Modesty Series, Part 1

Talk about a loaded word - modesty! It is often not a comfortable topic, but it is a necessary one. I have found that there are just so many different opinions about what modesty means in today's culture. Sometimes it even seems overwhelming because in Christian circles, people believe so differently about this subject. I'd like to offer some simple, straightforward ideas about this subject.  My goal is to simply write about my perspective, and not come across as a condescending know-it-all or a self-righteous judge. It is my personal belief that the Lord is the One that brings conviction for areas we are to change in our life. I didn't always know, understand, or believe the way I do now about issues of modesty.

 I don't have the belief that God hears my prayers because I wear skirts, but He doesn't hear yours because you wear pants. I don't believe that I will be getting a fancier mansion than you because I don't wear low cut tops, or short shorts, or spaghetti strap dresses, or fill in the blank. I don't believe that dressing a certain way earns me salvation. I don't believe that I have any favor with God because I wear or don't wear certain things. I don't believe God loves me more than you if your clothes are different than mine. And lastly, I don't believe I am some sort of judge over you that can dictate to you what you can and cannot wear in order to be right with God. I have some OPINIONS, and I can share with you MY EXPERIENCE, but what you wear is between you and God.

I grew up in the Midwest mostly. I was raised by parents who trusted Christ as their Savior shortly before I was born. They loved the Lord with all their heart, and it showed. They did their best to raise their children according to Biblical principles. My mother told me that when she got saved, one of the things that she was immediately convicted about was wearing very short shorts, dresses, and skirts. I never remember seeing my mother dressed immodestly a day in my entire life. My mom let me wear shorts and jeans to play in, but insisted I wear a dress or skirt to church. That's just what we did. That's what pretty much all the girls and ladies in our church did. We wore dresses or skirts to church because it felt like a way to show respect to the Lord by dressing up in our best clothes.

When I went to a large Christian college, I was told that pants were not allowed. I didn't have too big a problem with that, because it was only going to be for four years. There were times when it seemed annoying, but it wasn't too bad. But then I started hearing some chapel messages on why pants weren't a good choice for Christian ladies. I was speechless! Then I was mad! What????? What in the world are you talking about? How could pants be wrong? I didn't wear tight pants, like what the style was (well, tight pants during the 90's are nothing compared to the skinny jeans of today, but anyway). As long as my pants weren't tight, I didn't see a problem. I had surrendered my whole life to the Lord, and I didn't think I was holding anything back. I was in college to train to go the mission field. I was not living in open sin towards the Lord. So it made me actually furious to be told that I was perhaps doing something that didn't please the Lord. Perhaps some of you have been confronted about something you were wearing, and felt the same way. It doesn't feel good, does it?

But wait. As I look back, I see a couple things. First, my immediate reaction to being confronted with an area to consider was to become angry and defensive. That is not the mark of surrender to the Lord. I could have prayed about it, to ask God to give me wisdom on this subject. But I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to think that I could have thought wrong about this. I blamed the chapel speaker, and picked apart everything he said. I told myself he was just so condescending and judgmental that I didn't need to listen to THAT! So, I didn't. I closed my Bible during the chapel service, and sat with my arms crossed. How dare he imply that I, a good Christian girl, could possibly be wearing something that displeased the Lord!

The kicker is that I was planning to be a missionary to Africa after college. I had been two missions trips to Africa already, and I knew that is where I wanted to end up. I also knew that meant giving up pants, because I was planning to go to a remote village to share the gospel and work among the people, and I had already been told that culturely, pants would not be acceptable in remote villages. So, I was already planning to give up pants. Just not because I thought they were wrong, but because they were culturally unacceptable. Bottom line, I just didn't want to be told I COULD BE WRONG.

Fast forward several years. My husband grew up in a pastor's family of a Baptist church, and his mom and sister did not wear pants or shorts. But my husband was willing to let me continue to wear pants until such a time as I decided on my own that I preferred dresses or skirts, if that time came. I knew he would prefer me to wear skirts or dresses, but he honestly left if up to me. As time went along, the issue still nagged at me. I began to feel uncomfortable in jeans. The styles of the day were getting even tighter , and it was hard to find loose-fitting pants. The words I had heard in those college chapels came back to me, about how pants automatically draw attention to certain parts of a woman's body. I had scoffed at that idea when I was in college, but I had to admit that yes, pants did draw at least SOME attention to certain areas that skirts did not. As I looked in the mirror, I couldn't deny it much longer. My jeans DID seem revealing. I noticed that I felt more lady-like and feminine in a skirt. It also hid my figure more than pants did. No, I'm not saying I looked like I was wearing a potato sack. (See, a lot of girls think that there are two options - jeans or a potato sack. But ladies, there are PLENTY of cute, modern skirts out there that don't make you look like a pioneer woman.)

