Christian Concert Adventure: Tenth Avenue North! ♥

A few weeks ago we went to a Tenth Avenue North concert that was put on by 88.7 The Bridge in a church in Salisbury, MD.

All we had to say upon leaving the concert was, "WOW."  Why, you ask?  Well, for one thing, this was a very great concert.  It had great music, and the lead singer, Mike Donehey, is a very good speaker as well as singer.  He had more than one awesome message to get accross.  He made sense, and we could tell that he was sincere and not just saying stuff.  Not to mention that this guy was BEYOND hyper.  He was leaping around, jamming (literally) with fellow band mates on stage, running out into the audience and standing on their chairs, and we could all tell that he was very (!) enthusiastic about his music and the message that he was trying to get accross.  When we got in there, we were telling our mom that he looked like he had too much coffee. :)  This made it seem like a real rock concert.  This would be great for anyone who was not a Christian upon entering the concert because they would most likely not feel alienated, which is good :).  Yeah, these guys are great, and it was overall a exceptionally amazing concert!  We would encourage people to listen to their music.  Some of our favorite songs by them are By Your Side, You Don't Owe Me (this is a new song, so it is unreleased), Love is Here, and our very favorite, You Are More! :)

Do Hard Things! ♥

I recently read a life changing, motivating, inspiring, phenomenal book called Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris.  I whole heartedly believe this to be a must read for anyone who is, once was, or soon will be a teenager. 

This book is all about the low expectations that modern day society sets for teens and how and why teens everywhere should rebel against them.  I am not trying to write a book review, but this book is amazing.  They are 19 year old twin boys, so they really have some perspective on teenage life.  This book tells all about the unique and exciting opportunities that they themselves have been given as well as stories and testimonies from other teens.  This book will show you how average teens made and are making big differences in the world and doing God's work, despite the low expectations of modern day society.  It also gives guide lines and ideas as to how you can join the "rebelution" and "do hard things", even in your own town or home!  This book is the inspirtion of the very blog you are reading.  I invite you to read this book and join the "growing group of young people that are rebelling against the low expectations of today's culture by choosing to 'do hard things' for the glory of God."

Visit Alex and Brett's website! http://www.therebelution.com/

--Haley :)

Modesty is Not Dead!!

Blogging.  This is something we thought we would never do.  However, it is a good way to put your thoughts out in the public and share ideas, faith, and solutions and suggestions to important issues.  As our first blog, we are going to tell you about modesty, what we think it means, and what we think God is telling us should be done to fix the modern day crisis of showing far too much skin.

Many Christians and Messianic believers practice the art of modesty, but we are taking it a step further (not that I'm saying that no one out there dresses appropriately, because I happen to know that there are those out there who do).  After reading Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard, we have come to the conclusion that we absolutely were not being modest enough for God's taste.  This book opened our eyes to how the fashion industry has, over time, manipulated America's minds and told them that it was okay to run around nearly naked without any shame.  Being Christians/Messianic Believers, we have decided that we are no longer going to conform to the fashion industry, and we are going to dress modestly according to God's standards, not that of those around us.

When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were tempted by the Enemy and ended up eating the forbidden fruit.  As a result of this, they saw that they were naked and were ashamed, and sewed fig leaves to make garments to cover themselves.  Now, up to this point, this is a well known Bible story, but what comes after this is not widely known (at least I didn't know it prior to reading this book).  God didn't think that their man made garments covered enough, and he made them some out of animal skin that covered much more.  So if God set standards for us on how to dress, why would we walk around in skimpy, tight, and revealing clothing?  Well, that's why we decided that we're not.

Having realized that even the most modest of swim wear today is tight, way too flattering, and shows your body, even though it does in fact cover it, we invented our own using modified men's swimming trunks and ladies exercise shirts.

We have come to the conclusion that we are not going to wear too tight pants, short shorts, low cut shirts, skimpy bathing suits, short and tight skirts and dresses, or anything that is made to "flatter" any part of your body.  In other words, we are going to dress appropriately according to God's guidelines.  If that makes us weird to or draws attention from our peers, good, that gives us a chance to tell everyone why we do what we do. :)