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enjoy the broadcast.

2:07

Here are some of the news headlines we're watching.

2:09

The conference was over. The president won a pledge.

2:12

Americans worshiping government over God.

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Extremely rare safety move

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by a major.

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17 years the Palestinians and Israelis

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negotiated. The idea is

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not.

2:35

Hi friends. Welcome to In the Market with Janet

2:37

Parshall. In that cacophony

2:39

of noise coming from the marketplace of ideas.

2:42

You know, what's one of the heavily visited booths

2:44

out there? The one that says beauty?

2:47

Oh, yeah. How many times

2:49

when you decide, I'm just going to watch some brainless television

2:51

for a while, and the ads keep inserting

2:53

themselves, how many of these ads have to do with

2:55

your appearance? Look, I lost

2:58

weight by taking this or

3:00

swallowing that, or I made my face look

3:02

better by injecting it with this or that.

3:04

Or. Look, this is the kind of makeup that

3:06

won't have any wrinkles in your face. The list

3:08

goes on and on and on, and the culture

3:10

shouts at us about this

3:12

concept of beauty all the time.

3:15

And yet the word beauty resides within

3:17

the parameters of God's Word. And I'm pretty

3:19

sure that the beauty that's being marketed

3:22

hawked more to the point

3:24

on those media outlets, whether we're seeing

3:26

it in the checkout line at the grocery store. By the way, note

3:28

to file, can I just encourage you, ladies? Nobody

3:30

looks like that. Every one of those photos is airbrushed.

3:32

So stop thinking, oh, if I only look like

3:35

that, they don't look like that. Okay for a starter,

3:37

but I'm pretty sure that what they're hawking is

3:39

not the kind of beauty that God is talking about.

3:42

And because he came that we might

3:44

have life and have it abundantly, and where the

3:46

spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

3:48

There has to be a kind of freedom

3:50

in understanding God's definition

3:53

and God's purpose and God's vision

3:55

for beauty that is markedly different

3:57

from the world. Can I get a collective sigh?

4:00

That's where we're going to talk about this hour.

4:02

The book that we're going to talk about is called Beautiful

4:05

Freedom How the Bible Shapes

4:07

Your View of Appearance, food,

4:09

and Fitness I love this. I don't think I've talked to

4:11

anyone who's written about this topic

4:13

from a biblical perspective. I'm so thankful

4:15

that Stacy is with me. She is a writer,

4:18

a pastor's wife, the mother of four. She lives

4:20

in Pittsburgh, PA she's the author

4:22

of Wilderness Wanderings and the co-author

4:24

of Making Room for her. She's

4:26

passionate about helping women apply gospel

4:29

truth to their daily lives, and she

4:31

enjoys serving alongside with her husband,

4:33

Ben at Three Rivers. Grace

4:35

church. So, Stacy, the warmest of

4:37

welcomes, I am thrilled that

4:39

you're giving me the gift of your time because I can't

4:41

return it. But I'm even more sister to sister.

4:43

Thrilled that you actually wrote about

4:46

a biblical perspective of beauty. And this

4:48

is where I want to start. So when I think of beauty in the Bible,

4:50

here's what comes to my mind, Sarah. Because

4:52

the Bible says she was beautiful. Pretty good. Pretty

4:54

sure that Eve had to be beautiful.

4:57

She was God's first woman, so I don't

4:59

think she was flawed. Esther

5:01

Esther was in a spa for

5:03

a year, so I'm sure she had to be beautiful.

5:05

So the list goes on and on and on. And that's

5:07

all physicality on the

5:09

outside. Surely that's not

5:12

where God wanted this story to end. So let me start

5:14

with you personally. What piqued

5:16

your interest on this topic? Are you, like

5:18

the rest of us in the Sisterhood of Believers,

5:20

where we go, yeah, we kind of struggle with this

5:22

one.

5:24

Definitely, yes. I mean,

5:26

I feel like my struggle with body image

5:28

probably started as a teenage girl

5:30

of just feeling like I didn't measure

5:33

up. I had two skinny legs,

5:35

and when I had to wear my pom pom

5:37

outfit, would want to cover it up with sweatpants

5:39

underneath my skirt. And then,

5:42

you know, kind of swinging in the other direction.

5:44

As a mom, after having four kids

5:46

of realizing, you know, I don't

5:48

look how I looked 20 years ago

5:51

and the way that I gained isn't coming off

5:53

so easily. And how do I

5:55

accept my body now? How do

5:57

I view it in light of all the pressures

5:59

that that come at us from the world?

6:02

Wow. And the pressures do come at

6:04

us, do they not? And I don't know why the world.