Now, my husband also became the principal of a Christian school around this time. I am sure that part of my uncomfortableness with pants was caused by realizing that my husband had a position of spiritual leadership, and as his wife, students and parents would be watching us. There is a fine line between fear of man (desperately trying to please everyone just to make yourself look better) and setting a high standard. This is not just true in Christian circles, but in the secular work place as well. When I was in high school, I was a cashier at a large grocery store. We cashiers had a somewhat relaxed dress code. If I remember right, we could wear something as basic as a tshirt, jeans, and sneakers. But the store boss wore dress pants, shirt, and tie every day. His position of leadership was easily recognizeable by his attire. It was expected that he dress more professionally than us. People do hold those in leadership positions to higher standards, whether you like it or not. As the wife of the principal, I felt I needed to hold myself to a higher standard, and I decided to put aside pants and  wear skirts or dresses.

So, this whole post has kinda gone on and on mostly about pants. Am I saying that pants are the biggest issue here? No. Modesty is so much more than "to wear pants, or to not wear pants." I am really just telling my back story so that you can maybe understand my perspective. I feel that I understand both sides of this issue, because I have been on both sides. I'll be adding part 2 soon, and I'll talk about more than just the pants issue!

What's so wrong about Contemporary Christian Music?

Contemporary Christian music is a huge issue in today's churches. Many churches are leaving the old traditional hymns behind, and embracing Contemporary Christian music. David Cloud (Way of Life Ministries) has put together an excellent DVD entitled "Foreign Spirit of Contemporary Worship Music." It is a current video (March 2012) and is well-documented. This is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to know WHY Contemporary worship music has no place in a Christian's life.

HERE is the link for this DVD.

Discipleship Training

Have you heard of Bright Lights? "Bright" stands for Being Radiant In Godliness, Holiness, and Testimony. Their website gives the purpose of this ministry - "to give practical training in godliness, to encourage young woman to live the years of their youth fully for Christ, to provide edifying fellowship and accountability, and to be a group which will minister to others." Our church is in the process of starting a Bright Lights group in about three weeks. This is a discipleship training program for young girls, although they have also started a new group for young boys called The Light Shop. You can check out their website for more details on this program, as well as how you could start a Bright Lights ministry in your own church. Our church purchased the training manual and dvds so that all of our workers could learn the philosophy behind this ministry. The training dvds have been excellent! The Bright Lights lessons teach concepts such as children giving their heart to their parents, learning how to get along with brothers and sisters, having a clear conscience before God, and many others. The recommended ages for a Bright Lights group is for girls age 10-13. Our church has decided that we are going to also adapt the lessons for girls as young as second grade. While we whole-heartedly believe in reaching teen girls for Christ and discipling them, we are finding that many girls are already "set in their ways" by the time they reach their teen years, and often have a hardened heart towards the things of the Lord. We are hoping to reach younger girls and teach them Biblical concepts before they even reach those extremely critical years.

Backing authority in your child's life

One of the most important things a parent can do for their child is to back their child's authority. I'm primarily thinking of the Christian school setting for this post. Obviously, God designed parents to be the primary human authority over their own children, but if a parent chooses to place their child in a Christian school, the parent is essentially entrusting some of that authority to the teacher, at least for the hours the child is at school. I think as parents, our initial, normal reaction is to want to defend our child. There can be a time and a place for that, if we do it the right way. And granted, teachers are human and make mistakes just like everyone else.

