Am I....Hot or Not...?

I get the "Hot or Not" and "Rate a Hottie" stuff...but I find the whole thing an objectifying act that degrades women and helps erode the dignity of a woman or man. Reducing them to a number that speaks only to the physical aspects of someone....is terribly juvenile. Establishing a visual sorting of prospective people only strengthens the very aspects of our culture that breeds a host of societal ills. I work with enough women and even men, who are struggling with body hate, image idolatry, physiological self harm and for some near body focus neurosis....to know this stuff is viral.

Starving oneself, gaging on fingers until lunch is thrown up, bingeing and purging, over the top-exercise addiction, superficial relationships that focus on sexual needs alone, chronic self-sex, financial insecurity or immaturity due to an addiction to the yo-yo fashion industry that is built on economics not true beauty....is creating a culture of consumption that is based on inflicting the masses with a constant state of discontent.

The Systems of this World...want you to be a sucker.

They want your money and they have built a "Matrix" like world that starts from childhood and matures with each generation. It's forced on us, (oh so willingly) in-order to control us, shape us, steal from us and hold us in it's economic and psychological grip.

I hold these Powers guilty...when our 16 year old daughters are gang raped, videoed and left for dead.

The sexualizing of our youth...the predatory nature of most media, entertainment and the overt social conditioning going on is nurturing a dangerous beast that will slay from without and within.

Biblically, sin starts within: "Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." -James 1:18. And our culture is providing amble amounts of tinder box material, just waiting for a spark. You cannot turn on the computer, TV, movies, magazines, books, soap ads, clothing stores, toys, church, work...basically anywhere and not get a dose of mammary glands or buddy buttocks in your face.

Is it any wonder that Pornography addiction counseling makes up a pastors regular subject matter with singles and married?

The "Harlequinized" Jesus....

I think there has always been a "Romancing Jesus Movement" going on in the history of the church, but I think it might be picking up steam. The early mystics (St. John of the Cross, Madame Guyon, St. Teresa of Avila, Boneaventure, even more modern folks like Meister Eckhart, George Fox, Gene Edwards etc...) built or build upon, a type of devotional "Bridal Theology" and its sacred fragrances and tinkling sonata's are in full bloom these days.

I think there is merit in some of the sacred romance side of spirituality but I think too much of it and one's spiritual compass point becomes dangerously "me centered" or "Jesus is my boyfriend" type of Christianity.

The worship movement has promoted a lot of this "Jesus is my lover" imagery. I think in a broken and isolated culture, where individualism has eroded a sense of community and the home front has suffered a relational hemorrhage....people turn to God in ways and on levels, that is understandable, but almost idolatrous. The prophet Ezekiel was outright lewd in his descriptions of this fully grown, type of idolatrous and self focused faith (Ez 16); so much so, if I typed it here...some of your internet filters would block this site!

But another more tragic but real issue, is the lack of godly men. Let's face it, most of us married men are spiritual blocks of wet wood.

What Christian woman wouldn't be tempted to start turning to Jesus more and more to meet her marital needs. Many women are left cold by their spiritually disinterested mates and alot of that hunger is projected onto the Heavenly Man called Jesus...who of course is every woman's perfect husband.

It all starts feeling really weird and plenty of men have caught their wives in what feels like some spiritual affair with an unseen Man...who is always there, never hurts them and practically never talks back, at least audibly. He's always "listening" and they usually get to tell you what He is saying to them, because no one else can hear Him. They generate songs to Him, write poetry about Him, chatter, tweet and blog about Him and live in an ever growing bridal anticipation of His coming to rescue them from the evil dragons; and sweep them off to His castle in the sky. Who wouldn't fall in love with Him?
It's from that sincere, but often "Harlequinized" version of Christianity, that the first picture above, can sometimes grow out of.

Now I know I run the risk of offending or even hurting some who would read this, by even hinting at some of this type of stuff. Understand, I'm trying to address the over-emotional, gushy stuff that is hanging like a cloud of bad K-Mart perfume over many churches and believers lives. I reconginze that there is a legitimate place for single people to "devote themselves" to the Lord:

"The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord." -1 Corinthians 7:34-35

The key word that my thoughts revolve around is that word "appropriate" in the verse above. I think if husbands were honest and men in general spoke openly about it...many would either admit the inner sense of jealousy, guilt or competition or on the other hand would confess that they have abdicated the role willingly, because Jesus is just so much better at it than they are. Both situations fail to nurture that healthy married or single lives God desires us to be moving towards.

