Life on Planet Earth on Body Image

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Disney Princesses & Body Image

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A study led by Brigham Young University found that 96 percent of girls and 87 percent of boys had interacted with Disney princesses by age four. Girls who engaged the most with princess culture (via m...

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Object in Mirror May Appear Bigger…

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Scripture

2 Corinthians 10:12

A sign on a department store dressing room mirror: “Objects in mirror may appear bigger than they actually are.”

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Born Again Bodies and Christian Weight-Loss

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Liuan Huska

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1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Timothy 4:8, Matthew 6:25, 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, John 9:1-3, 1 Timothy 4:8

In recent decades, many Christians have tried to make sense of the tension between our bodies and spirits by swinging to the opposite pole. Instead of saying, “The body doesn’t matter,” they have said...

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The Perfect (Mythical) Woman

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Richella J. Parham

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Genesis 6:4-5, 2 Corinthians 10:12, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Psalm 139:14, Romans 12:4-5, Philippians 4:11-13

In her excellent little book (Mythical Me), Richella Parham begins by describing a single event that led to a personal journey into addressing her struggles with comparison. Having recently moved to a...

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Two Sketches

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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1 Peter 3:3-4, 2 Samuel 11:, 2 Samuel 12:, 1 Kings 1:, 1 Kings 2:, Proverbs 31:30, 1 Samuel 16:7, Genesis 26:7

Have you ever noticed that we often see ourselves, specifically our bodies, our facial features differently? In 2013 the soap company Dove decided to explore this phenomenon by hiring an FBI-trained f...

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Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

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You can never be too rich or too thin. (for contrast).

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Whose the Fairest of Them All?

Author

Craig Detweiler

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Scripture

Galatians 6:4-5, 2 Corinthians 10:12, James 3:16, Proverbs 14:30, Galatians 1:10

In Disney’s Snow White, when the wicked witch stares in the mirror, she asks a basic question: “Who’s the fairest of them all?” It is a natural, human tendency to measure ourselves against others. But...

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Author

Edmond Rostand

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A large nose is in fact the sign of an affable man, good, courteous, witty, liberal, courageous, such as I am.

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Nakedness is a Funny Thing

Author

Andy Crouch

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Scripture

Genesis 2:25, Genesis 3:7-11, Isaiah 47:3, Revelation 3:18

In his excellent book, Strong & Weak , Andy Crouch discusses the unique phenomenon of nakedness, something, as he will argue, no other species really experiences. “Nakedness” has, for good reas...

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Transformed by an Elevator

Author

Owen Bourgaize

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Scripture

Colossians 3:10, Galatians 2:20, Isaiah 61:3, John 3:3, Philippians 1:6, Ezekiel 36:26

A family from a remote area was making their first visit to a big city. They checked in to a grand hotel and stood in amazement at the impressive sight. Leaving the reception desk they came to the ele...

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Nothing to Hide

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Psalm 139:23-24, Ephesians 5:11-13, Hebrews 4:13, Genesis 2:25, Genesis 3:7-11, Isaiah 47:3, Revelation 3:18

The relationship between wartime leaders Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been well chronicled by historians of the period. On one visit to the United States, Roosevelt wheeled hims...

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Your Body

Author

Christopher West

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Scripture

Genesis 1:27, Genesis 1:31, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Colossians 1:16, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 2 Corinthians 5:1

Think of your own experiences as a human being: your body is not just a “shell” in which you dwell. Your body is not just a body. Your body is not just any body. Your body is somebody—you! Through the...

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The Body at Work in the World

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Isaiah 58:6-7, Philippians 2:4, Hebrews 13:3, James 5:16, 2 Corinthians 1:4

Bear one another’s burdens, the Bible says. It is a lesson about pain that we all can agree on. Some of us will not see pain as a gift; some will always accuse God of being unfair for allowing it. But...

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Author

Christopher West

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…the body is not only biological. Since we’re made in the image of God as male and female, the body…is also theological. It tells an astounding divine story. And it does so precisely through the myste...

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Author

Macrina Wiederkehr

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Scripture

Zephaniah 3:17, Jeremiah 31:3, Genesis 1:27, Song of Solomon 4:7, Romans 8:16-17

Oh God help me believe the truth about myself no matter how beautiful it is!

