Please print this and add to your Church Bulletin!

WANTED

Seventh Day Adventist  Singles

Are you ready for a REAL relationship? One with God as the center?

Get started today at:

LoveUnthorned.com

A NEW social networking site ONLY for SDA Singles. It’s FREE and it’s more than a Social Networking Site. Full of info about Loving God, Loving Self and Finding Love, God’s way! Go sign up! You won’t regret it!

Follow us: @LoveUnthorned

‘like’ us on Facebook: LoveUnthorned

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Self-Forgiveness

I’m sure we have all been to a church where the topic was forgiving others; forgive your mom, your brother, the ex, and the next. Forgiveness is mentioned in the Bible several times and includes verses such as Colossians 12-13 that states:

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. “

In this verse, the Bible teaches that we should be forgiving to each other just as God has forgiven us. The Bible also states in Matthew 18:21-22

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven”

So that verse teaches us that we should forgive that person over and over again when they have done wrong to us.
Forgiveness of others is important. When we hold grudges in our hearts for another person, we give them a certain control over us and our emotions. Learning to let go of that hurt can be difficult but it will only be rewarding to you physically, emotionally and spiritually.

How many times have you been to church where the topic was on Self- forgiveness? Many people do not believe that we need to forgive ourselves for the hurt we might have caused others, or the hurt we might have caused ourselves. Some believe that forgiving ourselves places us above God, who says in 1John 1:9

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

Therefore, if God will forgive us of the sins that we have committed, why would it be important to forgive our-selves?

On the other hand, many people suffer by holding on to the grudges, criticism and hurt they have caused themselves or others. With this, many people believe that healing begins after confessing our sins to God, accepting His forgiveness and allowing ourselves to forgive our-selves for the things we have done wrong.

What is your take on this topic? And what is your reasoning? Would love to hear from you all. Is it important to forgive ourselves? Or should we only forgive others and confess our sins so God can forgive us?

LU
Follow us on Twitter @LoveUnthorned
‘Like’ us on Facebook
loveunthorned.blogspot.com
Contact us to speak about us at your church at loveunthorned@gmail.com      

LoveUnthorned Logo Explanation

The thorns around the heart symbolize the pain, the hurt, the need, and the vulnerability. The pain our last relationships caused us, the hurt we feel because of our moving away from Christ, the need for something better and the vulnerability it causes for us to be hurt again. This is the way we used to think about love.

The releasing of the thorns symbolizes the openness, the desire, the love, and the change. The openness so that God can mend our past hurts, the desire for finding love the Adventist way, the love being revamped and revived in our hearts for God and the change that will definitely come if we allow God to work through us. The way God intended love to be.

At the top of the heart is the thorn tightening its grip, trying to hold on to us so that we will be broken forever. However, by following God's will, the thorns start to release at the bottom to let go of the brokenness and hurt. After reconnecting with God, your heart becomes open to accept the love He intended for you.

LoveUnthorned works to help release the thorns from your heart so that you can love the way God intended in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8; Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

LU

Join now at LoveUnthorned.com
Follow us on Twitter @LoveUnthorned
‘Like’ us on Facebook
loveunthorned.blogspot.com
Contact us to speak about us at your church at loveunthorned@gmail.com      

About LoveUnthorned

Let us dare to rethink love. Let us dare to put the past behind us and allow God to heal our hearts and flow through us so that we can really meet our God-given partner. Before we do that, we have to face it and come to terms with the fact that love is not a fairytale; and Prince Charming probably will not be riding on his white horse to rescue you. Let us face it that love was not meant to be selfish, where ones wants overpower ones self control. God is love and that makes love selfless.

We all have some kind of thorns around our hearts from different things. Maybe it is because your mom abandoned you, your father abused you sexually, emotionally, or physically, or maybe your friend betrayed you, your child takes advantage of you, your ex abused you emotionally, physically and or spiritually or maybe you just have not found that one person you feel God wants you to spend forever with. Whatever the reason is, here at LoveUnthorned, we want to help you let go of the thorns and allow God to lead you to something better.

Our aim is to Praise God; to worship Him with our hearts and our bodies. Being Seventh Day Adventist means being a part of the remnant of God, it means that we are called to a higher calling. Love is harder when you are held at a higher standard. Being with someone who does not understand and respect our beliefs is a disaster waiting to happen. Our aim is to help connect the hearts of fellow minded Seventh Day Adventists so that you can find the LOVE that God intended for you. He/she exists but sometimes we are too busy to find them. This site, allows you to find God so that He can lead you to your true love.

LU

Join now at LoveUnthorned.com
Follow us on Twitter @LoveUnthorned
‘Like’ us on Facebook
loveunthorned.blogspot.com
Contact us to speak about us at your church at loveunthorned@gmail.com      

Single and Loving It

We’ve all been there at some point or the other. Single.
And hopefully we have all been at a point in our lives where we loved it. Whether or not being Single and Loving it came at the same time is a different story. Easier said than done right?

What does it mean anyway to be single and loving it?

It really just means being okay with who you are. Taking the time to find out who you are and what you want (in life, goals, and values) will help you to find a mate that will be compatible with you and your goals. The Bible says that you were fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God (Psalm 139:14), born with a purpose. The Bible actually gives us guidelines to follow while single. It says that when single, our only concern should be how to please God (1 Corinthians 7:32) and that includes being active in your church, volunteering, using your time in a way that is pleasing to God.
Some of us are so involved in finding the one that we forget that we have not yet even found ourselves. Do all the things you would do with your mate, with yourself for a change. Spending time trying to figure out your needs, your goals, what are your values (aside from the ones ‘given’ to you by your parents). Do they align with the ones your parents have? Or do you value different things and want different things? Dating yourself for a while; candle lit dinner, going to watch a movie, and buying yourself flowers or that cologne you would want your partner to buy you. Why wait? You deserve it! And you certainly don’t have to wait for someone to come along and purchase them for you to show you that you are worth it.