In the end...I think some women need to end their emotional affairs and do the hard work of loving the men they can see, instead of the One they cant. And a lot of men need to reengage their spiritual lives, strip off that lazy outer man garment and become the God lover their ladies crave.

Thank God, I found a women who has beautifully discovered the healthy balance of devotion to Christ and love of her husband. God increase her tribe...the men and women of this era need a godly splash of cold water.

Oh, and no disrespect to the artist who drew the first painting, Im sure it came from a sincere place, my thoughts are meant to cast like on the subject matter I dealt with.

If I lust...is it your fault...?

But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. -1 Cor 7:9

Upon reflection on my conversations over on my facebook account about the "nipple" pic..(which has been a good one, the convo's not necessarily the nipple)...I thought of this above verse.

I find it sad that women are constantly forced to bear the consequences of men not being able to "control themselves". Freedom isn't determined by sin...but gospel. Now freedom can be set aside out of love; but it's always the choice of the one seeking to love. If a brother is a porn addict, given to lust and unable to grow in the fruit of self control...he needs counseling. He doesn't become the standard or judge of what is proper or right...he is the sick man not the healthy man. Drunkards must learn moderation...the moderate must not be guilted for the man of excess. Put out your own fire...don't tell everyone around you to stop being attractive or beauitful or alluring. Burkas can cover a womans body but they can't change a mans heart...only the gospel and the Spirit can do that.

What is the ideal "Christian" woman....?

I included in my last post a link to a ministry that is connected with Sovereign Grace Ministries they hold the same views as people like Mark Driscoll and the Mars Hill movement. They represent a very virile group of mission minded people, biblically conservative and generally culturally liberal...but these issues seem to bring out their more hard fundamentalist edge.

I and many I pastor and journey with...don't fit to well in these one-size fits all man/woman role perimeters. The language, the look, the perspective, the theological bent, the Complementarianism view of man over women, the "stay at home with the babies only" message...all start to feel very culturally isolated. It sometimes feels like modern folks trying to be Little House on the Prairie. Not that I dont think the values represented aren't often godly...but it always seems to be a way of living that is more comfortable for people who live white, pink and pastel lives. I'm not sure how to translate these ideas, to a people who don't speak that language or have those life experiences. I wrestle with the message itself...if it is even a fair representation of the ONLY way to live out modesty, family and holistic sexuality.

On the 'Girls Talk' site, they give this definition for modesty/propriety:
"The avoidance of clothing and adornment that is extravagant, showy, and sexually enticing.”

The actual dictionary definition is more broad and less narrow:

Modesty: freedom from vanity or conceit

Propriety: correct or appropriate behavior


I see a lot more room to outwork these words in the actual definition. The one they offer, seems to play into the way they see womanhood. Not that I oppose anyone who desires to model or follow that vision. You are free to do so...but isnt there room for creative and moral freedom in those words...maybe an alternative expression of modesty, that would be attainable to the woman represented in the first picture of my previous post?

I think there's a danger in people swinging to far away from their old lifestyles when they come to faith. They imagine that "the opposite" of all they did or was...is the answer for living this new life. It's easy to latch onto legalism or moralism to try to self-clean or self-sanctify....we try to become something different through radical lifestyle changes. We go STRAIGHT-EDGE not as a expression of some true change within but in order to show we are serious about being different. In the end...it might be sad to discover that everything you did to be "moral, good, different, traditional or even biblical...was really vanity. So in the very act of trying to be Modest...you betrayed the very spirit of modesty.

It was the failure of the Jewish leaders that Jesus sought to enlighten...and it is often the failure of moral based religious zealotry.

Many times it can become an act of sowing fig leaves to cover our shame...instead of trusting in the blood of God's ultimate sacrifice.

We find ourselves back in Eden...naked and...and still ashamed.

Painting is "Minerva" by Rodin

Put your clothes on....or take them off?

"To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law." -Paul (1 Corinthians 9:20-21)

We have to think missionally, as we engage the issues of modesty, propriety, sexuality, sensuality, nakedness vs nudity within our current culture. We have to take into account social norms, traditions, background, religious tradition or formation in thinking, art in all its forms and the impact of those mediums in forming opinion, perspective and experience. The people I am seeking to reach are born into a culture that will powerfully imprint it's pattern on the soul, psyche, thinking, appetites and perceptions of all these topics.