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Sex is Not Just About Sex

Author

Christopher West

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…the body is not only biological. Since we’re made in the image of God as male and female, the body…is also theological. It tells an astounding divine story. And it does so precisely through the myste...

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A World Of Chaotic Confusion

Author

Christopher West

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In the early 1900s, a “respectable” woman wore an average of twenty-five pounds of clothing when she appeared in public. The sight of an ankle could cause scandal. Over the next hundred years the pend...

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Author

Stephanie Paulsell

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The Christian practice of honoring the body is born of the confidence that our bodies are made in the image of God’s own goodness. As the place where the divine presence dwells, our bodies are worthy ...

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The Quasimodo Complex

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Scripture

1 Samuel 16:7, James 2:1-4, 1 Peter 3:3-4, Proverbs 31:30, 1 Samuel 16:7, Psalm 139:13-14, Leviticus 19:14

Two decades after I worked with the airmen, I read a fascinating article, “The Quasimodo Complex,” in The British Journal of Plastic Surgery, Two physicians reported in 1967 on a landmark study of e...

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Disease is a Breakdown of Conversation in Our Bodies

Author

C. Christopher Smith

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Romans 12:4-5, Ephesians 4:15-16, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, James 3:5-6

Our bodies, created in the image of the Triune God, have much to teach us about the virtues of conversation. The human body is a wondrous symphony of diverse parts: 206 bones and over 600 muscles, con...

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Psalm 8 | God's Majesty

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Psalm 8:, Psalm 144:3, Job 7:17, Hebrews 2:6-10, Matthew 21:16, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

Ancient Lens What’s the historical context? Background Structure This Psalm of David is unique. “It is the only hymn in the Old Testament composed completely as a direct address to God.” [1] It e...

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God of Grace and Power—our Friend, who

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4:19, Romans 15:13, James 1:27

God of Grace and Power—our Friend, who sticks closer than a brother: You know when we screw up ...and You know when we manage to get it right. You know when we forget you ... but You never forget us. ...

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Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

James 1:5, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18, Philippians 3:6-7, Matthew 6:31-33

Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us on, help us stand; We’re tired, we’re weak, we’re worn; Thru the storm, thru the night, Lead us on to the light, Take our hand, precious Lord, Lead us home. The o...

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Maria Goff and Insecurity

Author

Maria Goff

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:10, Zephaniah 3:17, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 1:10, Isaiah 43:1

Insecurity is a funny thing. It makes us into someone we’re not as a way to cope with someone we used to be. For me, it started at home. Growing up, my dad had been critical of my mother’s weight, and...

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The Image of God Is Far too Rich to be Contained in a Single Person

Author

Irwyn L. Ince Jr.

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This is the beautiful community that Herman Bavinck gets at when he writes, The image of God is much too rich for it to be fully realized in a single human being, however richly gifted that human bein...

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Sacred Space: Lessons from Ethiopia’s Church Forests

Author

William Rowley

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Too Busy for God? American work culture is all-pervasive. For many members of your congregation, it can be a real fight to get actual time off—and cell phones and the internet has made it possible to...

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God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We Praise

Author

Richard Herman

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God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We praise you at the opening of this day of days! Father: You shape and form us so each is unique yet all are in Your image, when You breathe into us the breath of lif...

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God of Grace and Power ... and our

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

John 17:21, Micah 6:8, Proverbs 22:9, Matthew 5:4, Jeremiah 17:14

God of Grace and Power ... and our Friend, who sticks closer than a brother: You know when we stumble ... and You know when we manage to get it right. You know when we forget you, but You don’t forget...

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God of grace, love, and hope–Father,

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 11:28-30

God of grace, love, and hope–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You know and understand us–not just because You made us in Your image, and not just because You are omniscient and all wise. You took on flesh...

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Father: You shape and form us so each

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

1 Peter 1:3, Luke 24:1-12, Mark 16:1-8, Matthew 28:1-10, John 11:25-26, John 20:1-18, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Father: You shape and form us so each is unique yet all are in Your image, when You breathe into us the breath of life. We praise You! Jesus, God the Son–Resurrection and Life: You chose to die and ri...

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