6:06

Well, I guess in some respects, if you're

6:08

a student of the word, you understand this. But let

6:10

me ask you to flesh this out a little bit. Why

6:13

is the world so obsessed with

6:15

the external? First, Samuel says man

6:17

looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. We're

6:19

obsessed with outward appearances. Why is that, do you

6:21

think?

6:23

Yeah, I think it's just man's

6:25

sinful nature that we

6:27

want to glorify ourselves,

6:29

that there's always those

6:31

hidden idols of the heart, that

6:33

we want to promote ourselves. We want to flaunt

6:36

ourselves instead of flaunting

6:38

the Lord and showing the Lord's goodness.

6:41

So I think, you know, there's always that

6:43

pressure to put shine the spotlight

6:45

on us instead of shining the spotlight on

6:47

God.

6:47

Yeah, 100% agree. So

6:50

as a woman, as a woman who interacts with women,

6:52

as a woman who's a pastor's wife, what do you hear

6:55

from Christian women about this idea

6:57

of body?

6:59

Yeah, I think we struggle

7:01

with it. Christian women. Women struggle with

7:03

it, just like women in the world do,

7:06

because we all, you

7:08

know, have our Instagram feeds

7:10

of these filtered ads coming at

7:12

us or watching commercials on TV.

7:14

And so it's easy to just

7:16

feel like we're not enough

7:18

or to feel like, um,

7:21

you know, we need to get rid of the wrinkles.

7:23

We need to try to hide how old

7:25

we are. Um, we need to

7:27

go to the gym for, you know, two

7:29

hours every day to sculpt the perfect body. I think

7:31

that Christian women, um, feel

7:33

those same pressures that the world does.

7:36

Yeah, I absolutely, positively agree.

7:38

So what you do in your wonderful book,

7:40

Beautiful Freedom, is you really

7:42

get us to look at beauty from God's

7:45

perspective. So that's a great

7:47

place to start. How does God see the

7:49

subject of beauty?

7:51

Well. God is the source

7:54

of all beauty. He is the creator

7:56

of physical beauty and he is

7:59

the most magnificent display of beauty.

8:01

So it's interesting to think, you know,

8:03

in Isaiah 53 two it talks

8:05

about how Jesus had

8:07

no beauty in his appearance that

8:09

we should look at him. But

8:11

Jesus did the most beautiful,

8:15

selfless act in

8:17

giving his life for us that

8:19

we can be saved. And so in

8:21

the Bible, we really see beauty as

8:23

the heart that God is

8:26

looking at our hearts. And are we displaying

8:28

his love and his kindness

8:31

and his mercy to others,

8:33

but not a beauty of

8:35

outward appearance?

8:36

Yeah, that's a radically different

8:38

way to think and to live, is it not?

8:41

Mhm. Definitely.

8:42

Yeah. Exactly. You know you

8:44

talk about Isaiah 53 two and

8:46

this outward appearance. You know

8:49

someday we'll behold him face to face. But we don't know

8:51

what he physically looks like right now. But isn't it interesting

8:54

in that oil painting of Isaiah 53,

8:56

this portraiture of Jesus that

8:58

that focus is there intentionally

9:00

that what you wouldn't stop and say, oh, what a strikingly

9:03

handsome man it was, how he

9:05

lived. It is what he did that

9:07

was the attractive nature of his

9:09

beauty. There's our first big clue.

9:12

Stacy is with us. She's written the

9:14

book Beautiful Freedom How the Bible

9:16

Shapes Your View of Appearance, food,

9:18

and Fitness. Did you know the Bible

9:20

did all of that? And I hope that this radically

9:23

rearranges your thinking on this, because some

9:25

women just get so burnt out

9:27

on this idea of externals. I've

9:29

got to be thinner, I've got to be prettier. I've

9:31

got to more be more beautiful. Yeah.

9:34

Okay. That's the world crying at you. What

9:36

does God say? We're going to find out after

9:38

this. Should

9:54

I obey the government? Are there mistakes in

9:56

the Bible? Why is there suffering? Those

9:58

kinds of questions are why I've chosen seek

10:00

as this month's truth tool. The Bible

10:02

offers real word answers to real

10:05

world questions. As for your copy

10:07

of seek, when you give a gift of any amount to in the market,

10:09

call 877 Janet 58.

10:11

That's 877 Janet 58

10:14

or go to in the market with Janet parshall.org.

