Saturday, August 23, 2008

A Real Man

http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2006/01/teen-girls-define-a-real-man/

I can't speak for every Christian girl out there, but I'd have to say that this is THE list of things I'll be looking for when it comes time to start looking for a husband [which won't be for a good while, I can guarantee that ;) ].
Great guys who follow God ARE out there and they CAN be found. Off the top of my head I can think of 14 men [young and old] that are excellent examples of godly leadership and discipleship.
Also realize that I'm not saying that there's such a thing as "the perfect man." Come on. No one can be 100% perfect 100% of the time. But there are men out there who are striving constantly to pursue God's heart- and while they stumble on occasion, we all do, they are the men that will set their standards far above the others and, with God's blessing, live up to them.

At the same time, there are characteristics of women that we can embrace and live up to. Here's the link for that post:
http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2006/02/three-teens-define-a-real-woman

As Christians we are called to live a life that's totally different than what the rest of the world has to offer. These articles are just brief summaries of how we can live that life with humility and grace, and why.
If you can, I also recommend checking out the rest of therebelution.com. It's a great resource and worth paying attention to and discussing.

In Christ,
Morgan

Monday, August 11, 2008

Psalm 116

i love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
because he turned his ear to me,
i will call on him as long as i live.
the cords of death entangeled me,
the anguish of the grave came upon me;
i was overcome by the trouble and the sorrow.
then i called on the name of the Lord,
"o Lord, save me!"
the Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
the Lord protects the simplehearted;
when i was in great need, he saved me.
be at rest once more, o my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
for you, o Lord, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
that i may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
i believed; therefore i said,
"i am greatly afflicted."
and in my dismay i said,
"all men are liars."
how can i repay the Lord
for all his goodness to me?
i will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
i will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
o Lord, truly i am your servant;
i am your servant, the son of your maidservant;
you have freed me from my chains.
i will sacrifice a thanks offering to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
i will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord--
in your midst, o jerusalem.
praise the Lord.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Hippie??

Take someone who loves acoustic folk music. Now let's say they have dreams of becoming an abolitionist and humanitartian, traveling around the world at a moment's notice. Maybe we'll throw in the fact that they have a growing fetish for free trade and organic clothing. They enjoy organic health foods, as well. Today's culture of wanting "more, more, more" unappeals to them, especially since what they want is a simple, unmaterialistic life that focuses on things that are unseen. And let's mention that the message of unifying love and peace encompasses their minds.

Really, does that sound like a hippie to you?

To tell you the truth, all the aforementioned qualities describe me to a T- and if you know me personally, would you honestly say that I'm a hippie even in light of these qualities? Most wouldn't; but lately I've been hearing the term "hippie" being tossed around more and more in my presence, and it's usually directed at me. I finally began to wonder why a few people were referring to me as such- and when I asked, they said, "Well, you're all 'Free the slaves, No sweatshops, Stop the traffick, Peace and love!'"

That threw me off a little bit.

In this day and age, I find it really sad that as soon as someone starts to care about issues that are outside of any materialistic bubble, a select few immediately brand them as "hippies" or "dreamers" or even "a reminder of liberals from the 60's." Ridiculous! What a twisted culture we must have, to think that someone who cares about and fights towards freedom for others is an oddball. The self-centeredness of the world today is shown through these comments and assumptions.

But they're halfway right, if nothing else- I definitely don't consider myself a "hippie," but I do feel a growing passion for human rights. And I bet if you did a little research, you would understand why I'm becoming more and more on fire for anti-slavery and anti-trafficking campaigns.

Let's consider the fact that 27 million people, women, children, and men, are currently in slavery- that's more than double the amount of slaves during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Let us also consider the estimation that every two minutes, one child is sold into sexual exploitation alone [that's not even considering other adults sold for other trades]. People all around the world, even in the United States, are being threatened, beaten, and forced into manual labor or a sex trade.

The type of trade that hits closest to my heart [although all slavery churns my stomach with injustice] is the trafficking of children for sex exploitation. You've heard of how rough and horrendous the experience is for rape victims- imagine how horrible it must be for a child prostitute who has to cater to customers from other countries, who can have an average of 8 customers a day, and who have to continue to deal with the ramifications throughout their lives. Some children get pregnant and then are forced to have abortions; others contract disease and, once diagnosed, are thrown out on the streets, rendered useless by their owners.
In the Bible it says that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. It breaks my heart to think that I have a baby sister in Cambodia who has to feel the touch of horrible naked adults every single day, and she can't do anything to help herself.

