Nudists often find solace in the warmth of the sun. I personally can sit in the sun, close my eyes, and feel the heat warming my skin and engulfing me in an intense happiness. It isn't a sexual or even a sensual feeling. It is one of pure spiritual release.
Others find the touch of the breeze blowing across their nude body to have a certain caressing quality that can only be described as divine.
Divine is a funny word. It indicates a presence of a Divine One. It offers the possibility of the whole world being here at the request of one all powerful master that either guided or molded this world into place. The word is so appropriate for the feelings we get when we are sitting in the open and are exposed to the elements our Creator has placed around us. It is no accident that we have these wonderful feelings and a desire to continue in their presence. They are no less than the handiwork of the Divine One.
John 1:1 states. "In the beginning was the Word..." There can be no mistaking the indication that Jesus was there at the creation in His glory. He knew the winds and the sun would be on earth to allow us those feelings of closeness to God. As He walked in the Garden with God, do you think that Jesus might have wondered if Adam and Eve ever understood why the wind caressed them so? Do you think He might have smiled a little when Eve would stretch in the sun and smiled at the pure delight by being warm and safe?
The reasons we enjoy nudism are not separate from what God knew from the start. He knew we would be naked. He planned for us to be in the sunshine, open to the world, and enjoying His creation. It was His intention that we be naked all along.
I used to wrestle with the questions of how God knew what to do to make us comfortable on earth. The answer is really simple. He knew us. He knew us before we were born. He knew us before the world was reformed and built for our personal use and pleasure. He knew what we would need and what we would find on our own. He knew us so well that when it came time to create a world, God knew how to place everything in motion for us to survive as long as we need this earth.
As nudists, we get to enjoy the earth as we were intended to use the earth. It is not a place for simple survival, but a place where we can take full advantage of the sun, the rain, a fragrance that drifts passed us. We can see the beauty in God best creation.
Yes, I know most people don't admit to enjoying the sight of a nude human, but we are His best creation. Take a moment to enjoy it from an art standpoint. There is nothing more simplistic in visual beauty than the human form, but the sheer drama of the lines and curves are astounding. Such a complex body is hidden in the simple lines and curves.
If we learn nothing else as nudists, we need to learn to give God the Glory for placing us in t his wonderful world. I am not sure if our textile counterparts realize what they have available to them, but as we are knowledgeable, we are responsible to acknowledge His creation.
Thank God for nudism. Well, thank God in all things, but thank God for our special gift.
See ya soon. Allen
Showing posts with label apologetics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apologetics. Show all posts
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Joyous Heart
There is nothing greater than to find a person to talk to who has a joy in his heart that permeates the entire room. Such a person will lift your spirits and give you such a good feeling that you hate to even think of being blue. Any idea of being in a bad mood simply fades as your new found friend, whether you have known him for years or not, brightens your entire day.
Anyone else noticed that before? Well, maybe it is just me.
I believe, however, that all of us find some type of pick-me-up out of those people who have a natural gift for being joyous. A person with sch a gift is most definitely deserving of my praise. It is rare, but I am not sure this is an innate gift, one that is born into an individual, as it is a learned gift, one that we all can obtain.
James tells us in his first chapter to consider it great joy to be persecuted. If we can consider it something, we must be able to obtain it. If we can consider joy, then all of us can obtain a joy in our hearts.
The word joy is an unique one. It implies a happiness regardless of the circumstances. For us to be joyous during trying times as James suggests, we must be talking about something more powerful than simple happiness. We must be living in a place where we are content to be regardless of our destiny.
I can only see one place where that scenario might exist. That is living in the light of Christ. Once we let our bodies and our souls be warmed and comforted by the light given off by Jesus, we find ourselves not caring about the other items in our life. Finding that comfort level and installing our hearts there will make us one of those people who always seems to be filled with joy.
The best testimony we can give is to let the joy of living in Christ's light be our beacon. Once we begin to show what Christ has done for us, others will desire our joy as well. Perhaps that was what God had in mind all along.
Allen
Anyone else noticed that before? Well, maybe it is just me.
I believe, however, that all of us find some type of pick-me-up out of those people who have a natural gift for being joyous. A person with sch a gift is most definitely deserving of my praise. It is rare, but I am not sure this is an innate gift, one that is born into an individual, as it is a learned gift, one that we all can obtain.
James tells us in his first chapter to consider it great joy to be persecuted. If we can consider it something, we must be able to obtain it. If we can consider joy, then all of us can obtain a joy in our hearts.
The word joy is an unique one. It implies a happiness regardless of the circumstances. For us to be joyous during trying times as James suggests, we must be talking about something more powerful than simple happiness. We must be living in a place where we are content to be regardless of our destiny.