If we sat at a table with a woman from Tanzania, France, Iran, Texas, Seattle, Ukraine, Australia and South Korea...and talked about universal rules for modesty and sensuality; you could imagine the very complex conversation we would have. If a principle isn't applicable for all people, for all time, in every place...I think we need to be careful what we establish as gospel truth or religious law. And if our understandings of these topics are either corrupted or constrained by the "universality" principle...than that needs to be addressed as well.

You just can't lay one rule down for everyone...some people or cultures might need to put clothes on and some might need to take them off. The need of the heart and soul and the leading of the Spirit; is central, to the proper formation and shaping of Christ in people and cultures. Like Paul, I am free to say to one disciple...be circumcised for the sake of mission; and to another don't do it because it would be a devaluing of Christ's work.

Context...not situational ethics in the broad sense but Spirit led application of scriptural truth for the moment.

I know some women who need deliverance from a misapplication of modesty and cultural constraints. Their womanhood, beauty and freedom have been submerged and the glory of God is dimmed. Now that's not a endorsement of burning bra's etc...its an honest pastoral evaluation of seeing a form of bondage that eclipses women behind issues, other people's hang-ups and legalism or cultural morality...instead of the new creation in Christ.

I know other women who have no sense of Spirit guided and scripturally formed modesty. Their underwear is never under what they wear....You can here "Thar She Blows!!!!"...everytime they bend over, because the "Whale-Tail" made by her thong. Breasts are almost falling out of their blouses, nipples are poking through clothing thin enough to look through. Swimming with your kids with some women these days is like a 9th grade biology class minus the condom discussion.
It's a chaotic mess of realities colliding all around us. Redeemed men and women are in desperate need for discipleship in transformation of inner lives and for liberation from deadening religious "side hug" rules. The extremely challenging thing about all of this is...we are all thrown into this process together as a church.

Our religious world is a melting pot of backgrounds...we are not just "Jews" and "Gentiles" now...and the crazy multiplicity of views, backgrounds, beliefs, ideals, phobias, fears, sensitivities and judgments are sometimes...overwhelming.

Helping men and women discover godly beauty, to revel in the mystery and holiness of marital bliss is a high mountain to climb these days. Nudity has devalued nakedness and the fruit has been eaten from the tree. But even still there is a path towards the tree of life in these subjects. True sexual freedom is found in God not the gutter. True womanhood is a godly fruit of holiness not bought off a shelf or rack. Inner beauty is not at the exclusion of outer beauty in faith...its the illuminating glory of the body. Modest is hottest...and learning the secret of that truth will enhance the glory of God in us...not extinguish it.

Helping one another move from uncreated in Christ in both mind and heart and body; towards a human life being transformed from the inside out in these areas...is a process. I think websites and ministries like GirlTalk will help some women at certain places in their lives and for others they would hurt their growth. I think tools like this (Modesty Heart Check) can help a woman or man examine themselves and check their hearts but I also think they could bind.

In the end, I seek to help people discover and apply the restorative and liberating message of the gospel and work of the Spirit. A path that requires bold adherence to liberty and new creation truth not the curse or the fall and not the work of the law. This journey will produce repentance, restoration, transformation and freedom. Not banality, prudishness, subservience, dominance, authoritarianism, exploitation...not legalism or antinomianism.

It's not an easy endeavor....but it's worth the risks involved.

"For the glory of God is man...fully alive." -St. Ireanus

Clothed....or unclothed.


Picture by Gavin HargestAll rights reserved.

Resurrecting Eve....

This is a picture I took on one of my most favorite local, non-corporeal nudes in Spokane. She resides in a little flower garden at St' Luke's Rehab...I guess the founders felt that the David's similar natural health remedies might assist in the recovery of their patients too.

Many statues portray one breast exposed which usually has a particular meaning. Justice statues have breasts exposed. Women warriors, particularly the Amazons, are often depicted with a left breast exposed because its said that they removed the right breast for better javelin throwing and bow use.

