If you want to attract an honorable lady, be an honorable man.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

By Popular Demand....

Yes folks, the suggestions are in, and wow, these are something! I never had any idea that all of you were just dying to ask me such questions! : D
In fact, I thought they were so good, I am going to give you all a bit of a treat. I will not only answer one, but three of your questions.

So, the first person who gets an answer....(drum-role please...)

Amy!

She posed the question

"What is the purpose of art?"

Ooo, good one. This could be a serious poser. I mean, after all, if  "whatsoever is not of faith is sin" how is drawing and painting applying "faith"?
If life is for a purpose, and everything we do in life is for a purpose, what point does spending a bunch of time smearing rocks on slabs of dead trees really have? Just a waste of time?

Well, I had to struggle with this and other related topics just recently myself. Could I really devote my time to something that had no "point"?

This is the conclusion that I came to. God wants us to enjoy Him, and enjoy what he has given us here on this earth - in His own bounds and time of course. God also has commanded us to magnify His name through creation.

Art, I believe, can be used to magnify and glorify God's name, by displaying His handywork in a smaller format. By re-creating God's wonderful design, nature, and universe in our art, is praising His creativity and majesty.

After all, when somebody or something is really spectacular, and someone wishes to capture and show the world whatever piece of wonder it is, they take a picture of it (or draw or paint, etc.) and post it in a place for people to see and marvel at.

I draw because God's world around me is beautiful, and the details are beautiful. God's world has detail, and lots of it, so I put as much detail as possible into any given picture I draw.

So, by very definition, abstract art, is therefore out of the picture. Abstraction and abstract random things, really are not to be found in Gods universe. We see detail, order, and design, not randomness, chaos, and disorderly objects.

So, I draw to capture God's wonderful creation, and draw as detailed as I can, to show how detailed the things are in real life.

I tend to lean on the western genre, because I personally think that the west is the most beautiful and awesome place on planet earth, and the men and culture that discovered and tamed it, are some of the toughest and most manly men this world has ever seen.
Not to say that all 19th century cowboys were perfect. Gee Louie, no. In fact, lots of them killed each-other, got drunk on every occasion possible, and did countless other vulgar and profane things that can't be mentioned. Every era of history has its heroes and its villains, and those my friend, were not the heroes. The heroes were the ones who came out to start a new life for their family, and toughed the rough, hard life for the sake of their loved ones at home.


Ooops, I digress. I almost began my oration on cowboys, not art!    

All right, on to our next question.

Bushmaid asked the next series of questions.

Is miraculous healing not only something we should expect, but receive today?

Oh ho, another good poser. This topic is similar to the whole "is there such a thing as modern miracles" that I have heard before. Here is my take on it.
    "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28
So, all things work for good, and we know all things are planned and governed by God.
So, if anything happens in our life, we know that God has ordained, or let this happen, and it is for our good and His glory.

That being said, we CAN expect miraculous healing from present sufferings, injuries and pain, IF it is His will.


That is very important. If it is God's will, you can expect the mountains to leap in the air for your healing. If not, all the medicines and natural remedies in the world combined couldn't save you. God's will is His business, not ours, and it is not for us to question it. Simply know, that God is in control, He can heal you or kill you at His will, but whatever happens, its for your own good, and mostly of all, for His glory.

That's my take on that, or what I understand of it.

Her next question ( which is right up my alley! )
She asked for details on firearms, permits, game and licenses here in my neck of the woods.
Arizona is a great state for guns and gun owners. At 18 you can open carry in public, at 21 you can concealed carry in public, neither require any permit or permission from the feds, and you can open carry under 18 if your parent or legal guardian is with you. Needless to say, I open carry every day. : ) Second amendment fan, all the way.

You can own any and as many firearms as you please, but you have to have multiple permits and fed approvals to own anything fully automatic, or to have silencers. If you buy a gun through a private sale, you don't even have to have it registered. If a gun is built in Arizona, you don't have to have it registered either.
To go shooting you merely find a spot out of city limits that has no "no shooting" signs posted, and rattle away as much as you like.