I can only see one place where that scenario might exist. That is living in the light of Christ. Once we let our bodies and our souls be warmed and comforted by the light given off by Jesus, we find ourselves not caring about the other items in our life. Finding that comfort level and installing our hearts there will make us one of those people who always seems to be filled with joy.
The best testimony we can give is to let the joy of living in Christ's light be our beacon. Once we begin to show what Christ has done for us, others will desire our joy as well. Perhaps that was what God had in mind all along.
Allen
Monday, August 18, 2008
Back Again
I apologize for such a long break in posting. I have been somewhat busy and hadn't really had much to say. I thought funneling my time to other places would spare you from some inane post that meant nothing.
I wanted to post to you some apologetics of Christian nudist life in this blog and today seems a good place to begin this. But we need some ground rules. As we discuss this, please be respectful of all people. I have the comment section open, but there has been little comments so far. If there should be any, I trust we can keep them respectful of all so that we might share God's love to all we encounter.
The bible is full of places where nudity is mentioned. Even in the first part of the first boo, Genesis, nudity is a part of God's creation. When we first hear of man, we hear of him being naked, a state God created and He intended man to remain that way. We find in the old Testament Isaiah walked naked among the Jewish people naked. Many of the same traditions we hold today which are done clothed now were handled naked in previous times.
The Jewish communities before the fall of Jerusalem, nudity was commonplace among the people. Clothes were expensive and having more than one set of clothes was extravagant. Mostly, though, people couldn't afford more than the bare necessities, a cloak, inner clothing and outer clothing. When a person came to a situation where the clothing might get dirty or become unclean (not the same thing), they would take the clothes off.
Examples of this is where Peter, when fishing, grabbed his clothes and swam out to see Jesus. If he had been wearing his clothes, there would be no need to grab them to take t hem with him.
Another good example is the stoning of Stephen. The crowd gave their clothes, both inner and outer, to Saul to watch while they threw stones at Jesus. Remember, these were the leaders of the Jewish faith.
The New Testament is riddled with naked references. Jesus was naked on five of the more important times he appeared to us. On His birth, He was naked. At His death, He was naked. He was baptized naked. In the upper room, Jesus was naked washing His disciples' feet. On the Resurrection morning, He was naked.
The prohibition on nudity is a relatively new invention, coming about because of vanity and pride. It has little to do with modesty, but was a way of showing off our wealth and dividing the haves from the have-nots. A simple look at history will provide good examples. Take Queen Victoria. She devised great costumes to cover her thin, darker complexion. She wanted to look like the other wealthies, plump and pale. Perhaps in her haste to change fashion to fit her needs, she placed a heavy burden for the rest of the world to try to meet her standards, increasing the mostly useless idea that we needed to cover ourselves completely.
I am glad we didn't follow her lead so far as to start covering the piano legs.
I wanted to post to you some apologetics of Christian nudist life in this blog and today seems a good place to begin this. But we need some ground rules. As we discuss this, please be respectful of all people. I have the comment section open, but there has been little comments so far. If there should be any, I trust we can keep them respectful of all so that we might share God's love to all we encounter.
The bible is full of places where nudity is mentioned. Even in the first part of the first boo, Genesis, nudity is a part of God's creation. When we first hear of man, we hear of him being naked, a state God created and He intended man to remain that way. We find in the old Testament Isaiah walked naked among the Jewish people naked. Many of the same traditions we hold today which are done clothed now were handled naked in previous times.
The Jewish communities before the fall of Jerusalem, nudity was commonplace among the people. Clothes were expensive and having more than one set of clothes was extravagant. Mostly, though, people couldn't afford more than the bare necessities, a cloak, inner clothing and outer clothing. When a person came to a situation where the clothing might get dirty or become unclean (not the same thing), they would take the clothes off.
Examples of this is where Peter, when fishing, grabbed his clothes and swam out to see Jesus. If he had been wearing his clothes, there would be no need to grab them to take t hem with him.
Another good example is the stoning of Stephen. The crowd gave their clothes, both inner and outer, to Saul to watch while they threw stones at Jesus. Remember, these were the leaders of the Jewish faith.
The New Testament is riddled with naked references. Jesus was naked on five of the more important times he appeared to us. On His birth, He was naked. At His death, He was naked. He was baptized naked. In the upper room, Jesus was naked washing His disciples' feet. On the Resurrection morning, He was naked.
