Okay, Enough Already!

Do you ever just get knocked down by the world and its ridiculous attacks? Are you ever just shocked at how big  and how deep the Lie goes about the Value of a Woman?

I don’t know whether to cry, scream or throw up. When the first offer and photo came through my email, I tried to stuff the outrage down.  And now the email offer has resurfaced. But instead of it being a onesy thing now it is a GROUP thing. Classes of women groping and balancing. What am I so pissed about?

Pole dancing classes. Are you kidding me???  Do we not have enough porn shoved down our throats without trying to mimic the deception even more? Are you not already tired enough of trying to keep up with the world’s faulty concept of beauty?  The dieting, the surgery, the self-loathing? The comparison, the envy, the jealousy that leads to even more harmful acting out?

Really women? Really? Is this our sum total?

Does this woman’s posture do anything but reduce us to body parts for consumption? Ask most men to look at this photo, or better have him recall a time on film or DVD when he watched pole dancing,  and see if women grinding to poles makes him rise to anything remotely holy….
I am all about a woman being and feeling healthy and assured of her own worth. I am all about the “wow” factor of the female race. I am all about blow-the-house-down great sex. But I am also 100% convinced that women who try to imitate porn stars (women and men who are in need themselves of rescuing) look to the wrong source for inspiration and definition.  The women I talk to don’t need help being “sexed”. We need help being loved and cherished and adored for who we are, not just for the way we contort our frames around steel.
Is anybody hearing me? Did anyone even flinch when this offer came through?
We were watching a harmless movie with Salem and they snuck in a 30-second clip of pole dancing and men gawking. Her natural disgust and shock was immediate. “What is that?” she asked incredulous.  “Men and women wasting their strength and beauty on empty sex.” I said.   “Gross.” said the 13-yr-old.

Yep. It’s gross.

Women, what we need is how to tap into the real beauty, the passion, the fire that God has for us. In this place of true intimacy, we don’t feel like objects. We feel valued and enjoyed by our Maker. Then we can move to share that with our husbands. But we don’t create intimacy by imitating prostitutes.
“The man and woman were both naked and they felt no shame.”

‘Tis the Season to Celebrate

Did you miss us?  Jana has been in the thick of recording her new worship CD, Real. Love. Life., and is working hard on her next treat for you: her book by the same name! We’re planning to release both at the Unhindered Encounter on February 12th.

You’re going to love the CD. I got a sneak peak at some of the songs since I was part of the WGR choir that sang in the background.  Each song is excellent, but “Prayer for Zimbabwe” really hit home for me. Jana took one of the songs that the Zim kids sang to us on our mission trip and put words around our heart’s cry for them – our brothers and sisters.

As I listened and sang, I was struck by the way my heart soared in worship – both when they sang it in Shona (I can’t understand a word!) and when we sang it in English.  It was like our hearts were joined in one voice to our One Father.  Truly thrilling. You’ll get to hear it both ways, too…

Please keep Jana and the team in your prayers, as we keep you in ours.  There’s a lot coming up:

  • Real. Love. Life. Book and a CD to be finished and released by February 12th.
  • WGR Christmas Celebration this Tuesday! Join us live at Fellowship Church or via Livestream, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
  • True Intimacy Marriage Retreat, January 14 – 16. Yippee! The registration deadline has been extended to December 15th. Sign up here.
  • Unhindered Encounter 2.0, February 12th. Early registration ends December 15th, so sign up here to get the best price!

Your voice is heard in Heaven and your prayers keep us going.

Blessings,

Laura Jones for the WGR team

P.S.  Need a stocking stuffer?  Jana’s new yearly devotional, Dine with Me, Real Food for the Hungry Spirit, is available for shipping December 14th.

Running Free by guest blogger Laura Jones

Hey chicas!  Jana and the band are recording today, so pray that they will sing strong and claim His pleasure over them as they worship and work together.

Jana asked me to post if I felt so inspired, and after her blog about Eric Liddell yesterday, I thought I’d share a recent conversation the Lord and I had about running. 

Among the things I’m trying to learn to do faithfuly is taking a walk with the Lord in the mornings. I was out with Him a month or so ago, and on this particular walk, I felt Him prompt me: Run.

I didn’t want to. Felt silly. I haven’t run since I was like, 12.

But He kept saying, “Run.” So I finally did. At least, I attempted a mini-jog.

Then He told me to speed it up. “Don’t jog. Flat out run.”

So I did.

“Don’t you feel more alive?” He asked.

“Yes, Sir, but I’m gonna die…” I huffed back.

When we got to the end of the trail, I said, “I really don’t like that, but I’m willing if You do.”

“Do you REALLY not like it?” He probed.

“Well, I just feel embarassed, and like I look silly. And I can’t do it.”

Then the Lord brought back Graham Cooke’s voice from a CD I’d listened to weeks before: “God never calls us to what is possible. He calls us to what is impossible. The only thing we can do is yelp, ‘I can’t do this!’ and He says, ‘I know.’ ”

“Ha! Very funny, Lord. So, I guess I kind of do like running. I just feel like I can’t and I don’t like that.”

“Those are two entirely different things.” He stated.

“Yeah, they are.”

So, we ran a little more. Got to the end of the street, and I saw a silver chain in the road. Immediately, my mind went to the song, “My chains fell off, my soul’s set free. My God my Savior, has ransomed me…”

“I’m just breaking your chains off and setting You free.” He said.

“Okay, Lord. Got it.” I thought back to all the old baggage He’s been helping me sort through, and the things He’s been teaching me. The running freely – the broken chain: this was a physical picture of a spiritual excercise.

I added, “But while You’re breaking those chains, could you please hold my heart gently, because it feels like my heart is what’s breaking…”

Then I remebered what Corky Shepard prophesied over me in Zimbabwe: “There are things the Lord is going to want to take off. I’m talking about attitudes and things now. And it may be hard because they’ve been there so long, they feel like they’re part of you. But He wants you to just be you and run free.” Run free. Imagine that. Nearly two months had gone by since Corky said those words, and here God had me literally running. And challenging my attidudes and fears.

In my heart, I heard the Lord saying, “I’m taking off the weight.” Spiritual weight. Physical weight. Chains be broken. Lives be healed. Hearts be opened. Christ revealed.

And my soul sang, “Lord, I wanna run…”

I really do. I want to run. Spiritually and physically. I want to be stretched. To be free. To be willing to go hard places and attempt the seemingly impossible without fear. To run to Him. To run with Him.

How about you?