Purely & Graciously His

  "Modesty" and the Gospel:  A Word From Your SSA Sister In Christ by Jennifer Moodie  2/14/22        Last week, a pastor had a post go viral on the topic of modesty. And social media lost it's mind. Again. This topic isn't new. And every time it comes up, it triggers me a little bit.     Many people responded to the post and wrote much clearer and thorough posts than I could hope to, and I will link some of them here, because I think they are worth sharing. But something that bothers me every time this comes up is that when some of us we say we don't think "modesty" and "women, men need you to dress a certain way to help guard them from lust" should be in the same sentence, so many jump to "So, you think women can be naked and men shouldn't notice?" That isn't what is being said. That is jumping to extremes to prove a point that is missing the point of the real point trying to be made. And it just muddies the wa...

If you have been FB friends or “real life” friends with me for any length of time, or have read my blog, you will know that I am an open book. I share my struggles and heartaches as well as my joys and triumphs.  But one thing I share about very often is my marriage. I have shared publicly and privately about how and why my marriage started, the abuse I endured, our open marriage, and how God changed my husband and in turn softened my heart to Him, and how God redeemed my marriage. (If you haven’t read that, you can here )  I talk about abuse in marriage and church on a regular basis. I discuss purity culture and the harm it brings. I have also disclosed how hard healing has been and some of the things that God has brought into my life to help me with that process. I have shared the quite miraculous and positive changes in my husband and our marriage over the years.  As I write this, we have approached our 14th wedding anniversary. Fourteen years. Wow. With each passing y...

Should Girls 'Stay In The Castle"? by Jennifer Moodie 7/23/2020      Any woman who grew up in a Fundamental Independent Baptist church in the 2000's, has most likely heard of or read the popular little book, Stay In The Castle , published by Sword of the Lord ministries. On the surface, it sounds like a harmless book that advocates for purity and waiting for the man that is God's perfect will. Which we would think is a good thing, correct?  Ummmm.... almost, but not quite.  This book is actually quite problematic on a few levels.  First, let me start by saying that it is absolutely right to wait until marriage for sexual intimacy.  1 Thessalonians 4:3 states, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from all sexual immorality." So the book's desire to teach that one waits until marriage for sex is right and Biblical.       Now, please allow me to give a quick synopsis of the book for those w...

by Jennifer Moodie  6/5/2019     We all know about prosperity preachers; those who claim if you just love Jesus enough, give money to them, pray hard enough, have enough faith, and believe enough, God will give you whatever your heart desires. The names Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Steven Furtick, Bill Johnson and more are tied to that teaching. Most Evangelical Christians would reject that teaching by saying "God's not a vending machine or genie". And they are right. But I have found that Evangelicals have other forms of prosperity gospel that they blatantly teach, and I am hoping to address just one of them here: The prosperity of purity.      There is this idea in Fundamental circles that A+B=C. There is some sort of formula you can follow that will give you a happy and healthy marriage, and God isn't at the center of it...sexual purity is.     Now, don't get me wrong. Sexual purity IS important. 1...