The prohibition on nudity is a relatively new invention, coming about because of vanity and pride. It has little to do with modesty, but was a way of showing off our wealth and dividing the haves from the have-nots. A simple look at history will provide good examples. Take Queen Victoria. She devised great costumes to cover her thin, darker complexion. She wanted to look like the other wealthies, plump and pale. Perhaps in her haste to change fashion to fit her needs, she placed a heavy burden for the rest of the world to try to meet her standards, increasing the mostly useless idea that we needed to cover ourselves completely.
I am glad we didn't follow her lead so far as to start covering the piano legs.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Nudism
One of the obstacles we encounter often on the internet is Christians who believe nudism is wrong. Often, they cite passages which have nothing to do with nudism or being naked or they offer the stumbling block scenario, where being naked might entice a fellow Christian to sin. Such argument have no basis in Christian theology and only add to the problems of church unity.
The bible is actually silent on social nudity, a fact that is not surprising. Common, everyday nudity during the Jewish era was, how do you say, common and ordinary. It would the same as a modern day writer noting that people wear a hair net while working at a food service location. With clothing so expensive and spare clothing not available to the normal person, many worked naked to preserve their investment in clothing.
The largest argument against nudism comes from Genesis. Critics argue that when Adam fell from grace, God clothed them and cast them out. They argue that since God hid their bodies from view, He must want all of us to do the same.
I offer Lot's wife to suggest the fallacy in this logic. If you remember, when Lot's wife disobeyed God and looked back, she turned into a pillar of salt. Following our previous argument, we should also cover ourselves in salt. Every morning, we should stand up and apply salt to our entire bodies before leaving for work.
You can see the fallacy in that argument, but there is actually more to the story of Adam and Eve's fall than we mentioned. In Genesis 3: 7, we see that Adam and Eve dressed themselves in clothes of leaves.
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."
Later, in verse 8, God is heard walking in the garden and the two hid from Him in the garden among the leaves of the trees and bushes.
"8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden."
Adam and Eve dressed themselves, not God. In fact it was the clothes they wore that let God know they had done wrong.
"And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
God had no problem with their nudity. Nudity only became a problem when Adam and Eve gained the knowledge of those things that are both good and evil before they were ready to accept those truths.
As you know, later, as He was expelling the couple from the garden, He killed an animal and placed the skin upon them. It is interesting to note that the animal was probably an animal that Adam named, someone he knew. I am sure this forced home the idea that sin was wrong. In any event, it placed Adam and Eve with clothing more substantial than what they had made for themselves. Entering into a world with briers, rocks and thorns, they needed something more substantial than leaves and twine to protect their bodies. It is interesting to note that God did not clothe them completely. The word for clothing used means belt or apron. This would have covered the parts of their body most closely aligned with briers and thorns.
So what about the early knowledge we had of both Good and Evil? In Moses time, we received the Law, a written set of right and wrong. They knew what was right and wrong and with the knowledge of good and evil, we were capable of knowing what to do and what not to do. We matured. Today, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. Remember, the old law did not pass away, but today we have a fulfilled law in the form of a helper to guide us. We are now ready for that knowledge and are endowed by our Creator with the ability to know good and evil and how to negotiate both.
If we remove the places where nakedness means sex and the places where naked means poor or doing without, then the bible only talks about being nude in a good light.
With all of this, being naked socially can only be expressed as ordinary without the understanding that it is permissible for those that God chose without there being some indication that being nude is somehow more beneficial than being clothed. After all, if both are equally okay, why bother with the controversy?
Strangely enough, we have such information in the Bible, itself. Remember in the first post we talked about Isaiah walking naked among the Jews for three years naked? During the first century BC and the first century AD, Jews bathed as a custom and a required ritual. Being ceremonially clean was important to them. We rarely talk about the baths of Jerusalem or the baptisms done by John the Baptist in the light of people being naked socially, but that is precisely what occurred.
Baptisms during the century before Christ's birth were done in running water to cleanse the body and prepare a person for ministry. Following the rules for cleansing Aaron in Leviticus, the candidate would be led to the water's edge, he would remove his clothing and go down into the water where he would be ceremonially cleansed for his sins. It was a part of getting forgiveness from God. This is precisely what Jesus did before entering into His ministry for us.
After Christ's death and resurrection, Christian baptisms followed roughly the same
pattern. A candidate would be dressed in a dark robe and led to the water. He would remove his robe and go down into the water naked. The baptist, also naked along with the congregation gathered in the water, would pour water over the candidate three times. As he was led out of the water, the candidate would be dressed in a linen cloth of white to symbolize becoming cleansed and ready for ministry.
The early church knew something we have lost today. The knew that worshiping naked can lead you closer to God. I often find myself praying while naked and finding the presence of the Holy Spirit stronger being allowed to flow without the restrictions of man-made items.