As far as game goes, we have a wide selection to choose from. Elk, deer, buffalo, bear, cougar, and antelope are a few of the large game animals you can hunt with a license, but you have to be drawn from a random drawing to hunt them once a year.
As far as small game, you have rabbits, dove, quail, coyotes, and other such fun critters that you can hunt and shoot various amounts of, with a mere hunting license, or inexpensive tag in the right season.
Needless to say, I like it here in AZ. : )

For the rest of you chaps out there reading this, I am sure that was simply fascinating. : D

Her last question concerned conspiracy theories. As far as they go, I have a friend who would swear on the Bible that his grandfather makes most of them up. : D
So, I think that there might be a thing or two to some of them, but there is a lot of hype out there, and you can't trust everything you hear. I have heard a few that seem pretty legit, and I have heard others that sound like somebody is really catching at straws and jumping to conclusions. I don't know enough to have a lengthy opinion on them, honestly. : )

Next question, I know can be a serious hot-button, so I am going to deal with it carefully, but I am still gonna tell you exactly what I think.

Lisa asked about my opinion about girls in skirts verses girls in pants.

*blows out air*

This is a very touchy topic with some, with lots of nerve strings attached. Some say that Biblically, girls should only wear skirts and dresses, and "pants are for men". Some say it don't matter anyway, and wear pants 365. Others don't even know the topic exists and wear jeans so tight guys can't with a good conscience look in their direction.

For the longest time I held the position that pants were for boys, skirts and dresses were for girls. Period.
Recently, within the past year or so, I have changed my opinion, and only just recently have I solidified it.
The Bible says that men are to wear "things that pertain to men", and the same for the ladies. The problem is that "what pertains to..." is actually kinda cultural. I mean, back then they wore togas. I am not advocating that now.

Granted, if "cultural" means really immodest, you don't and can't go there.

As men, we are to dress like men. As men, it is the "cultural" thing to wear pants or shorts. (Unless of course you of over to Scotland where it is acceptable for men to wear skirts.....)
 I hate shorts, so I wear jeans. Loose, tough, boot cut, working jeans.

For girls, culturally you have the option of wearing pants or skirts and dresses. Girls have a secondary option that boys don't have.

So, I don't think the case could be made that girls wearing jeans is unbiblical.

The only case that really can be made is that all clothes we wear needs to be modest, and that applies to girls and boys, skirts, pants, shorts, t-shirts, v-necks and on down the list. Clothes need to be modest - period.

Now, I also think that skirts are vastly more modest than most jeans out there.
If girls have the option of wearing either, and one is more modest than the other, it is my opinion that a girl can make a huge impact in a skirt, much more than in a pair of jeans. A girl walking into Walmart wearing jeans is nothing new. A girl walking into Walmart wearing a modest skirt makes people turn their heads - in a good way. The very look denotes more respect and femininity in a lady than a pair of jeans ever does.

A point needs to be made right here, that there is a difference between jeans, and tight jeans. One is Biblically allowed, the other I believe isn't.

Now girls, I am going to get a bit personal here, but it needs to be said, to understand a boy's position.

Ladies, when you wear tight or close fitting jeans, it highlights the areas you are actually trying to cover.

I am going to drop the subject there, but just so you know, boys have a harder time with girls in jeans than most girls ever dream about.

That part isn't just my opinion. Other guys struggle with the same things, whether they'll admit to it and talk about it or not.

Let's put it this way ladies. I know most of you girls reading this would never even dream of wearing a bikini.
Why? Because its immodest.
Why is it immodest? Because it is displaying your figure and drawing attention to yourself in a wrong way. So that being said, why do tight jeans that show way too much of your figure and highlight hidden areas all of a sudden become acceptable?

It just doesn't fit logically.

If the jeans, pants, slacks, etc. are not tight at all however, guys have a much easier time. The problem is that basically every pair of woman's jeans out there is tight in the hips and waist - exactly where you don't want anything tight.