Americans are steeped in boobie phobia. I can't tell you how many conversations get all heated over the issue of nudity. You can barely breast feed a kid these days without someone freaking out. The issues are rooted in women and their body hate, the cultural devaluing of motherhood and family, the plague of porn, the loss of the non-dualistic sacredness and holiness of the body, Gnosticism, our fundamentalist Christian heritage and many other sociological or phycological issues or hang ups.

The discussions get interesting when you dare to weave theology and morality with artistic philosophy, culture and tradition bias. Of course our sex soaked culture is to blame for the knee jerk reactions and close minded fundamentalism that surrounds the issues too. Women and men are to blame for feeding the fire through a thousand means. They often cement the poisonous stereotypes and rabid infatuation by grandstanding the issues:The challenge is to be faithful to the scriptures guidance on proper morality and healthy sexuality without becoming puritanical and hyper paranoid, which can lead to legalism of the most ridiculous kind. I recently talked to a bro who was raised with the strict no male swimming without pants prohibition. Mixed bathing was considered the heights of hedonism of many generations not to long ago. I cut my pastoral teeth in a denomination whose camp potty police would spin countless stringent rules and regulations in order to prevent the pubescents from copulating....which had to be because of those devilish bikini tops. Of course we were all saved from the hormones when some heavenly designer introduced the Tankini...ah, but I digress. Religious hounds have been covering table legs with skirts because the legs were too sexy since early America...that will make you look at your table differently wont it? Boobie love seems to be inherent in the genes of man...if a wife had a dollar for everytime...you know what I am going to say without even finishing the sentence don't you? Mammary madness is here to stay...how we handle it is the critical issue.

I'm not sure the church has really found a healthy way of presenting the human fascination and desire for the body. Many have been prisoners of their own lusts and legitimate longings and have not been been taught how to differentiate between the two. Religion starts to sound a lot like sadistic prudishness, if you listen to all the lingo, self hatred and confusion that exists in Christian conversations. If you stand up for the boob...you get labeled as a sexual deviant or....an artist.

I'm not convinced that the common path of how we have promoted purity has been that successful in American churches. The load of sexual dysfunction, promiscuity, bondage and marital sexual dissatisfaction is astounding. People are possessed by a host of personal demons in regards to living with and handling their sexuality.
Don't touch, Don't look and don't think...and get someone to regularly ask you if you have, and read your bible and pray...is the typical prescription for purity. In general, in my experience...this has been inadequate, alone. I didn't say it's wrong but I think these approaches are incomplete without a general understanding of solid gospel truth and a wholistic biblical worldview when it comes to understanding sexuality, the body, worship and beauty. We have a lot of work to do.

I think artists can help rescue the body from the clutches of the profiteers, pimps and potty police. I think there needs to be balanced and beautiful representations of the tantalizing, godly modesty and unfettered delight in the God created glory of womanhood and manhood. It's not an easy path...but the horrid expressions and suppressions all around us beckon for a new renaissance of bold but sanctified artists; who can resurrect Eve...while burying Delilah."The body is not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." -1 Corinthians 6:13

The Pornification of our world...

I was taking my daily hike along the Ben Burr trail yesterday and as usual its a tip toe over and past the used condoms, beer cans, blankets and bathrobes, panties and today...a Hustler porn magazine.

It wasn't on the trail yesterday..but there it was, face down along the side of the trail. The day before I buried a condom that was right next to the trail...and then I found myself burying porn along the trail. It's careless displaying of pornography that got me into it as a kid and its was this kind of irresponsible behavior that would snare some curious kid meandering along the trail. I found myself disgusted, pissed off and mournful all at the same time. As I buried it, I was aware that it was the first time I've touched a porn mag since coming to Christ at 15.

It was surreal and vile...I was wishing for a sink to wash my hands and at the same time painfully and darkly reminiscent of the bondage I was in when I was saved. On the wall, in the room I surrendered my heart to Jesus, I had a cross made out of playboy centerfold's. I truly worshipped the flesh. It was a god to me...a slavish, demanding, foot to back of the neck, chain tightening, soul searing, woman dehumanizing...idol.

I was graced with deliverance and trained with ongoing wisdom in my unfolding walk with Christ. In Jesus, I found a strong and able exorcist for my inner cage of demons. I didn't lose the temptations, the lusts or the love of women...but the chain was broken, the captive was allowed to walk free, if I wanted too...and I did.

Porn is a big business and its claws grip both sexes...as a pastor, this reality has painfully been true.