Now, nudism is not for everyone. Those that find God has not called you to this ministry might just consider this similar to speaking in tongues. Not everyone will speak in tongues. That does not mean that they are not in-dwelled with the Holy Spirit. But those who are called to this ministry are not allowed to shirk their duties. Nor are Christians allowed to stop this ministry.
God Bless.
The bible is actually silent on social nudity, a fact that is not surprising. Common, everyday nudity during the Jewish era was, how do you say, common and ordinary. It would the same as a modern day writer noting that people wear a hair net while working at a food service location. With clothing so expensive and spare clothing not available to the normal person, many worked naked to preserve their investment in clothing.
The largest argument against nudism comes from Genesis. Critics argue that when Adam fell from grace, God clothed them and cast them out. They argue that since God hid their bodies from view, He must want all of us to do the same.
I offer Lot's wife to suggest the fallacy in this logic. If you remember, when Lot's wife disobeyed God and looked back, she turned into a pillar of salt. Following our previous argument, we should also cover ourselves in salt. Every morning, we should stand up and apply salt to our entire bodies before leaving for work.
You can see the fallacy in that argument, but there is actually more to the story of Adam and Eve's fall than we mentioned. In Genesis 3: 7, we see that Adam and Eve dressed themselves in clothes of leaves.
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."
Later, in verse 8, God is heard walking in the garden and the two hid from Him in the garden among the leaves of the trees and bushes.
"8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden."
Adam and Eve dressed themselves, not God. In fact it was the clothes they wore that let God know they had done wrong.
"And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
God had no problem with their nudity. Nudity only became a problem when Adam and Eve gained the knowledge of those things that are both good and evil before they were ready to accept those truths.
As you know, later, as He was expelling the couple from the garden, He killed an animal and placed the skin upon them. It is interesting to note that the animal was probably an animal that Adam named, someone he knew. I am sure this forced home the idea that sin was wrong. In any event, it placed Adam and Eve with clothing more substantial than what they had made for themselves. Entering into a world with briers, rocks and thorns, they needed something more substantial than leaves and twine to protect their bodies. It is interesting to note that God did not clothe them completely. The word for clothing used means belt or apron. This would have covered the parts of their body most closely aligned with briers and thorns.
So what about the early knowledge we had of both Good and Evil? In Moses time, we received the Law, a written set of right and wrong. They knew what was right and wrong and with the knowledge of good and evil, we were capable of knowing what to do and what not to do. We matured. Today, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. Remember, the old law did not pass away, but today we have a fulfilled law in the form of a helper to guide us. We are now ready for that knowledge and are endowed by our Creator with the ability to know good and evil and how to negotiate both.
If we remove the places where nakedness means sex and the places where naked means poor or doing without, then the bible only talks about being nude in a good light.
With all of this, being naked socially can only be expressed as ordinary without the understanding that it is permissible for those that God chose without there being some indication that being nude is somehow more beneficial than being clothed. After all, if both are equally okay, why bother with the controversy?
Strangely enough, we have such information in the Bible, itself. Remember in the first post we talked about Isaiah walking naked among the Jews for three years naked? During the first century BC and the first century AD, Jews bathed as a custom and a required ritual. Being ceremonially clean was important to them. We rarely talk about the baths of Jerusalem or the baptisms done by John the Baptist in the light of people being naked socially, but that is precisely what occurred.
Baptisms during the century before Christ's birth were done in running water to cleanse the body and prepare a person for ministry. Following the rules for cleansing Aaron in Leviticus, the candidate would be led to the water's edge, he would remove his clothing and go down into the water where he would be ceremonially cleansed for his sins. It was a part of getting forgiveness from God. This is precisely what Jesus did before entering into His ministry for us.
After Christ's death and resurrection, Christian baptisms followed roughly the same
pattern. A candidate would be dressed in a dark robe and led to the water. He would remove his robe and go down into the water naked. The baptist, also naked along with the congregation gathered in the water, would pour water over the candidate three times. As he was led out of the water, the candidate would be dressed in a linen cloth of white to symbolize becoming cleansed and ready for ministry.
The early church knew something we have lost today. The knew that worshiping naked can lead you closer to God. I often find myself praying while naked and finding the presence of the Holy Spirit stronger being allowed to flow without the restrictions of man-made items.
Now, nudism is not for everyone. Those that find God has not called you to this ministry might just consider this similar to speaking in tongues. Not everyone will speak in tongues. That does not mean that they are not in-dwelled with the Holy Spirit. But those who are called to this ministry are not allowed to shirk their duties. Nor are Christians allowed to stop this ministry.
God Bless.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)