Loose pants or jeans, almost nearing culottes, are great things in my opinion (when you actually find them). They are miles more modest than tight jeans, are functional, and don't give boys as much of a problem as tight pants do.  

Now, of course the question is going to come up, "What about when wearing a skirt is immodest? (i.e. working around the barn, climbing ladders, etc.)

Well, I know plenty of people who wear leggings under their skirt, to keep modest in any circumstances. It works and is modest at the same time. Boys' hearts are guarded, girls look more feminine and modest at the same time, and as long as you don't wear a skirt that makes it so you step or trip on it constantly, it works great.

Now, that being said, if you must wear jeans, they don't have to be tight. Make them modest, make them loose. If you don't have loose jeans, wear a skirt over them. Make it work, make it modest. Period.

Summary?
IT HAS TO BE MODEST.
I prefer skirts and loose (LOOSE) pants on girls. Loose and modest jeans are the only jeans I think area acceptable.
Tight jeans are totally out of the question.
So, that's my opinion, and no more than that. Take it with a grain of salt and a gallon of scripture.


So that officially is my opinion!
Glad you all participated! Maybe we'll do another one of those sometime eh? Wadya think?

15 comments:

  1. "A girl walking into Walmart wearing a modest skirt makes people turn their heads - in a good way."

    Hmmm, actually, it has been quite the opposite for my family (3 girls). We have gotten stared at like we're from Mars or something.
    Just saying! :)

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    1. What I meant by that, is that they aren't looking at you for wrong reasons - bad reasons.
      They are looking at you because you are different - in a good way.
      Granted, you being different in a good way seems martian to them, but that's them!
      Honestly, if I see a girl in a skirt in a store, I can tell that girls values a lot easier than if she was wearing pants.
      Not saying pants in-and-of-themselves are bad, skirts just speak louder.
      Hope that helps!

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  2. Good write-up sir!
    I must say I agree with most of your points, being from AZ myself, I especially appreciated the comments on cowboys/frontiersmen and firearms. Though I must make a comment about the last.

    I and my family are of the camp that believes that Biblically, "what pertains to..." does mean women should only wear skirts (dresses ect.), and men pants.
    The only point I would make to you is, looking at history, women wearing pants only became "culturally acceptable" somewhere between the flappers of the 1920's and the working women of the World War II era, not exactly who we would want to base our morals from. Think 1900 back, men wearing pants, women, skirts.

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    1. Gotcha. I see what you're saying.
      I would disagree though. To a certain extent, you are still basing your dress standards on culture - just older culture. If we based it off the clothes of Bible times we would be wearing togas - that was cultural then.
      I am not saying that if the culture starts wearing bikinis as the daily norm, we should go with the flow. No sir, God is our standard, not man (obviously).
      When God said "what pertains to.." however, that was based on cultural context of clothes.
      I believe that certain cultures have different style of dress, and if they are modest, they are still within Biblical standards.
      Thanks for stoppin by, Thanks for followin the blog!

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  3. Awesome post, David! Thanks for taking the time to answer the random questions I posted!

    To the 1st: Thankyou for sharing your thoughts. :) They were very interesting to read. I could have quite an earful to say on that subject but I'll spare you that can of worms and finish this comment right here. ;)

    To the 2nd: *slackjawed expression - literally* O.O I read that whole paragraph to my brother, and we were all but hitting the floor in a swoon. Here: you can't even FIRE a gun or own one unless your 18 (it may be 16 in some instances), you can never open carry a gun, and you must *always* submit a "permit to acquire" whenever you want to buy a gun. It is required that you use tags for all game, (I think that *may* exclude rabbits... not certain) you can only own a certain amount of guns, and must have a good reason for owning them. Also, you must have a good reason for wanting to buy one, or else you can't have it. You can't just go shooting out in the country, you must shoot on a person's place that has given you permission and it has to be big enough so the neighbors don't hear you. Silencers are taboo, as is building a gun, and guns must be stored in a gun safe at all times, separate from the ammunition. (which is a real irritation when trying to get your gun out to shoot a snake that could disappear at any second) My brother and I just looked at each other after I finished reading with faces that read: I WANT TO MOVE TO ARIZONA! Yeah. Anyway. Rant over. Thanks for telling me all that! You have just bought your state two envious fans.