If there really is a situation where you feel your child has been unfairly treated by a teacher or some other authority figure, the best thing you can do for your child is to NEVER let your child see that you disagree with the decision made by the teacher. Letting your child see that you disagree - or worse, that you are angry and resentful towards the teacher - does great damage to a child. In fact, it breeds rebellion in the heart of a child. and it is extremely difficult to undo that kind of damage in your child's heart. Instead, go to that teacher privately to speak with them. But the key here is to wait until you have had time to calm down. Don't go talk with that teacher when you are so mad and upset that you cannot even see straight. No good is going to come of that, and you will probably end up saying much that you regret.
Also, realize that many, many times there was just a big misunderstanding. Get to the bottom of the situation before you jump to conclusions, even if the conclusions seem logical. Give the teacher the benefit of the doubt. And it's important to realize that children sometimes get the story wrong. It's hard as a parent to not immediately take your child's side. It is possible - and highly likely - that a child will put some sort of a spin on the story to make himself appear more innocent than he really was in the matter. Am I saying that you should consider that your child sometimes does not tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?Well.....er....um.....YES!  (Not my child, you say to yourself. My child would never lie to me!) Yes, it is entirely possible that your child just told you a bold-faced lie to get out of being in trouble. I'm not suggesting that you should become overly suspicious of anything your child ever says. Absolutely not! But what I am saying, is that you need to get to the bottom of the situation, and do not "take up the cause" for your child before you even know whether the child was in the wrong or not. Ask the Lord for wisdom and discernment in how you should proceed with problems between the teacher and your child.

I've heard the story of a teacher who told all of her students' parents on the first day of school - "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happened at school, I promise not to believe everything your child says happened at home." I like this humorous saying, because it really does go both ways. Teachers and parents both need to work together at solving little problems that come up. If they both gave each other the benefit of the doubt before getting angry, we would have a lot fewer problems in the classroom.

Why I am an Independent Fundamental Baptist

*The purpose of this post is simply to inform. My intent is NOT to offend in any way. Some of the people closest to me genuinely do not understand why I believe what I believe and this post is an attempt to clarify those beliefs, at least a little bit. If you disagree with me, we can still be friends. It does not offend me if you do not believe the exact same way as I do, and I most certainly do not think I am better than anyone else if they do not see eye-to-eye with me. Our Christian walk is a journey, and we are ultimately accountable to the Lord, not to an individual.

My family and I attend an independent fundamental Baptist church. But what exactly IS an independent fundamental Baptist church? The thoughts I have written here are taken from a study our church did awhile back called Christian Mentoring A to Z. (The study covered all kinds of areas such as assurance of salvation, obedience to God, baptism, reaching the world, victorious Christian living, and many other areas.) We used Scripture passages to learn about what God says in the Bible about different issues. One section was on the history of the Baptist church, and the fundamental principles (Baptist discinctives) that our church teaches, and most of the thoughts in this post come from that section.

Before I begin, I want to stress the fact that I do not believe I am saved because I attend a Baptist church. I do not even believe that God loves me more because I attend a Baptist church. I have no extra merit with God because I attend a Baptist church. I am saved by God's grace, because I have placed my full dependence and faith on Jesus Christ, and He alone has saved me. Not Jesus plus good works. Not Jesus plus church membership. My faith is in Jesus Christ's shed blood for my sins, and I am trusting Him for eternal life in heaven because He paid the full penalty for my sins. I cannot save myself in any way. The only merit I have with God is that when He looks at me, He sees Jesus' blood covering my sins, and so He accepts me as one of His own, on the basis of His Son's finished work on the cross.

A Baptist church is Baptist if it holds to and carries out the basic teachings of the New Testament.

B - Bible is our only rule of faith and practice

A - Autonomy of the local church

P - Priesthood of the believer

T - Two ordinances of the church (baptism and the Lord's Supper)

I - Individual soul responsibility

S - Separation (personal, ecclesiastical, and political)

T - Two officers of the church (pastor and deacons)

Distinctive #1 - The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice

A mutual and common adherence to the whole Bible and its authority is the cohesive force among Baptists. Other churches often follow a leader or founder, and have to adhere to confessions or articles put forth by their founder. The soul of man bows to the authority of the Bible, making reason, the church, and personal experience all subordinate to it. The Bible is the written revelation of God and is complete.