"Every 39 seconds a new pornographic video is being made. There are 1.5 billion pornographic Internet downloads a month. Between the years 2005 and 2006 the pornography business increased by an almost a billion dollars. Men are viewed as having this addiction, but women are affected as well. 40 million adults in the United States regularly visit pornography sites. Of those 40 million only 10% (four million adults) admitted to having a sexual addiction to pornography. Of the four million adults who admitted to having a sexual addiction problem, 680,000 are women. 17% of the 680,000 women say they struggle with pornography addiction. This is the same number of women who are addicted to alcohol or drugs."

For many people porn is a drug...one that demands and derails, destroys and dements. It's both lover and abuser...it offers the world for free but takes the soul for payment.

It's a deceptive form of inner lithium.


As I reflected on burying the porn...I prayerfully remembered the Law's admonishment to bury our shit (Deuteronomy 23:13) as I walked home, past the condoms, the porn, the waste, the dog crap and the garbage...I found great wisdom in that verse. I also found a deep desire to see the Lord bury such sins in the depths of the sea.

"He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea." -Micah 7:19

If you are a sex slave...call out to Jesus. He can and will deliver you, exercise your inner demons and wash you whiter than snow and then put you on a path towards healing, restoration and purity of heart.

Here are some folks that spend a lot of time and resources on helping people find freedom and balance in their inner lives.
http://xxxchurch.com/ and here is a online program to help you begin the journey out of darkness and into the light: http://x3pure.com/

God speed.

He made the Pleasures...

“Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s [God’s] ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures” -The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis

Visiting prostitutes, men sleeping with their dad's wives, illicit affairs, homosexual sex, burning lust, sex starved marriage partners and biblical counsel to indulge in copious amounts of God glorifying, passionate sex...are all part of preaching through 1 Corinthians. It will stir things up for any pastor who dares to really teach through it...because it hits us where we live.

It's sad to me to think that the God of Solomon's steamy song; is often represented by a church that would ban the book if it was titled differently and included in some other book of literature other than the Holy Bible. In fact some of the greatest critiques of Christianity have leveled their attacks below the churches belt:

“The church fights passion by cutting it out, in every sense; its practice, its “therapy” is castration. It never asks, “How does one spiritualize, beautify, deify, desire?”—its discipline has always emphasized eradication (eradication of sensuality, pride, the ambition to rule, covetousness, vengefulness).—But ripping out the passions by the root means ripping life out by the root; the practice of the Church is an enemy of life…” 
-Twilight of the Idols ,Friedrich Nietzsche

But the church has brought a lot of this scathing rebuke on herself:

"In the second century, Clement of Alexandria allowed unenjoyed and procreative sex only during 12 hours out of the 24 (at night) but by the middle ages, preposterous as it now seems, the church forbade it forty days before the important festival of Christmas, forty days before and 8 days after the more important festival of Easter, 8 days after Pentecost, the eves of feast days, on Sundays in honor of the resurrection, on Wednesdays to call to mind the beginning of Lent, Fridays in memory of the crucifixion, during pregnancy and 30 days after birth (40 if the child was a female), during menstruation, and 5 days before communion. This adds up to 252 excluded days. Not counting feast days, if there were 30 of those (a guess which may in fact, be on the conservative side) there would then have been 83 remaining days in the year when (provided of course, that the woman did not happen to be menstruating or pregnant or in the postnatal period and provided that they intended procreation) couples could with the permission of the church have indulged in (but not enjoyed) sexual intercourse."

So much of this subject really is the fruit of a misunderstanding of the gospel. At the heart of this anti-body theology is a gnostic heresy that says, our bodies are not good...only are spirits are truly good. It's a lie...and this teaching pervades many Christians ideas of how to live in this world.

As we move into chapter 8 we will begin to see this idea as we deal with those who Paul calls the ones who have "weak faith". I imagine this discussion is going to rock some peoples world!

Should be fun....

Sex...how equipped are you?

"God makes it clear that there is nothing wrong, and everything right, about sex in marriage. Satan’s great strategy, when it comes to sex, is to do everything he can to encourage sex outside of marriage, and to discourage sex within marriage. It is an equal victory for Satan if he accomplishes either plan!"

I am teaching/preaching through 1 Corinthians and I read this quote above, in David Guzik's commentary on chapter 7. According to this article, almost half of all women have sexual problems. Do you think that as a woman or man, you are adequately equipped (in all ways) to be the best lover you can be?