    To the 3rd: Haha to your friend's comment! I like that. That's a good take on them. It was a bit of a random question, since I take a bit of interesting in what people think are "lies the government feed us". :D

    Again, thanks for the awesome post! I really liked your thoughts on modesty, too. Spot on.

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  4. All right David, I know you were fishing on the subject of Scotsmen and kilts, so I might just give you my brief epistemologically self-conscious defense of wearing kilts. All of the manly men in the bible wore manly robes, which were quite distinguishable from feminine robes in several ways, most notably that they were capable of being girded up to knee-length for more freedom of movement (which is exactly what the idomatic phrase "gird up your loins like a man" refers to).

    If a woman wore a kilt in Scotland before the year 1900, it would have been considered very immodest and a horrid scandal. Men's kilts and women's skirts have always been very distinguishable in Scottish history until very recently.

    Stand Fast,

    Andrew R.

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    1. *rolling eyes*
      Trust me to get into a debate with you over man-dresses.... I mean kilts. :D
      So again, with the principle of modesty over-ruling, it is again, cultural.
      Now, it has to be said. MORALS ARE NEVER DETERMINED BY CULTURE, but their applications are.
      Now that has to be taken right, or someone is going to say that I mean that culture decides what is right or wrong in the area of how we apply God's word. I am not making that case. I am merely saying that it is going to look different in different cultures.
      Hope that makes it clear!

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    2. If I may butt in...Personally, I think kilts (I've seen 'em in real life) are actually rather manly--particularly if worn with those nice jackets, sporrans, and long socks. (*grins* Maybe that's just my Scotch-Irish heritage...)

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    3. Oh boy, another Scott on the cowboys blog. *sigh*

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    4. Also, ACR, Kilts are Biblically allowed, because, in that culture, they have kilts for men, and kilts for women - and they are different. Wearing WHAT PERTAINS TO A MAN, could therefore apply to kilts, since, in that culture, that article of clothing applied to men.
      I just happen to know I CERTAINLY do not like them. Jeans all the way for this ole south-western boy.
      :D

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  5. In regards to modesty, I believe that the Scripture is sufficient to define things like modesty and nakedness. See, the problem is, very few Christians today are going to say that they favor immodest clothing. Even those who go to the beach wearing only a few square inches of clothing will gneerally call themselves modest. They just have very different definitions of modest.

    Ultimately, the question is, how naked is naked? Some people have very different definitions of that word too.

    I believe the Scripture is sufficient to answer the question of modest clothing; I do not believe that God left something so fundamental to a culture up to the discretion of "sanctified wisdom." We know where that leads.

    Suffice it to say, on the particular point of ladies' apparel, I would argue this: If you do a Greek word study on 1 Timothy 2:9, you will find that the word for "apparel," which women are supposed to wear, refers to a long robe, or unbifurcated garment. Now, some people are going to say, "Well, that was just the culturally approved garment then." But this is a very dangerous argument. We can't impute motives to God; We don't really know why he chose the particular word he chose, and we don't have the right to tell him. Nor do we have the right to redefine our duty of obedience to a particular command because it was written to a different culture. Not once in the word of God does the scripture take a position of ambivalance or submission to culture. If the word of God gives a command, that command has transcendent authority over all times, all cultures, and all nations. Culture is, after all, really nothing but the external outworking of basic presuppositions about goodness, truth, and beauty in human relationships and society.

    Now, in regards to your objection to "M Alderson," I would counter that you will be hard pressed to find a place in the scripture where men are commanded to wear togas. Now, if God does indeed command men to wear togas, then we should wear togas, and it most certainly would not be wierd. Problem is, he didn't command men to wear togas. Yes, they did wear togas back then, but whatever we might say about the amount of clothing that is modest for men, men in the scripture are not once commanded to wear a particular style of clothing (excluding OT priests). Women are commanded to wear long, unbifurcated garments in 1 Tim 2:9. Do I know why? It's not really my place to say. Even if I don't, it really doesn't matter, because God's word is God's word.