Different ways to figure out who you are:

• Read the Bible – Its full of information about your purpose
• Google “Christian Who am I?” and “Self Improvement” worksheets
• Journaling
• Being honest with yourself about the things you like about you and the things you can
work on
• Seeing a therapist/church counselor to help guide you on this journey to self discovery

Amongst many other things.

Taking the time to really put effort into self reflection can be difficult, nevertheless it is very rewarding. When you know who you are, someone can’t tell you who to be, how to act and what type of fairytale they want to live through you. It’s worth it. You are worth it! Start believing it! You don’t need to be with a man/woman to be happy! You just have to be you.

LU

Join now at LoveUnthorned.com
Follow us on Twitter @LoveUnthorned
‘Like’ us on Facebook
loveunthorned.blogspot.com
Contact us to speak about us at your church at loveunthorned@gmail.com      

Not good enough

‘I’m too fat’, ‘too thin’, ‘too short’, ‘too dark’, ‘too light’, ‘my lips are way too big’, ‘too small’, ‘my stomach is too puffy’, I want bigger feet’, ‘smaller feet’, ‘longer hair’, ‘straighter nose’, ‘longer nose’, ‘I want bigger muscles’, ‘I want to be taller’, ‘I want to be shorter’. Sounds familiar? In a society where being your-self is not acceptable, everyone now has something they want changed. We get caught up in the glitz and the glam, not really knowing the truth behind the ‘perfect’ model walking down the runway or the muscular wrestler inside the ring.

Perfection. What is that really? Living up to something you will never attain? Always working towards something greater than yourself, knowing that you will never become it?

Our culture is always changing. Did you know there was once a time where a size thirteen is what our society called perfect? Now it has changed to a size zero. Therefore, since we live in a bipolar society where one day it’s thirteen the next it’s zero, we should not allow it to instruct us on how to look and what to live up to. God said in Solomon 4:7 “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.”
Self esteem is reconstructed in many ways but the first thing is changing the way we think about it. Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. So who will you follow? Society norms or follow the will God has for you? Society says you are too fat, that you need to be more muscular, but God says in Psalms 139: 13-14 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well”.

A Wrinkle in Time by Vonda Chappell

Time is a valuable commodity and it is so vitally entangled within the fabric of our existence, that it's hard to even envision it as an independent entity and when we try, the result is less than enlightening. Sometimes it flies, sometimes it crawls, but the one thing it always seems to do, is pass inexorably. We mark it, save it, waste it, race against it and we even measure it incessantly, with a passion for precision that borders on the obsessive. Pondering the mystery of what time really is….God allotted us 86,400 seconds each day, yet we never seem to have enough of it. It’s the one thing we always seem to need more of but manage to do nothing with…

In the book of Psalms (90:12 &13) Moses asked God to teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Return, O Lord, how long, and let it repent the concerning your servants. Moses was attempting to understand the meaning of his own life, to him it was about more then just having a sense of immortality but it was about valuing the time that was given to us for God’s eternal purpose. He was asking for repentance for not using God’s time wisely or efficiently. The story of Moses was laced with irony, though most of his life was spent in disobedience, he eventually came full circle to the life that God had planned for him. He was one hundred and twenty years old when he died but it took him 80 years to begin the mission in which God had set aside for him. He spent 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh and 40 years in the desert making a life for him self. All in preparation for the 40 years he would spend on his wilderness journey but never seeing the Promised Land. Was this a direct result of his disobedience?

But isn’t this how most of our lives are spent????

If we were to look back over our lives at this moment, what would we see that would have relevance? Most of us will never win a Pulitzer Prize, have a statue erected in our honor or even have an elongated epitaph engraved on our tombstones because of the many lives we’ve touched along our journey. But we all must stand before God and give in account to Him, for what we did not do with His gift, called LIFE. It is time we reevaluate our lives and decide to seek after more of Him. It is only because we chose to seek after what makes us happy and exclude God from our “List of
Achievements” that we manage to come back to where we started and never really experience real success. As a single woman, believing God for a spouse, I’ve considered many times (often daily) of where I could be, if I had put God above my own natural desires and like Moses, I am truly repentant of the time I’ve wasted on my own selfishness and pursuit of happiness. I’ve allowed my ministry to remain dormant many times, picking it up occasionally to ensure its subsistence and to verify if it is operating effectively, when I should have been doing more with the time and chance that God had given to me.

We that are single have an advantage over those that are not. Paul states in 1Corinthians 7:32 & 33; (paraphrased) He that is unmarried, cares about how he may please the Lord but he that is married, cares about how he may please his spouse. I can speak from experience that time is an enemy to your faith especially, when you spend your days focused on what is and what isn’t, instead of what could be; if you seek to please God. By no means, am I saying give up on your desires but it’s just time to refocus your efforts and seek after more ways to exalt God in the lives of others. As Matthew states in 6:13; but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. It is high time that we begin to pursue happiness in God, so that in time we will be able to see and rejoice in our Promised Land.



Vonda Chappell - Author of 'Alone but not Lonely'
President/CEO of Time Between I do
tbido.com