Where do you think an honest individual, struggling to be the most loving and serving of mates, should learn about this stuff?
Do you think the church should be involved in this day and age?
Do you think you were prepared to enter adulthood by your parents?
Do you think the internet is the best teacher?
Would you ever attend a "seminar or class" on such subjects?
Do you think Passion Parties have a place in the instructive role of equipping married people for healthy sexual lives?

I smell a whore...

I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues." "All the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality and the kings of the earth have had sex with her and become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. (Revelations 18)

Condom wrappers, purple panties and surgical tube...strange items to find littered at the feet of a beautiful wooded grove. I guess devils and saints find such places perfect for solitude. I was reflecting on my walk through our little neighborhood forest today. In moments like these, I hear a "voice from heaven", a quiet call that is whispered in the cool breeze of the just awakened spring air. It speaks of a tragic emptiness that these unholy sacraments offer. A fleeting pleasure that tastes sweet to the tongue but ends with bitterness in the belly. A brief connection, but not of souls, only of genitals. A wild rush of chemical escape that becomes a noose around the will, not just the arm; a piercing of not only the skin but the spirit. An infusion of fire that kindles in the here and now and grows into a pyre of eternal smoke and flame. This is polluted ground that writhes and moans with twisted contortions of sensuality that lock its victims into a prison. The dirt here smells of sulfur. The gravel is pregnant with talons that prick the flesh like a double barbed hook...easily it goes in...but damned are they that try to pull it out.

"Come out of her" is a biblical sexual reference with all its potent imagery. A pleading as much as a warning, you can hear the desperation in the prophetic sigh. I feel it often walking and living among these homes, hovels and desecrated places, unholy altars to sensuality.

Man-made idols to the Great Whore.

Diabolical liberty with your knees....

I am so, so sorry, but I have to post this. I know it plays on all the wrong stereotypes of yesteryear concerning men and women relationships but...it's just so funny. Having a teen daughter, this made me laugh.

Seduction...a christian virtue?

If you dig to far into my family past, you might not like what you find. You see, my family has got stories...really sick, perverted stories. Some of them can make your skin crawl...but that’s my family. Depraved, possibly cursed but family still. See, way back my old grandma’s slept with their father. In fact, ended up getting pregnant by him...and wanted it to happen. Yep, we have issues in my family. Getting knocked up by dad...doesn’t sit well with most religious folks. Imagine being raised with that over your head...your granddad is your dad...that can mess with your mind.

But to be honest...I am not sure I fall too far from the tree. You see when you are raised in that kind of world, you pick up on all the tricks of the trade, the language, the vibe, the ways of seduction. You learn that your body is a tool to get what you want. You realize you got power baby. And I’m not afraid to use it, if I have too. Just like my grandmama’s before me...I am attracted to older men, especially if they are rich! I am not afraid to go after what I want...no matter what people might think.

I remember one time, I got a job working for this older guy who had a pretty financially prosperous business. I noticed that he noticed me. You know how it works...you show a little something, you catch their gaze...flirt a bit, you know. He hired me and soon was inviting me to lunch. I could read him...he thought I was hot. I was quite a bit younger but life had been tough and I needed a break. So I started moving in...playing the game. I could tell he was hooked and I started reeling him in.
I pulled out all the womanly charms...in fact one night I went for the kill. I put together an outfit that I knew would make a man’s heart melt and his knees get weak. Pulled out my best perfumes and hit the town.

I knew he was at a party in town...so I showed up late...after I knew he would have been slamming down the booze. Sure enough, he was getting drunker than a skunk and ended up passing out in a little room in the back of the house. I made my move and slipped in and slipped under the covers. it wasn’t until late that morning that he woke up...to say he was pleased, is an understatement. Even though he was a respected member of the community and probably was nervous about my under the covers meeting...he didn't want me to leave. I stayed in bed with him the rest of the night and slipped out in the morning...making sure a few people saw me...the hook was set.

Needless to say we got hooked up and now...I’m set for life. I’ve learned a few things from my family...sometimes a woman has got to do what a woman has got to do.

My name is Ruth...you can find my name in the linage of Jesus, the Son of God and I am one of only two women in the bible that have awhole book named after them...in fact the other one, Esther...got to power about the same way as I did.