Friday Findings: Looking Fat, Castration, and Food Porn

Frieday Findings on Modern RejectI survived the week, in part thanks to you. I also found some great reads this week. Happy Friday Findings…

Funeral Director at Large. The blog of Caleb Wilde, funeral director, is fascinating. His post, The Mourners Bill of Rights, is full of practical wisdom and grace. If you have ever had a loved one die, you will find solace in this post.

Gospel Centered Discipleship. That’s the name of a new book and I have to say, the title caught my attention. I read the forward to the book over at Matt Brown’s blog and I’m hopeful about this one. Here’s a taste: “I have become painfully aware that people tend to drift away from the gospel soon after their conversion and begin to try their hand at sanctification.” Sounds promising, right?

Do These Pants Make Me Look Fat? Allison Vesterfelt went for it and asked the age old question that no man ever wants to hear, but her response is not one you would expect. Which shouldn’t be surprising coming from Allison.

Vertical Church. So, I’m not a big conference type. I mean, I’ll go occasionally (like my trip to Catalyst this October), but usually it’s not my cup of tea. However, I was recently invited to attend the Vertical Church Conference and based on the vision, I can’t wait. Maybe there’s one coming to a town near you…

Go on, Castrate Your Husband. Nikki Weatherford wrote this hilarious, tongue-in-cheeck, and yet truth-filled and wise post about how women can go about castrating their husbands. Does it sound intriguing? It is. Check it out!

A Choice in Your Loss. Often, well-meaning individuals can ask the wrong questions at the wrong time, but God can still provide an answer. Alece Ronzino, shared over at a Deeper Story this week, about how we never really get on “the other side” of a tragic loss. One of my favorite reads of the week, for sure.

Lusting After Food. This is an interesting read about our cultures food porn addiction. I have to say, I might have a beautiful food addiction. It’s all those sexy asparagus stalks and voluptuous heads of broccoli.

So, what caught your eye this week? Anything you care to share? Or heck, how was your week?

Bad Church Signs…Just Because

I feel like its maybe been a bit heavy this week on Modern Reject, what with me almost dying followed by the whole discussion on judging other’s sins. You know, nice and lighthearted.

I’ve also had a lot of personal junk going on, including ongoing physical pain. Basically, I feel like junk. Oh, and to top off the week, I’ve received some less-than-encouraging emails from a few individuals that inevitably lead to me to question why I write this blog in the first place.

But, let’s put all that aside. That’s what I decided to do and in doing so, I spent far too long on various websites reading completely ridiculous, perhaps even inappropriate, but hilarious stuff. With that in mind, I decided to share a few of the bad church signs I viewed.

If you’ve seen any of these before, I apologize. But, hopefully they will just make you chuckle…that’s what I needed anyway. Continue reading Bad Church Signs…Just Because

Should Christians Judge Others?

I remember the day well. My friend came to me emotionally distraught. She was dating a Godly, cool, funny guy whom she loved very much. She wanted to marry him. She was certain he was the one. But, there was one problem….

…his parents.

This young man’s parents were living in sin. Behind closed doors, they had one of the most abusive, dysfunctional, and broken marriages one could imagine. To their church community, however, they had it all together. They smiled and nodded. Showed up every Sunday. Volunteered for everything. No one around them knew the truth…

…that is except for my sweet friend, who found all of this to be too much when her boyfriend’s parents were asked to teach a marriage class at church. My friend broke.

How could she allow this? How did no one else know? Why was there no one shepherding them?

She came to me asking what she should do. My answer was simple, but it made her uncomfortable. I told her what no one would… Continue reading Should Christians Judge Others?

So, I Almost Died…Sorta

I felt on edge all week, but didn’t figure this was anything to worry about. I’d also not been feeling well physically, having been racked with migraines and pain throughout my body.

So, come last Friday when I woke up feeling miserable, I was determined to not let the pain or stress win. I fought against the day. Have you ever felt like that? Where you feel as if you are simply spending your physical energy to resist? I was resisting pain, stress, a burdened heart, loneliness, anger, fatigue. I was fighting against an invisible and yet very real enemy.

And in my fight, I decided that I would win which meant doing something that usually makes me feel better: exercising. So I headed to the gym with my kids in tow, for an hour long kick box class. I felt good. I felt strong. I finished well.

But, as we headed to the car, I realized that something wasn’t right. I was suddenly dizzy and breathless. I reached down and touched my chest and felt mildly shocked to find that my heart was racing, not beating, but racing. I had been out of class for some time. My heart shouldn’t have been racing, but that was just the beginning. Continue reading So, I Almost Died…Sorta

Are You a Modest Christian?

Have most young women today ever heard of the word “modesty?” Truly? If you were to stop the average 12 or 13 year-old girl on the street and ask her for a definition of the word “modesty,” what do you think she would say?

I’ll tell you. She’d say, “Huh?”

Looking back, I realize that before even becoming a Christian, I had a certain level of modesty about me. When friends chose to wear more provocative or sexy clothing, I declined. I never really felt comfortable in bikinis and often tried to cover myself.

But, now I know that modesty extends so far beyond what we wear. Modesty isn’t solely about mini-skirts and push-up bras. It is a state of being, a quality one holds. Modesty encompasses more than we assume, but even much of what we assume is wrong. Continue reading Are You a Modest Christian?

The Death of My Dream

For a really long time, I wanted to be a magazine editor. Or rather, I wanted to start my own magazine and then declare myself “editor.” It was my life-long dream. Everyone who knew me, knew I would one day be an Editor-in-Chief.

Then something happened. I guess you could just call it “life.”

Life happened, as it tends to do and I was sidetracked from my dream.

