Crosspoint Staff :)

You've Got Lies: Chick Flicks and the World's Approach to Men and Marriage

I'm a huge "chick flick" fan along with the rest of most women in the world.  A few of my favorite movies include "Pride & Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", etc.   I spend a large quantity of time talking about singleness and being content in singleness with the girls I disciple.  As a result of all these conversations, I've been thinking a lot lately about what these "chick flicks" tell us as women.  Don't get me wrong, I love chick flicks as much as the next girl.  But I think it's important to watch them critically and to recognize the lies they are tempting us to believe.

As it would turn out, I just read a great article that was on Capitol Hill Baptist's website.  Click here to read it.

"Whether we realize it or not, as we munch our popcorn, films communicate underlying emotional messages to us. What are these messages teaching us about life, love, and romance? Better yet, what do these films teach us about the nature of true masculinity and femininity? Does watching such movies actually affect our understanding of romance or shape how we go about looking for this ideal husband?"

The author, Beth Sproul, aruges that these movies present a "normal" unbiblical and unrealistic picture of men, love, and marriage.

Here are some of the lies she says these movies tempt women to believe:
1) Men think of romance and relational intimacy exactly like women do.
2) If I marry the the right man, all will be right in my life.
3) I will know that a man is right for me by the feelings I get when I'm with him.

Which one of these lies have you been believing? 

Staff Outing Day!

I had the privilege of spending a fun day with our staff team!  We rented a 15 passenger van and drove to Ceasar's Head and then kept on going to Brevard, NC.  Pastor Ken gave us the "Lewis tour" of where he grew up in Pickens, where his grandma lived, where he pastored his first church, etc...it was great!  We ate lunch at a really cute 50's style soda shop in Brevard called Rocky's.  It was nice to get out of the office and I really enjoyed spending time with our amazing staff.  I'm thankful for days like these!

Ceasar's Head

Meredyth and I

It was GORGEOUS...especially with the fall leaves changing!

Almost everyone by the waterfall 

Discipleship with Caroline

I've been trying to think outside the box recently about how I can spend time with the girls I'm discipling.  This week instead of meeting over coffee, Caroline and I made a trip to Station Cove Falls in Walhalla.  I had so much fun spending time with Caroline and doing something different!

This is a picture of Caroline and I (and Adrienne :)) at the TCU game a few weeks ago

Fall Leaves on Lake Keowee

I love the fall when the leaves begin changing colors.  Here's a few pretty shots around the neighborhood where I live:

The Gospel and A Heart for the Poor

"Like nothing else could ever do, the gospel instills in me a heart for the downcast, the poverty-stricken, and those in need of physical mercies, especially when such persons are of the household of faith.

When I see persons who are materially poor, I instantly feel a kinship with them, for they are physically what I was spiritually when my heart was closed to Christ. Perhaps some of them are in their condition because of sin, but so was I. Perhaps they are unkind when I try to help them; but I, too, have been spiteful to God when He has sought to help me. Perhaps they are thankless and even abuse the kindness I show them, but how many times have I been thankless and used what God has given me to serve selfish ends?

Perhaps a poverty-stricken person will be blessed and changed as a result of some kindness I show him. If so, God be praised for His grace through me. But if the person walks away unchanged by my kindness, then I still rejoice over the opportunity to love as God loves. Perhaps the person will repent in time; but for now, my heart is chastened and made wiser by the tangible depiction of what I myself have done to God on numerous occasions.

The gospel reminds me daily of the spiritual poverty into which I was born and also of the staggering generosity of Christ towards me. Such reminders instill in me both a felt connection to the poor and a desire to show them the same generosity that has been lavished on me. When ministering to the poor with these motivations, I not only preach the gospel to them through word and deed, but I reenact the gospel to my own benefit as well."

 - Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians

William Carey's Form of Agreement

I am reviewing for my Baptist History mid-term today. As I was going through my notes, I was encouraged by studying the life of William Carey (famous missionary to India in the 1800's). Specifically, I was encouraged by The Form of Agreement he wrote in 1805 with William Ward and Joshua Marshmen.  The agreement is a guide about how to do missionary work.

• To set an infinite value on men's souls.
• To acquaint ourselves with the snares which hold the minds of the people.
• To abstain from whatever deepens India's prejudice against the gospel.
• To watch for every chance of doing the people good.
• To preach "Christ crucified" as the grand means of conversions.
• To esteem and treat Indians always as our equals.
• To guard and build up "the hosts that they may be gathered."
• To cultivate their spiritual gifts, ever pressing upon them their missionary obligations, since Indians only can win Indians for Christ.
• To labor unceasingly in biblical translation.
• To be instant in the nurture of personal religion.
• To give ourselves without reserve to the cause, "not counting even the clothes we wear our own."

May we have this view in all of our missions efforts!