    I would urge my sisters in Christ to consider this: Just as children ought to trust their parents even when they don't understand why their parents are giving them certain rules and commands, we have to trust God when we don't understand why he gives us a certain command. We do not get to say, "Oh, I don't think this or that command is so important, after all, I can't imagine why it would be." Your parents, hopefully, would have loved you to much to accept that kind of disobedience when you were young, and I don't think God will accept it either. God's wisdom is far, far more perfect than ours; we are not required to obey our own wisdom, but God's.

    My favorite literary work upon the subject is by an Aussie named J. Stephen Tanner. You can read in on PDF here: www.covenantofgrace.com/christian_clothing.pdf

    I think some of his argumentation is stretching it a bit with inferences, but there are some very good points in the treatise.

    As a last word, I would offer a cordial and brotherly opinion to my sisters in Christ that I think dresses and skirts are vastly more becoming than the alternative.

    Stand Fast,

    Andrew R.

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    1. Did some brief research on the Greek word behind that verse (1Tim2:9) and at the moment, that interpretation seems a bit of a stretch. That interpretation and definition didn't appear to be a general consensus. Don't know if I agree there.
      I would agree though that Girls do look far better in skirts, and can make a bigger impact for Christ than in a pair of jeans, as far as appearances go.
      You don't believe in short comments do you?? :D

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    2. No, I don't believe in short comments, because I've discovered by experience that if you want to say anything substanstial articulately, without being misunderstood, you often have to be a little lengthy in your explanation. Thanks for putting up with my loquacity ;).

      Do some more research, and by all means tell me what you think. I could explain to you in fuller detail why I believe that interpretation is very clearly, in my mind, the only logical one.

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  6. Thank you SO MUCH for answering my question, David! I was so excited to read your response :-) I hope to actually comment on what you wrote soon, but I'm *way* to busy at the moment. Thanks for the tag, also :)

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  7. Just the new guy jumping in here again.

    Concerning the firearms (a topic very near and dear to my heart), I do personally believe that Arizona has some of the best firearms laws for the entire United States.
    And actually the laws here in Arizona state that a person can start carrying a handgun openly at the age of 12 as long as he/she has written permission from a parent or guardian. At the age of 16 you no longer need written permission, but you do still need verbal permission. At the age of 18 years old you no longer need either written or verbal permission or consent to carry, however since you cannot legally purchase a handgun until you are 21 years old it may be a little hard to carry a handgun without consent unless you already own one. Also at the age of 21 in Arizona you may pack concealed WITHOUT a permit, HOWEVER it is still a good idea to get a permit because there are some places that you cannot legally pack unless you are a CCW permit (Carrying a Concealed Weapon) holder.

    Now concerning the women wearing skirts or jeans etc...
    David, I think that you did a very good job on that one. Personally I would love to see every woman out there wearing a skirt or a dress depending on where they are or what they are doing. But I also know that that is not practical. I also believe that men and women alike need to dress modest for what they are doing. I will just say what my family does because I can't use anyone else as an example.
    The women in my family have always worn skirts or coolots. In recent days (after my sister got married) my sister started wearing jeans AT HOME when she would be working outside. (Which I personally do not have much of a problem with) Although here is what my sister-in-law does because she wants to be as good of a testimony to those around here. My sister-in-law will wear skirts unless she cannot do something modestly in a skirt, in which case she will wear jeans under her skirt.
    I very much appreciate what my sister-in-law does in that respect. But like David said, it all comes down to modesty. And if you want to know if you are modest, then just think about this, where is a persons eyes drawn to when they are talking to you, when you are walking past them, or when you are sitting across from them. Someones eyes should ALWAYS be on your face.

    And a shout out to the women AND men who dress modestly out there. THANK YOU!

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