Wow Loriann what a blessing you are!
Thanks for joining us. I have recently heard someone talk about fasting, that fasting is a form of prayer, and that as you fast, every time you feel hungry, it reminds you to pray. I don't know if that is the traditional way of fasting, but it made sense to me. I listen to podcasts day and night of various teachers; John Piper, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Mark Kielar, Tozer, Spurgeon, other greats who have gone before. I was streaming the "Resolved" conference this weekend. The audio files from there are free. The subject of the whole three day conference was "sin". And you are so right, gluttony is a sin... it is an "acceptable" sin, but a sin nonetheless.... I think how "acceptable" sexual sin is in this culture and it make me sick to think that my sin is as bad as their sin, but mine is generally overlooked. It shouldn't be.
I just got two books by Elyse Fitzpatrick .. "Idols of the Heart" and "Love to Eat; Hate to Eat"... that I will be reading this weekend. If you know anything about her, please share.
I spent so many years listening to false teachers and heretics, it makes me all the more on the lookout for wolves. They are everywhere; filling up most of our churches these days. Wolves leading goats. <sigh>
Paul Washer says that the state of the church in America today is God's judgement. I believe it.
Praying, praying, praying
Thanks you guys for joining my tiny thread!

just got this in my email:
it's from "Grace Gems" a daily email.

Today's Puritan Audio Devotional:
"A bird that is tied by a string"
By Charles Spurgeon, on temptation. Please listen to this insightful gem, as you read along below. Just click on the above link. We have a new reader--a godly pastor from Spain!
~ ~ ~ ~
A bird that is tied by a string

(Charles Spurgeon)
"For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." Acts 8:23
"If the Son sets you free--you will be free indeed!" John 8:36

A bird that is tied by a string--seems to have more liberty than a bird in a cage; it flutters up and down--and yet it is held just as fast.

When a man thinks that he has escaped from the bondage of sin in general, and yet evidently remains under the power of some one favored lust--he is woefully mistaken in his judgment as to his spiritual freedom. He may boast that he is out of the cage--but assuredly, the string is on his leg!

He who has his fetters knocked off--all but one chain--is a prisoner still.

"Let not any iniquity have dominion over me," is a good and wise prayer; for one pampered sin will slay the soul--as surely as one dose of poison will kill the body!

There is no need for one to be bitten by a whole nest of deadly vipers--the tooth of one cobra is quite sufficient to insure his destruction.

One sin, like one match--can kindle the fires of **** within the soul!

The practical application of this truth, should be made by the professor who is a slave to any lust, or to covetousness. How can you be free--if any one of these chains still holds you fast?

We have met with professors who are haughty, and despise others; how can these be the Lord's free men--while pride captivates their heart?

In will and intent--we must break every chain of sin! We must perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, or we cannot hope that the Son has made us free indeed.

O Holy Spirit--break every chain of sin, I beseech you!

Hi Wanting to (OK< you have to share your name! lol). As for fasting, please read with care and prayer Isaiah 58. I believe that is the best we have on the subject and I like to stick with the Word before all else. Let me know your thoughts, and I as well will reread it and converse with you.

I do know know Ms. Fitzpatrick. Did you read those over the weekend? What are your thoughts on them? Were they refreshing? Were they Biblical? Did you check any scriptures for contextual consistancy?

I just read your devotion from Spurgeon... what timely fashion this has both to our discussion and where I'm at in Gurnall's book... and the Bible Study I had Thursday with a friend talking about James chapter 1, temptations! Wow, the Lord sure is talking to me! Lord, allow me not only to hear, but give me your Spirit with which to heed!

I will visit later, have to run DS to work.

blessings.

Hi!, I'm part of the Reformed faith, and a member of a PCA church. So glad to have found you all

One book that has really helped my with my problem with food/eating is called The Mortification of Sin, by that great puritan, John Owen. I recommend it for any besetting sin you might have.

For me personally, I finally realized that junk food is a major idol for me. I turn to it for comfort, joy, relief from boredom, peace, and a lot of other stuff. Other food I can enjoy and be thankful for, but there is so much emotional charge in junk food, I just can't eat it in good conscience. I feel much freer since giving it up because it really held me captive.

Do any of you lack self control in other areas? I find that laziness is also a big one for me.

I think for those of us who have big problems with food, just eating soberly and with self control is like fasting for everyone else. I'm not saying don't fast, but I'm just putting it in perspective.

Thanks for these recommendations!