Distinctive #2 - Autonomy of each local church

Each local church is sovereign and cannot be controlled by any board, hierarchical system, or other church. Autonomy means: independent, self-governing, self-supporting, an self - propagating. A Scriptural independent New Testament church is an organized band of baptized believers practicing the New Testament ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper and actively engaged in carrying out the Great Commission. The foundation for independence is based on New Testament principles - 1.) the competence of the individual to know God's will, and 2.) the responsibility of the church to carry out God's will is based on the foundation that its members know God's will. The final governing authority in the autonomous Baptist church is the church itself directed by its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Distinctive #3 - Priesthood of all believers

Every born-again believer may pray directly to God through Jesus Christ, the High Priest, without a human intercessor. Jesus is the ONLY mediator between man and God the Father (I Timothy 2:5). Jesus is not only the believer's Savior and Lord, but also his High Priest. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Distinctive #4 - Two ordinances of the local church

There are two ordinances o fhte local church - baptism and the Lord's supper. An ordinance is "An outward rite appointed by Christ to be administered in the church as a visible sign of the saving truth of the Christian faith." The Baptist church does NOT teach that baptism or the Lord's supper have ANY saving power. Baptism is an outward symbol of an inward reality - the individual who has already placed his faith and trust in Christ alone shows that he is identifying himself with the Lord by being baptized. He is showing that he has died with Christ, been buried with Christ, and has been raised to walk a new life. Saving faith ALWAYS PRECEDES baptism. Baptists believe that baptism by immersion is the only correct way to be baptized. Why? The word "baptize" means immerse. Only immersion correctly pictures that which baptism symbolizes -death, burial, and resurrection. Sprinkling and pouring cannot symbolize this.

*Let me deviate from the study to put in a thought of my own. I have had someone tell me that they heard that if you join a Baptist church, you will have to be re-baptized in that church. For instance, if you were baptized in a Bible church after you were saved, you will have to be re-baptized when you join a Baptist church. Our church does not teach that, and I have never heard that taught from other independent fundamental Baptist churches that I have gone to before. After I trusted Christ for salvation, I was baptized by immersion in the Bible church that my family attended when I was a little girl. When I joined the Baptist church I go to now, I did not have to be re-baptized, because I had already been Scripturally baptized after I was saved.

Back to the study. The second ordinance is the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a memorial table, picturing the body and blood of Christ and serving ONLY as a reminder of His sacrifice. The ordinances were instituted by Christ on the eve of His death (Matthew 26:26-30). The purpose is given in I Corinthians 11:25-26 - for a memorial. We reject the doctrine of infant baptism, since individuals must decide for themselves. We also do not practice infant church membership, since members must be saved, scripturally baptized, and request church membership. These two ordinances are not sacraments. They neither give salvation, help salvation, nore keep salvation. We observe the ordinances due to commandment (Matthew 28:19-20; I Corinthians 11:24).

Distinctive #5 - Individual soul liberty

Each individual has the right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. He can worship God as he believes the Bible teaches. People have individual wills, and God directly instructs individuals. God deals with people as individuals and judges people as individuals. Each person has individual soul liberty to choose his own church, determine his own spiritual fate, and decide what the Bible teaches (or deny the Bible altogether). We must never force our beliefs on others. Share the gospel and biblical truths, yes, but not coerce.

Distinctive #6 - Separation

Separation is to be in three realms - political, ecclesiastical, and personal. Political separation - God established civil government, and He instructs the Christian in their duty to government - pray for it, submit to it, support it, and honor it. Ecclesiastical separation - as a church, we must separate from apostasy - II Corinthians 6:14-17, Romans 16:16-17; II John 10-11; II Thessalonians 3:6,14. Personal separation - a Christian is to be personally separated FROM the world (Romans 12:1-2) UNTO Christ (I Thessalonians 1:9). In order to take the question out of questionable activities, there are three things to consider. First LOOK UP (Colossians 3:2) - does it violate a direct command from God, and will God be glorified through my participation? Second, LOOK IN (I Corinthians 6:19-20) - what effect will it have on me, on my mind, on my body? How would I feel if Christ returned while I was invovled in this activity? Third, LOOK OUT (I Corinthians 8:12) - what effect will it have on the unsaved, or on the saved (it is a sin to cause a brother to stumble). The Christian has the privilege of living a holy life for Christ. This is also our duty. It is far from boring; and it is not restrictive. It is a joy to please our great God and Savior.

Distinctive #7 - Two officers of the local church

The offices of pastors and deacons are the only Bible-recognized offices in the local church. The congregation chooses both. The Bible clearly teaches the qualifications and responsibilities of both the pastor and the deacons.