The trouble is, that dream had been with me for so long that I almost didn’t know who I was–or who I was supposed to be–without it. For as long as I could remember, I had envisioned myself living in New York City, scraping by, but wildly in love and passionate about my fledgling, yet growing political magazine.

So, when the reality that this little dream would probably never actually become reality itself set in, I was shaken. Continue reading The Death of My Dream

My Favorite Posts You Haven’t Read

Sex sells. So does raising titillating and often uncomfortable questions it seems. At least, those are some of the things that “sell” on this blog.

A little while ago, I shared the Top 10 Posts of 2012 (So Far). The posts that comprised that list were a bit of a surprise to me. Sure, some are a given, but it seems that almost every time I write a post that I absolutely, completely love and feel proud of–only a few of you read it.

My favorites posts get less action and the posts that I am undoubtedly unsure of and feel insecure about usually do well. Go figure.

But, with all that in mind, I thought I’d share a few of My Favorite Posts You Haven’t Read (maybe you have read these because you are a hardcore “reject” and for that I thank you). I’m going all the way back to the archives from two years ago when I started this baby.

Here they are, in no particular order: Continue reading My Favorite Posts You Haven’t Read

Top 10 Ways to Not Be a Jerk

I’m just finishing up a little vacation with my family and as a result today’s post is from the archives. I hope you don’t mind and I hope you enjoy. P.S. If you want to be a total stalker (shhh, I won’t tell) find me on Instagram as “Modernreject” to see my vacation pics.

I’ve been a bit of a jerk lately. I mean, you may not have noticed. People around me may not have noticed much, but I have. And God has certainly noticed.

My jerkiness has been manifesting itself as pride. Ugh. I hate that word: pride. It is a word that haunts me. Before knowing Christ I was extremely prideful and not in that cocky semi-attractive way. I was prideful in that don’t even think about telling me what to do because I already know it all kind of way.

God has definitely broken me (like a wild stallion) of much of my pride. But, every once in a while, if I’m not careful, it starts to creep back up and finds its way into my relationship with the Lord. He has been patient with me, more than I deserve. I have realized I have been a bit of a jerk recently to those around me and especially to God, thanks to that unattractive yet persistent pride of mine.

Oh, pride is ugly. It is a turn-off. It can even control you but, here are some ways to not let pride take over. Here are 10 ways to not be a jerk: Continue reading Top 10 Ways to Not Be a Jerk

Friday Findings: Anxiety, Fallacies, and Rule Breakers

Frieday Findings on Modern RejectOkay, so you may have noticed that last Friday there were no Friday Findings to speak of…sorry about that. But, today, I’m here to make up for that fact with an extra awesome and extra long list of gems and goodies.

So much to see, so little time…

Wake Up for Your Kids. No post has convicted me as much as this post, in quite some time. I have been hearing the Lord gently directing me in this and then I stumbled upon this post. It was confirmation of the changes I need to make at home.

Logical Fallacies. If you are a theological, analytical, or heck, argumentative type, you’ll probably find this site hilarious. It helps you call people out on the most common logical fallacies. Genius. Not so grace-filled, but genius nonetheless.

Us and Our Anxiety. A well-stated and interesting read from the Huffington Post asking whether or not anxiety is simply a natural human emotion that we have begun to pathologize, due to our cultures obsession with “treatment.”

Oh, Dave. Save It. Are you a Dave Ramsey fan? I sure am. I took a Financial Freedom class in college and have never thought about money the same way since. This post, however, challenges much of Ramsey’s teachings and does so in a loving, truth-filled, and honoring way. A good read.

10 Steps to Sanctification. The Barna Group, A.K.A. the Christian research top-dogs, is soon-to-be-coming out with a book that suggests that each of us can trace our spiritual journey in 10 steps. Sound hokey? I’m not sure either, but I’m intrigued.

Mary, the Bondservant. Do you ever think about Mary? I do and quite often, in fact. I imagine the angel standing before her explaining that nothing, including the world, would ever be the same. Well, Rebecca at her blog The Upside Down World, wrote a lovely and compelling post about the mother of Jesus. One of my personal favorites this week.

Rule Breakers Unite. I’ve mentioned Alice Bradley here before. She is, without a doubt, one of my favorite blogger/writers/funny ladies. Calling her hilarious is an understatement and writing funny–consistently funny–is so hard to do, but, posts like this continue to make me laugh out loud.

Love me some Frank. If you’ve been around this blog more than once, you probably know that I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Frank Viola. So, it is easy for me to recommend anything he has written…and of all his 13 books, each one is priceless. That being said, his new book, Beyond Evangelical, is now available (I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy). Another of his books, Revive Us Again (one of my favorites) is also available for a discounted price. BONUS: It is a signed copy from Frank himself. Score.

Alright my friends, lay it on me…What caught your eye this week? What did you read that you just have to share? What did you read that made your skin crawl? What else is going on? Anything?

The Death and Resurrection of Marriage

Marriage is dying, but not in the way we might think.

I, for one, didn’t really care much about marriage when I was younger. I came from a divorced home, feeling separated from my father before I could even form a full memory of his face.

I watched both parents remarry and felt the pain and anger rage inside of me at the age of six, in knowing that despite my fantasy, my parents would never reunite.

I saw my parents new marriages be nothing like anything I ever wanted for myself–so much work, so much effort, so much sacrifice.

By the time I was 16, I was convinced that marriage and I didn’t mix. I wanted to roam free, be free, feel free. I didn’t need a man. I didn’t need a piece of paper to tell me that I loved someone. I was enough and that was enough.

And then that persistent Savior of mine grabbed my heart hard and fast and before I could catch my breath in order to scream out “No!” I was reconsidering what it meant to say “I do.” Continue reading The Death and Resurrection of Marriage