Nice to meet you thinpossible! I have heard of that writing by Owen and have it on my to read list. Thanks for that.

I never thought of food as an idol, but your right, it is! But so is anything else that comes between us and the throne, us and Christ, us and the Father! TV, the internet, even spending too much time trying to rid ourselves of our temptations such as dieting (food). While eating is a sin, so is focusing too much on trying to lose weight, one substitute for another!

Eat to live rather than live to eat! remember that food is fuel for the body. Our bodies do not care if we eat a salad or a pizza, that would be our soul. However, when we eat veggies as opposed to cookies, our body does react differently to it! I know I feel more energized after a salad than I do after a heavy meal such as lasagna (*can anyone say food coma?)

ok, must go now.

thinpossible. thanks for joining us.. is that owen book in modern english?
I will add it to my list.. i want to get through these fitzpatrick books first, but I have a very hard time reading anything but my Bible for some reason. I almost never read anything else anymore.. that's good.. but there are other things that I could be making time for.
glad to see more members on this group. I did not know if I would get any takers, so it's reassuring to know that there are actually a few of us here <g>

i read something today.. might have been here..might have been in a magazine.. I have been in two doctor's offices waiting rooms today, so the day is a bit of a blur.. "there are snacks and there are treats; snacks provide nutrition and satisfy your hunger at least partially... treats only satisfy your hunger, and then only momentarily"... or something like that.. I thought it was a good thought to have when there is something yummy available and easy to grab, but not very good for your body.... ..

thinpossible.. did you really go a month without junk food? ANY junk food?
how did you do this? I keep thinking that if I would cut out sugar from my diet, I would be healthier, but I have never actually tried to do it for any length of time.. I guess it's like smoking I say "I can quit whenever I want. ... I just don't want.... "
LOL

HI Wanting... I'm finding there are more reformed believers out there than previously thought. Lot's of awesome websites too! I'll add some at the end of this message.

wanting, I don't even crave sweets anymore. However, if I do eat sweets watch out, cause then my body goes into severe crave mode and can not stop! As for snacks, if I really need something I try to have string cheese on hand as that is considered a protien, or celery to be stuffed with peanut butter (no sugar in the ingredients) or laughing cow light cheese! Talk about fulfilling till the next meal. And don't forget an apple a day! if you haven't already had one helping of peanuts or nuts you can add a little to the apple. I had to do this for a spell because the apple wasn't fulfilling enough for me. now it is. But the peanut butter on the apple is healthy and VERY satisfying.


http://www.reformed.org/
http://www.pbministries.org/index.html
http://www.apuritansmind.com/
http://www.monergism.com/

You'd be surprised at the numerous sites available!

You can get a modern English version. Of course, he still has an old fashioned way of phrasing things, but I didn't find it difficult to read.

For me junk food is any food that compels me to eat it-- food that calls my name, so to speak. For me that's all kinds of sugary foods: candy, sugared cereal, soda, pastries, ice cream, etc. I do eat yogurt which has sugar in it, and I put a bit of brown sugar in my oatmeal, but I don't eat either of those too often. Also, fast food is off limits for me. Anything they sell at a drive thru is on my no-no list.

It was pretty difficult for the first few weeks, but now the cravings have lessened considerably. I also cut back on diet drinks, which make me crave sweets. I'm glad I quit, because as I said it really is a BIG idol for me. I'm very emotionally attached to junk. And as we know from the OT, when God says get rid of your idols, he doesn't approve of occasional indulgence There may be some point in the future I may be able to partake again, but frankly, I don't think so. It will be far in the future, if I'm able to at all.

I am surrendering my food addiction to the Lord, I know that He is my strength, my only hope for success in my battle with food, you see I feel it is also a spiritual battle, as satan knows that I have spent more time worshiping food in the last 50 years, than God. I have been a Christian for 9 years and Jesus has been gently leading my through the painful process of giving up alcohol, pot, and ciagrettes, he has healed me from the pain and wreckage of my past and now it is time to honor Him with my body, like it says in Romans "You were bought at a price so honor God with your body" (paraphrasing). I am new to 3FC, and starting at Metabolic Research Center. I have a long road ahead and I know that Jesus with be walking beside me. I am grateful there is a thread for belivers. God Bless.

