they have had to include instructions for things like these shows just how far those in higher places have fallen.

Nothing shows this more than what our conversation has sunk to in recent elections– where Presidents of the United States were asked what underwear they wore.  We have gotten to the point that we are so saturated by sex and the things that go along with it that it seems natural to talk about those things that should only be between a husband and wife.  We’ve made the special to be common or trash.  And then we wonder why we have a high unmarried teen birthrate, rebellious children, and a general apathy among those of the next generation.