An independent fundamental Baptist church is the church that I choose to attend because it is the kind of church that I believe best follows the guidelines of the New Testament church. I'm not saying my church is a perfect, flawless church. No church is, because it is made up of imperfect people. I do believe God has led my husband and I and our children to the church that we attend. Our pastor teaches and preaches Biblical truth. It is not that we blindly swallow everything he says, hook, line and sinker without even thinking or searching the Scriptures. No, we do listen carefully and turn to the passages he is preaching from and we confirm whether the things he is saying do indeed line up with the Bible. Our pastor does not just preach "feel good" sermons; on the contrary, he preaches straight from the Word of God and does not skip over topics just because they might offend. Does he intentionally try to offend people? Absolutely not, but he does not just skip over things that might be offensive.

We use the King James Version of the Bible because we believe that is the most accurate translation available. We sing congregationl songs from hymnals, the great hymns of the faith. We do not have a band that plays rocky "Christian" music, nor do we sing any "Christian Contemporary" music. We believe that most "CCM" music sounds worldly - because of the beat and "watered-down" lyrics- and that it often seeks to glorify the performer through intricate vocal techniques, rather than the Lord. However, don't think that if you were to walk into our church during the singing that it would sound like a monastery. We use instruments, and our music director picks out arrangements that have meaningful words and beautiful music. We hope to soon have a full orchestra as we add more musical people to our church. I wear a dress or skirt to church, as do many of our ladies. However, some of our women do wear pants to church. While I have a personal conviction to not wear pants myself, I do not look down on those that do not share the same conviction. God does not love me more because I came in a skirt. Wearing a skirt, in and of itself, is not an indication that I am right with God.  For all of these things I have mentioned in this paragraph, our church does not teach that God loves us more because we do these things. Our church does NOT teach that any of these things give salvation. Our church does not look down on those who do not believe as we do. I have always heard our pastor give Bible verses to back up what he is preaching. IF something is his opinion, he is careful to distinguish between his opinion, and a clear directive in Scripture.

I am not saying that no other church teaches the Truth. I have been members in three different Bible churches (non-denominational) and all three taught truth from God's Word. I have even visited a few Community churches and Southern Baptist churches, and found them to also teach truth from the Bible. Now SOME of those same churches had some issues on which I strongly disagreed with. However, it is my personal belief that an independent fundamental Baptist church is the type of church that best follows the guidelines of a New Testament church. This post is simply meant to give information, and not condemn or point fingers in any way.

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Rest

One day when walking down the street,

On business bent, while thinking hard

About the "hundred cares" which seemed

Like thunder clouds about to break

In torrents, Self-pity said to me:

"You poor, poor thing, you have too much

To do. Your life is far too hard.

This heavy load will crush you soon."

A swift response of sympathy

Welled up within. The burning sun

Seemed more intense. The dust and noise

Of puffing motors flying past

Wish rasping blast of blowing horn

Incensed still more the whining nerves,

The fabled last back-breaking straw

To weary, troubled, fretting mind.

"Ah, yes, 'twill break and crush my life;

I cannot bear this constant strain

Of endless, aggravating cares;

They are too great for such as I."

So thus my heart condoled itself,

"Enjoying misery," when lo!

A "still small voice" distinctly said,

"'Twas sent to lift you - not to crush."

I saw at once my great mistake.

My place was not beneath the load

But on the top! God meant it not

That I should carry it. He sent

It here to carry me. Full well

He knew my incapacity

Before the plan was made. He saw

A child of His in need of grace

and power to serve; a puny twig

Requiring sun and rain to grow;

An undeveloped chrysalis;

A weak soul lacking faith in God.

He could not help but see all this

And more. An then, with tender thought

He placed it where it had to grow -

Or die. To lie and cringe beneath

One's load means death, but life and power

Await all those who dare to rise above.

Our burdens are our wings; on them

We soar to higher realms of grace;

Without them we must roam for aye

On plains of undeveloped faith,

(for faith grows but by exercise

In circumstances impossible).

Oh, paradox of Heaven. The load

We think will crush was sent to lift us

Up to God! Then, soul of mine,

Climp up! for naught can e'er be crushed

Save what is underneath the weight.