One girl who was freed from sexual exploitation a few years ago recalled, "I was in slavery for three years; and for two years, I never saw the light of day. My owners kept me in the dark in a brothel, back in the seedy part of a city in Cambodia."

If that doesn't break your heart, I don't know what will.

I'm not writing this post to scare you, or guilt you into donating a truckload of money to an anti-slavery movement. I'm not trying to do that at all. The purpose of this particular post is to show you why I'm becoming more and more vocal about human rights and to raise awareness in the community. The first step to abolishing slavery is raising awareness- the more people that have injustice brought to their attention, the bigger effect we'll have when we being to take larger steps toward freedom.

I can tell you right now that this won't be the last post I write about slavery. This is a real issue, and it needs to be stopped. Too many people today think that slavery was abolished when the North won the Civil War- but that's all too untrue.

If you would like to know more about anti-slavery movements, here are a few links to some sites you can check out:
stopthetraffick.org
love146.org
myspace.com/lc2lc

"For He will deliver the needy that cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
He will rescue them from oppresion and violence,
for precious is their blood in His sight."
Psalm 72:12-14
Let's be the hands and feet of Christ and accomplish the mission He's laid before us: to be salt and light of the world; to preserve the world and show His love until He returns.
Thanks and God bless.

Friday, August 8, 2008

A Renewed Vow

(picture taken from c28.com)

I feel the need to start out this post with an apology:

To any guy I have ever caused to sin because of the way I dress, you don't understand how sorry I am. I've never conciously tried to flaunt anything, but I realize that I've also rarely taken into consideration how simple articles of clothing can affect you. It's time for me to start being aware of how some things, even just a tank top, can take your eyes off of Christ.





Generally I just buy my clothes because I think they're cute and, by my standards, they're modest. But after reading some posts from therebelution.com, I realize that I need to be dressing according to even higher standards than what I've set, even if they're already higher than the world's standards. As your sister in Christ, the last thing I want is to be a stumbling block to any of my brothers. I want to encourage you in every way I can, even if it's just as simple as choosing a normal, loose T-shirt over some sleeveless number.

I'm not doing this just because of the way it will affect guys now, but also because of who God wants me to be and because I will someday [hopefully] have a husband, and I want to save as much of myself as possible for him.

The reason behind my renewed vow of modesty is due to the modesty survey on therebelution.com. It was a survey conducted by the hosts of therebelution.com in order to let guys voice their opinions on several different aspects of modesty and to help Christian girls, or any girls for that matter, decide what attire will help them encourage their fellow menfolk in staying pure.

Here is the link to the survey results: http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/browse

I highly encourage everyone to read through them and reconsider the state of their hearts. And, if you have the means, I also recommend buying Alex and Brett Harris's book, Do Hard Things- it was definitely life-altering for me, but more on that later; that's a different post entirely.

Love always from your sister in Christ,

Morgan

Friday, August 1, 2008

High Schoooool

Although I don't like to admit it, I'm not very good at looking at things through different perspectives. I'll analyze the bejeezes out of a situation as it comes, and then as soon as the ordeal is over I'll forget about it, never stepping back to take a look at the possible method behind the madness. But as fifteen or so of my fellow high schoolers and I huddled in a group prayer, all covered in the remains of water balloons and shaving cream, I thought ahead to what high school might have in store for myself and everyone else. Then my mind drifted to what the past three years of middle school have meant to me, and I began looking at everything with new eyes.

To be brutally honest, I couldn't stand middle school. I couldn't stand the curriculum, the work, the drama, the fakeness of some of the students, the stereotypes, and on and so forth. I've never been so frustrated as when I was at WCMS. Yes, I'll admit, I did have some great times with friends, but the bad times almost outweigh that. At first thought, I'd really rather forget about it and never look back.

But then came the "new perspective." It hit me that through everything, God had been teaching and molding me, even when I was too ticked off to notice. Everything in my life up until now has been put there in order to help me prepare for the next four years of my life. Through every high and low there has been a lesson learned. Nothing should be forgotten because in one way or another God has used it to help me grow as a Christ-follower. And I'm proud to say that I'm definitely not the same as I was three years ago, or even one year ago. It's becoming a little clearer.

I'm also extremely excited for high school. Not for the work, mind you, but for the things I'm going to experience. Driving, high school youth group, meeting new people, growing in God, and growing as a person. I know there's going to be more problems and that life is definitely not going to be smooth, but focusing on God and being who He created me to be is definitely helping me to prepare for those situations.

I'm just super excited. Like you don't even know.
K goodnight. :]