10:19

Saint-cyriaque is with us. She's a writer,

10:21

a pastor's wife, a mother of four, lives in Pittsburgh,

10:24

PA she serves alongside

10:26

her husband at Three Rivers Grace church,

10:28

and she joins us as the author today of Beautiful

10:31

Freedom How the Bible Shapes Your View

10:33

of Appearance, food and Fitness

10:35

so early in the book, Stacy, you write

10:37

about and I'll use my parlance, it wasn't

10:39

yours, but how our approach toward this is kind of like

10:41

Goldilocks porridge. Too hot, too cold,

10:43

just right. Although you say it better, you say

10:46

apathy, obsession, and a healthy balance.

10:48

So I mean, I don't want to

10:50

let myself go. I want to bring

10:52

honor to my husband by making sure

10:54

that I'm not constantly disheveled and,

10:57

um, and I want to be pleasing to him. I think that's

10:59

appropriate. I think that that's biblical, but

11:01

I also don't want to make it an obsession.

11:04

How do I learn biblically to strike

11:06

the balance here?

11:09

Yeah, that that can be a challenge.

11:11

And I think, you know, we rely on the

11:13

Lord. We ask him for wisdom to know

11:16

what to invest our time in and

11:18

our energy in. Um, and I think,

11:21

you know, it's making sure that

11:23

on one hand, we are, you know,

11:25

moving our bodies. God created us

11:27

to move, that we're getting exercise,

11:29

that we're strengthening our bodies so

11:31

that we can serve him longer, that we

11:33

can serve and love other people, but

11:35

also that we're, you know, finding time to rest

11:37

and that we're getting adequate rest

11:39

and not overdoing it so

11:42

that we don't have time for

11:44

things like going to church

11:46

or being in fellowship with other believers.

11:48

I think it's just it's easy to be

11:50

a pendulum swinger. It's easy to go from,

11:53

you know, being overly obsessive to

11:55

falling into the ditch of apathy and

11:57

not caring. And we really need God's

12:00

grace and wisdom to help us know

12:03

the decisions and what we should do.

12:05

Excellently said. I'm going to pick up on something

12:07

you said in the book. You say consider exercise.

12:09

One way to honor the Lord is to regularly

12:12

get your heart pumping, and work on strengthening your

12:14

muscles so that you're ready for whatever he calls

12:16

you to do. Now, I say that talking

12:18

to people from Guam all the way to the Cayman Islands,

12:20

some of whom would say I'd give my eyeteeth to

12:22

be able to exercise. But you don't know

12:24

my knees or my hip or my back or whatever

12:26

else I'm dealing with. So I don't want this to devolve

12:29

into some sort of legalistic overpayment

12:31

that takes an already overburdened heart and burdens

12:34

it some more. So tell me why

12:36

you think exercise is God honoring,

12:38

and can we find any evidence to that in scriptures?

12:42

Yeah, I think, you know, God created

12:44

us in his image and he created us with

12:46

muscles and tendons so that we

12:48

can move our bodies and

12:50

that we can move our legs to to

12:53

walk and to run. We can use our arms

12:55

to carry in groceries or shovel

12:57

snow for an elderly neighbor. Um,

13:00

so those things, you

13:02

know, can help us strengthen our bodies

13:04

and, um, and

13:06

move in the way he created us to.

13:09

Hmm.

13:09

So again, for his service,

13:11

for his honor, for his glory. You

13:14

quote Psalm 1611, you make known

13:16

to me the path of life. In your presence

13:18

there is fullness of joy. At your right hand

13:20

are pleasures evermore. So do we start

13:22

with first principles here that God does

13:24

care about our appearance,

13:27

but it's the beauty on the inside

13:29

that he's far more concerned with.

13:32

Yeah. I think just like how you quoted

13:35

earlier to first Samuel

13:37

16 seven, that man looks at the outward

13:39

appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

13:41

So, you know, another verse I thought of

13:43

was first Timothy four 4

13:45

to 5 or I'm sorry, first Timothy four

13:47

eight, that physical

13:50

training is of some value,

13:52

but training for godliness is for eternity.

13:54

So I love that in terms of finding

13:56

balance, because the

13:58

Bible isn't saying throw out physical

14:01

training, it's not important. Just study your

14:03

Bibles and go to prayer meetings. But physical

14:05

training is of some value. But it's not

14:07

of ultimate value. Of ultimate

14:09

value is that we're preparing ourselves for

14:11

eternity.

14:13

Stacey, how do I find out? How do I

14:15

metric, if I can put it that way?

14:17

A life that's out of balance. In other words, I'm.

14:19

I'm at the gym all the time. It's an obsession.

14:22

You know, I'm doing Pilates, I'm doing CrossFit.

14:24

I'm doing the whole nine yards. And

14:26

it's now more than just being healthy

14:28

and honoring the Lord. It's an obsession, but I don't

14:31

see it as such. How can I have some self-awareness

14:33

in this area?

