Feed: OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN - AggScore: 47.6

I have been working on writing and building websites as a way to earn money from home. So far, my progress has been very slow, but progress is progress.

I am still working full-time outside of the home but hope to stop within the next year. In the meantime I spend what little extra time I have trying to build up an online income, mostly passive.

My real dream would to be to spend more time building sites around theological and apologetic interests, but before I can do that, I need to have a supplemental income going. With the economy so sluggish, the potential doesn't seem to be as good, but I know God will take care of our needs no matter what.

I am looking forward to a less stressful lifestyle. Working with kids has become such a burden and I want to have alot more quality family time than we enjoy now. I am actually looking forward to see where things are headed and what God has planned for us.

The internet has really opened the doors for so many people to work from home. I come across many Christian moms who are able to stay home with their children, even homeschool, while still contributing to the family finances through online work.

There are many helpful work at home websites online, even some dedicated to Christians, but it is still difficult to find a good work from home opportunity. Often times it takes some trial and error to figure out what works for you. Look for opportunities that utilize your strengths and interests. If you try something which sounds profitable but you don't enjoy it also, you are very unlikely to be successful.

Christian women need to be careful to not get involved in activites that could compromise their beliefs. Even some basic online marketing is based on playing on people's emotions, so it is important to consider your integrity in all situations.

The Christian Woman is being updated with a new blog for Christian women and new articles. The design has been changed a bit also to give a clean look.

The Christian work at home article page has been updated. Here are a few of the new articles:

Create Your Own Christian Based Home Business
Work From Home--Multiple Streams Of Income
Is Working at Home Right For You


I have also added a Squidoo page called Christian Women & Life to complement the website and do some networking.

I have not spent much time on The Christian Woman over the last three years but I am trying to put some effort in to it again. I hope that my efforts in adding content and the help of some other Christian women on the blog will revitalize the website.

I will use this blog to keep track of some of my progress.

I have most of my posts moved to the new blog. Now I am trying to move some of the more recent comments. I hope to have the new blog ready for publication this weekend.

I'm taking a break from posting for awhile.

I have too much going on right now in my "real life".

I love these lyrics:

Everything To Me
By Avalon

I grew up in sunday school
I memorized the Golden rule
And how Jesus came to set the sinner free
I know the story inside out
I can tell you all about
The path that led Him up to Calvary
But ask me why He loves me
And I don't know what to say
But i'll never be the same
Because he changed my life when He became

Everything to me
He's more than a story
more than words on a page of history
He's the air that I breath
The water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
He's everything, everything to me

We're living in uncertain times
And more and more I find that i'm aware
Of just how fragile life can be
I want to tell the world I found
A love that turned my life around
They need to know that they can taste and see
Now everyday I'm praying
Just to give my heart away
I want live for Jesus
So that someone else might see that he is

Everything to me
He's more than a story
more than words on a page of history
He's the air that I breath
The water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
He's everything
And looking back over my life at the end
I'll go to meet you saying you've been

You're everything to me
You're more than a story
More than words on a page of history
You're everything to me
You're more than a story
More than words on a page of history
You're the air that I breath
The water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
You're everything to me
Lord, you're everything to me

Do you think Christian bloggers represent well the actual beliefs of the Christian population overall?

Or do you think that there seems to be a majority of one extreme over another? Or just extremes in general?

Do you think that most of the bloggers who identify themselves as Christians are doctrinally sound? Mature in their walk with Christ?

And if you answer, give me your definition of “Christian” first.

I am in another cycle of being unsure whether or not I want to continue blogging.

My struggle is that I enjoy blogging but I really don’t have the time for it. These last few weeks not blogging have been nice, no pressure to write nor distractions in thinking about what to write. But it is hard to just walk away. I guess I enjoy having a creative outlet.

Lately my posts seem to get people riled up which is fine although the negative comments are a bit tiring. I am hard-lined in my opinions but I am not sure whether that is “proper” or not.

