Live Out Loud

A Gentleman holds doors-  A Gentleman always hold doors for everyone, but especially a lady.  A gentleman will hold a door open until the lady he is with is all the way inside the building or wherever it is that they are going.  While holding the door if more people follow, he will continue to hold the door until everyone is in or until another gentleman offers to hold it.  A gentleman also opens and closes car doors.  He will open a car door for a lady, help here in if needed and close it before getting in himself.  If a lady is wearing a long dress or coat, he will make sure that one or both are free from getting caught in the door jam before closing it.  He will also open and hold the car door after arriving to wherever it is they are going. 

A Gentleman always uses his manners-  A Gentleman always uses his manners.  A gentleman always says please, thank you, yes & no maam, yes & no sir.  A gentleman treats everyone with respect.  He calls others madam and sir, especially if they are older than he is.  A gentleman always treats his elders with complete and total respect. 

A Gentleman does NOT spit...(in front of a lady)-  Spitting, while sometimes necessary, I have found is grotest and not amusing at all for women.  Therefore, gentleman should not spit in front of their wife, mother, sister, grandmother, girlfriend, or any lady.  And even though you may not spit it out...(eww, nasty), please do not make the hacking sound either.  Remember, practice self-control or go to the restroom. Thanks.

A Gentleman does not abuse or even use Drugs, Tobacco, and Alcohol-  The one great characteristic of a Gentleman is that he practices self-control, abusing and even using any of these is the totoal opposite of that. 

Looks His Best-  A Gentleman always looks his best.  He always makes sure that his clothes are clean, pressed or ironed and that he is "made up" well.  This means if you have a shirt that needs to be tucked in, tuck it.  T-shirts are understandable, however, a dress shirt with a fit cut needs to be tucked in.  If there are belt loops, you should wear a belt.  Pants also go around your waist, not hanging on the middle of your non existent bottie with three pairs of shorts on underneath them to hold them up.   

Last Wednsday night of course was Valentines Day.  I have the awesome opportunity of teaching 5th and 6th graders at my church.  We had a special Valentine Wed. night Bible study, the subject, Ladies, and why they are so special.  We looked in scripture on how and why God created woman.  Bottom line is, we learned when God did create women...it was good, real good!  So, in an effort to treat our Ladies in a way that they all deserve to be treated, we studied the Lost Art of Being a Gentleman.  An art long forgotten by most men today.  Well, that's all going to change, it at least in my 5th and 6th grade classes.  The Gentleman all sat on the front rows for an introductory session on how ladies should and deserve to be treated.  And not just our lady friends, but our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunt and any lady that we come in contact with.  We are going to study this art, master it, and become ninja's of it!  So, for the next few weeks, as a refresher, I will go over several important points of how to be a Gentleman.  Because after all, if it wasn't for our ladies, none of us would be here, we all have a momma.  And she was kind enough to carry you, birth you, and continue to feed you after you got here.  If for nothing else, she deserves to be treated with respect for that alone.  So, let's get started.  Today, this one will apply more for our younger men.

1.) Cleanliness- A gentleman is always clean.  Body, hair, face, breath, and feet should always be clean and odor free.  This seems to be a given and easy, but for some they are far from it.  A true gentleman is clean shaven, and well groomed.  Facial hair is okay, as long as it is trimmed neatly.  If people can't get past your stinch, then they won't be able to hear or listen to what you have to say.  No lady wants to be seen with a man who stinks.   

"By being patient you will gain life." Luke 21:19 

   We live in a fast paced, high speed internet age where we can get information to almost anywhere in the world in just mille-seconds.  Often times we as Christians want answers to prayer NOW and expect that God is to understand that they are in a hurry and cannot wait for an answer.  Here are some things you might want to consider in the next few seconds and don't be in a hurry to digest them. 

Be Still- Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God..."  We need to slow down and take time to recognize who He is.  Sometimes when we pray, we're making so much noise praying that we can't recognize Him when he makes an apperance.