That's great to hear Shelley..
Keep hanging in there everybody.
I have been reading the Elyse Fitzpatrick book "Love to Eat; Hate to Eat" and was a little reluctant to start it because it is advertised as "Christian" and about 95% of all of the books I have picked up in the past 20 years that were labelled as "Christian" were so full of garbage, man-centeredness and outright heresy, that I had gotten to the point that I don't even go into the "Christian" bookstore anymore because it is so depressing and discouraging..
so anyway, I got a very nice surprise to find that she is (first few chapters anyway) soundly based in the Gospel and scripture and the Sovreignty to God!
How cool is that?! There is even a chapter in the back of the book about Salvation that is gospel centered, not man-centered.
Don't know how she got this published, but I'm glad she did.
.... more later.....

Please everybody here, pray for the other ladies in this group. We are a tiny group, and I think we should take the time as sisters in Christ to do this. If only to pray "God, please give wisdom to the women in the 3FC Reformed group" once in a while.... thanks...

Welcome Shelley! Glad you're here!

Great idea! Let's each list something for the others to pray for. My prayer request is that I would be more diligent in my study of scripture. I've really gotten out of the habit of studying daily. (I hate to even admit that, but there it is!)

Looking forward to hearing more about that book, wantingto.

Hi everyone! I'm so glad to have found this thread! I, too, am a believer in salvation by grace alone, although, I have left the corporate church to fellowship with the Lord. (Revelation 18:4)

Thanks, wanting to, for starting this thread.

Here is a link to a site to those of you who are looking for a Christian-based program http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/ And as a bonus: it's grace centered! The program is called The Lord's Table. Skimming over the info on the program, it looks like it may have changed a little bit since I did it 2 years ago, but only in structure, I think. The courses seem to be the same. I lost about 17 pounds over the course of 60 days. Unfortunately, tho, I treated the program as a diet and gained back the weight after my 60 days were up. But many, many people have found success with this program, so I do recommend it to those of you looking for a Christ-centered approach to weight loss.

Having shared that, I will also share that I do not "diet" anymore. The approach I have been following is Intuitive Eating (by Tribole and Resch) but with my own twist, as I need to watch my carbs. Like you, Loriann, I am also very carb sensitive and cannot stop eating carbs once too many are in my system. In fact, I didn't understand this when I was doing The Lord's Table program and chalked up my inability to "stop sinning" (gluttony) as failure. I didn't realize that it was the carbs causing me to eat so "gluttonously." (So to those of you who may feel you cannot stop sinning (by overeating), please make sure it isn't the carbs causing you to crave before you beat yourself up as I did.) I actually learned this lesson following a different program called "You: On a Diet" (by Roizen and Oz) which looks very closely at how what we eat affect our bodies. Long story short, I'm finding balance by limiting my carbs and listening to my body, which has set me free from dieting. I don't eat like a "glutton" anymore (because the reduced carbs do not cause me to overeat) and I do not feel guilt or shame anymore. The weight is finally beginning to come off for me, ever so slowly, but I feel free from the food trap, finally.

I hope I don't sound too contradictory by offering information from seemingly opposing views (Godly approach vs. physiological approach to losing weight), I am only trying to share the most recent paths I have been on in this battle with self to lose weight. We are both spirit AND body ... and for me, when I got the physical part under control, the spiritual part was no longer affected by the battle with food.

But mostly I'm glad to have found this group, as I have been quite distracted (with life) the last 2 or 3 months and have not been spending as much time with the Lord as I know I need to. Sharing with you ladies may be just what The Doctor ordered! My prayer request is that I can get my eyes back on the Lord where they belong! Thanks so much everyone, and nice to meet you all!

Have a great one!

Welcome Blue Serenity! I haven't checked out "you, on a diet"yet.. but I highly recommend checking out the South Beach. It's very educational, does go into how foods interact in the system, and with the 2 week phase 1 you do learn as you reintroduce starches ("legal starches that is, like fruit")... you learn which ones effect you negatively.

I am, however, iming you personally to discuss what you said having left the corporate church.

Hello. This is my first post at 3fatchicks. I found this thread by googling reformed faith forums. It was so exciting to find you here. For the past several months, I've been very active in a wonderful low carb forum and have lost weight and gotten diabetes (the I.R. kind) under great control. However, through the months, I've noticed an obsession with the way of eating and not with my Lord Jesus Christ. While I realize that my faith is totally a gift from God, it is nonetheless my responsibility to concentrate on that faith. For me, my way of eating is a moral responsibility due to health problems. It's not my intention to promote my chosen way of eating for better health, I just want to fellowship with other believers along this way. Every day, I am amazed at God's hand print on my life.