I’ve tried to liven things up in my every day conversations. Yesterday I stated that I don’t believe a Christian can be a Democrat. Only two people heard the statement and there weren’t many waves from them, but I know it was still a bit of a taboo thing to say.

But there, I said it. Politics and Christianity – I am mixing them. You could even call me legalistic with that comment. It's a double whammy of sorts.

So don’t forget, vote Republican in November.

That’s all I have!

Check out the new group devotional Blog Laced with Grace.

This blog was started by my friend Iris and also features my favorite commenter and friend, Ellen.

I know these women both love the Lord so I can imagine that there will be some great content there. Be sure to stop by and leave an encouraging comment.

I think I've lost the will to blog. At least temporarily.

I'm tired and my mind is blank.

I think I will take a little blogging vacation.

I finished reading Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul this past week (recommended by Michele). It is a very basic introduction to Calvinism and is written in a very easy to read fashion.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I am not sure where exactly I stand on Calvinism as I haven’t found much reason to decide one way or the other. But I find the insight that Calvinism provides into the characteristics of God and man very interesting. I think I will need to read more on the subject.

One thing that has stood out clearly to me lately as I read scripture is the role of God in every part of salvation. There is so much talk in the scriptures of election, predestination, calling, choosing, etc. I understand that the Arminian and Calvinist have different approaches to these terms, but I tend to think our limited minds have trouble understanding the workings of God in this area.

On this note, I was reading a transcript from MacArthur (who is a Calvinist) last night on predestination and salvation based on this verse:

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:30

I like the way MacArthur handled this verse and showed not only the assurance of salvation through God’s stepwise plan for us, but also elaborated on how God’s plan basically works for each individual. We are predestined, then called, then justified, then glorified. What God has started, God will finish.

Anyway, MacArthur went on to talk about the elect and the non-elect and I like one thing he said because it dealt a bit with some of the common hang-ups on the non-elect idea (predestined for destruction?). He basically said the non-elect were condemned for their non-belief because that is what scripture says, despite the fact that there seems to be a dissymmetry with that idea as compared to the work in the elect (being chosen and given the ability to follow God).

How can that be? It is one of those mysteries that our puny brains can’t comprehend according to MacArthur. I think a lot of scripture is clear, definitely the Gospel message. But I think it is sometimes easy to go with an interpretation that is comfortable (like the complete free will of man) rather than accept what the scripture actually says. And I think Calvinism makes people uncomfortable.

But I diverge. Back to Sproul…I enjoyed the book and would like to read more by Sproul. I think the one idea that stuck with me from the Calvinist point of view is the idea of man choosing to turn to God. Sproul makes the argument that we do that which we desire. Our desires determine our choices. With that in mind, why would a fallen man ever choose Christ unless God first gave him the desire. That makes sense to me.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the interplay between a sovereign God and a fallen man. I’m not quite ready to fully embrace Calvinism yet, but the one thing I can really appreciate about their viewpoint is the emphasis on the sovereignty of God. I just don’t think that God’s sovereignty can ever be overemphasized.

My four-year-old daughter learns a new verse each month in her class at church. They usually paraphrase it, but I recognized it immediately when she told me yesterday after church:

“Nothing can separate us from the love of God”

My little girl is learning about assurance!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Ellen made a great comment in her post today, I had to share it:

Doing right does not equal being right. It’s progress; a step. But doing right, instead of making the heart change, only leads to morality, not righteousness. Following the right rules does not bring us closer to God. Coming closer to God brings us closer to following the right rules.

This difference should be understood by every believer!

Okay, I have my new template done.

I have also added to my website for Christian Women a list of Christian Women Bloggers (which right now is just me). My guess is that much of the traffic at my website are women not so familiar with the blog world, so this list will introduce some of the site visitors to Christian women who blog.

If you would like to join the list, send me an email and I'll send you the code to add the graphic below to your sidebar and then put you on the list.

Okay, I'm leaning towards layout #2, especially since I made some modifcations to the template. What do you think?

Layout 2.