How may we climb! By what ascent

Shall we surmount the carping cares

Of life! Within His word is found

The key which opens His secret stairs;

Alone with Christ, secluded there,

We mount our loads, and rest in Him.

~ Miss Mary Butterfield

taken from Streams in the Desert by L. B. Cowman

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Streams in the Desert

I recently started a devotional book entitled, Streams in the Desert, by L. B. Cowman. It is intended to be a devotional for every day of the year. The following is part of the description of the book written in the publisher's foreword: "In 1925 the first edition of Streams in the Desert was released. In it were thoughts, quotations, and spiritual inspiration which had helped to sustain Mrs. Charles E. Cowman during her years of missionary work in Japan and China - particularly the six years she nursed her husband while he was dying." This book is recommended especially for those going through difficult times. My husband and I often feel so overwhelmed spiritually, physically, and emotionally from dealing with conflicts and problems in the ministry we are serving in, and so we are planning to go through this devotional book together. In just the few days' devotionals in this book that I have read, I can tell already that this book will be a treasure. It looks like Amazon has this book for a very reasonable price.

Little is Much

In the harvest field now ripened

There's a work for all to do.

Hark! the voice of God is calling,

To the harvest calling you.

Does the place you're called to labor

Seem so small and little known?

It is great if God is in it,

And He'll not forget His own.

Chorus

Little is much when God is in it;

Labor not for wealth or fame.

There's a crown and you can win it

If you'll go in Jesus' name.

~ Mrs. F.W. Suffield

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Being an effective soul-winner

Then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into his harvest.

- Matthew 9:37 - 38.

Do we live like we really believe this verse, that the harvest is plenteous? Those of us in ministry often find ourselves saying, "Well, you know, this part of the country is really closed to the Gospel, it's just so hard to win these people to Christ." You know what? It's hard everywhere! But that doesn't mean God's Word is any less sure. There IS a prepared harvest, we simply must be a willing and obedient vessel for God to use. Start praying for God to give you "divine appointments." Start praying before you leave your house each day that God would bring you to someone who is ready to hear. One of the best books I have ever read on being an effective soul-winner is the book entitled, Just What the Doctor Ordered, by Walter L. Wilson. Walter would pray and ask the Lord to send him to someone who needed to hear the gospel before he would leave the house to embark on even the most mundane errands. He looked for ways to approach people and strike up a conversation with them, and then turn it toward spiritual matters. He was careful to rely on the Holy Spirit's power to work and speak through him, rather than relying on his own abilities. This easy-reading book is filled with personal stories of some of the ones Walter Wilson led to the Lord. It is such an encouraging and challenging book. It is my desire to become a more effective soul-winner as I seek to reach a dying world with the power of the Gospel.

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Climbing

A couple of years ago, I read the short book, Climbing: Memories of a Missionary's Wife, by Rosalind Goforth. Rosalind and her husband, Jonathan Goforth, were missionaries to China in the early 19th century. The introduction was written by Ruth Bell Graham, and I think she summarizes the book so well when she writes, "'[This book] gave me fresh insights into that intrepid band of missionaries who, braving long separations from home, interminable sea voyages, difficult languages, bandits, and hostility and suspicion on all sides, still went.'"

Rosalind is extremely transparent in relating personal details of her own struggle with an impatient spirit and a sharp temper. She even shares the story of when she overheard, quite by accident, two Chinese women talking about her. She heard them criticize her for those very things, and then add,"'If only she would live more as she preaches.'" That insight into how the people she came to serve thought of her at first angered and hurt her, but as she realized it was all too true, she was able to seek God's help in overcoming these un-Christlike traits.

Five of their eleven children died before reaching adulthood, and yet there is no evidence that Rosalind ever became bitter against God for allowing this. Instead she seemed to simply believe that God was still in control and able to work even these tragedies for her good. What a testimony! Rosalind surely must have learned what it is to trust God completely.

This book changed my life in so many ways, but primarily in how I look at the ministry I am in. It seems like all to often I have an attitude of, I'll serve God, as long as the cost is not too great. Rosalind learned to count the cost and still be willing to surrender to whatever the Lord wanted her to do. I highly recommend this book to any Christian lady, but especially those in ministry. It is a short book and very easy reading - you won't want to put it down!