Stand Still- Moses advised the people that the best thing to do when they were surrounded was to stand still and watch God work.(Ex.14:13)  Quit giving God orders on how to solve your problems, don't be in such a hurry to get out of your troubles, just stand still and watch Him work.

Sit Still- Rest in what the Lord has promised you (Ps. 37:7) and you will see Him do things you never dreamed possible.  Hey, take off your coat, stay a while!

 

 

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.- Proverbs 28:13

 

As a kid I came to understand that if I were to "turn myself in" I was asking for it.  So, I learned the art of "cover-up."  I figured that what Mom and Dad didn't know wouldn't hurt me.  To much we think the same applies with God.  And when we go to spend time with Him, we pretend that, "what He don't know, won't hurt us."  So why tell Him?  The problem with the cover-up theology is that God knows everything. 

      It reminds me of the story of a man who got a new job with a nice new office.  That morning he heard someone coming down the hallway toward his door.  He badly wanted to sound important and appear very busy, so he picked up the phone and began a fake conversation.  Just as he thought, as he was talking to noboby, the knob turned and a man walked in.  The man finished the fake converstaion, hung up the phone and asked, may I help you sir?  The other man said, I'm with the phone company and I'm here to hook up your phone...

   Who do you think you're fooling?

"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Hebrews 13:4

    Someone has said "Success in marriage consists not nly in finding the right mate, but also being the right mate."  Wow, there's a mouthful!  With divorce and remarriage welll over the 50% mark there must be a problem with people understanding what marriage is all about.  Matthew 19:6 says, "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."  This makes it pretty clear that God doesn't approve of "no fault" divorce.  There is no way to I can cover this topic in detail in one post, and don't plan to, but here are a few thoughts.

1.) God intended for a marriage to be a one time thing.

2.) He intended it to be one man and one woman, not a man and a man or a woman and a woman or even two men and two women. (Genesis 2:22)

3.) He intended that the couple leave mother and father and have their own home.(Gen. 2:24)

    The world has a lot to say about marriage, and most of it is garbage.  It seems that people listen to it the most.  Living together seems to be the craze as of late, even though God does not approve of it.  God sees marriage as one of the most honourable things in the wide world, when done by His guidelines, outside of that, well, you read the verse at the top of the page, didn't you?  By the way, how's your marriage doing?

“Rueben further said to them, ‘Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him’ – that he might rescue him out of their hands to restore him to his father….and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.” Gen 37: 22, 24

Sometimes, there are times in our lives when things seem to be going well and out of nowhere we end up in a pit. Living as a part of this world, we cannot escape the difficult times. We must learn to deal with them. I am sure we can all think back or even think currently about a pit we have been or are in. It is not always just a single pit we might be in. We might be in several different pits at once. It could be our relationship with your spouce, finances, or your health. During these times, we must learn how to have the proper attitude in order to get out of them.

Joseph did nothing to prompt his brothers into throwing him into the pit, other than his attitude of pride. Joseph received many gifts from his father but became proud and began boasting about them. As this took place, his gifts began to get stripped. Realize this, it was not Joseph’s dad who took the gifts away, but it was through Joseph’s own actions that the gifts were stripped. However, if you look ahead to the end of the story, once Joseph realized the lesson God was trying to teach him, he received something more important than any of the gifts his earthly father gave him. He received the throne.

As you go through the difficult times, the pits in life, you are sure to hear some of the lies Satan tells you. He will often throw out that you are evidently not good enough or else you would not be in this pit. He will also start creating false evidence to support the lies. Recognize this as part of his scheme! God would never tell you that you are not good enough and that it is too late. It is never too late. Sometimes our prayer is too much complaining rather than crying out to God in humility. We need to be asking God to do a work in our heart. When Joseph did this, his situation began to change. He was sold to some slaves. It may not seem that our way of getting out of the pit is the best but it’s better than death as in Joseph’s case. When we humble ourselves and cry out to God, He will deliver us out of every pit. He will promote us beyond the pit and will exalt us so that we might walk in the destiny He has planned.