14:35

Yeah, I think of a question

14:38

to ask ourselves is, am

14:40

I using an inordinate

14:42

amount of my time, of

14:45

my energy, or of my resources

14:47

to accomplish my goal?

14:49

Right? So am I. Is my day

14:51

ruined because I don't get my

14:53

workout in, or can

14:55

I not go to the church fellowship

14:57

because I'm so worried about the food

15:00

that's being served, that there's too many calories in

15:02

it? Or I don't know all the ingredients

15:04

that are listed. Um, I

15:06

think, you know, we need to just take stock

15:09

and ask God to help us reveal

15:11

what are these many idols of the heart that we can

15:13

so easily turn good things

15:15

like exercise and wanting to be fit,

15:18

um, into obsessive things?

15:20

Yeah, absolutely. Flesh

15:22

this out a little bit. You talk about it in the book as well, that

15:24

we need to remember that our bodies are not our

15:26

own. How does that work in the concept of beauty?

15:30

Yeah, I think, you know, remembering

15:32

first Corinthians six 1920 that

15:34

our our bodies are temples of

15:36

the Holy Spirit. And so

15:39

in that regards, we're stewarding

15:41

our bodies. God has entrusted

15:44

us with these bodies. And they're they're

15:46

not about us. They're not about

15:48

flaunting our good looks to

15:50

other people, but they're about making

15:52

Christ visible with

15:55

our bodies by loving other people, by

15:57

serving other people.

15:59

That takes me back to God's definition of

16:01

beauty again. And I loved what you said. But

16:03

Isaiah 53, that's a perfect example

16:05

of even when God became

16:07

man and dwelt among us, his

16:09

exterior appearance was not

16:12

preeminent. In fact, it was nothing to even

16:14

take notice of if we take Isaiah

16:16

53 and apply its truth. So

16:19

if do I again, here's

16:21

the balance question. So I know,

16:23

for example, the fruit of the spirit has to

16:25

be beautiful. One of my favorite verses in

16:27

Scripture is the beauty

16:29

of a quiet and gentle spirit

16:31

is very precious in the sight of the Lord.

16:34

I just am so moved by that verse,

16:36

because it reminds me that I can give

16:38

something precious to the Lord that takes my breath

16:40

away. But he calls it the beauty

16:42

of a quiet and gentle spirit. Is that a hint

16:44

on how God sees beauty?

16:47

Yeah, definitely. I think,

16:49

you know, that's that's showing us that there

16:51

is in my Bible says an imperishable

16:54

view of beauty. A beauty that lasts

16:56

forever. That's based

16:58

on trusting the Lord, that,

17:01

you know, we're not being fearful of our

17:03

future. We're not being fearful of our bodies

17:05

changing, but we're trusting that God

17:08

is in control. And that is what gives us

17:10

that gentle and quiet spirit that is of

17:12

great worth in his sight.

17:14

Mm Saint-cyriaque is with us.

17:16

She has written the book Beautiful Freedom

17:19

How the Bible Shapes Your View of Appearance,

17:21

food and Fitness. By the way,

17:23

it's published by The Good Book. It's one of my favorite

17:25

imprints in Christian publishing, because

17:27

every single author in the good

17:29

book publishing set is somebody

17:31

who's just bedrock, solid, right smack

17:34

dab in the middle of sound Christian orthodoxy.

17:36

And I appreciate it so much. And that's who

17:38

published Stacy's book. So we're going to come back, continue

17:40

this conversation, and hopefully by the

17:42

end of our conversation, you will have a radically

17:45

different perspective on beauty, and you'll start to

17:47

see this as God does back after

17:49

this. Wife,

18:04

mother, writer. Syriac

18:07

is with us. She's written a new book called Beautiful

18:09

Freedom How the Bible Shapes Your View of

18:11

Appearance, food and Fitness.

18:13

I want to go back to the exercise part of this,

18:15

the fitness aspect of the subtitle, in just a minute.

18:18

But I want to go back again to the transcendent

18:20

question, because you can't find

18:22

a repair if you don't identify

18:25

the problem first. And so I understand

18:27

the world. The world is acting exactly the way

18:29

the world acts without Jesus. But for

18:31

daughters of the Most High King, why

18:33

is it that we in particular struggle

18:36

to find this perfect balance

18:38

in our life when it comes to our perception

18:40

of ourselves, our appearance, our relationship

18:43

with food, and whether or not we choose

18:45

to take good care of our bodies through exercise.

18:49

Well, I think it's really easy to fall into

18:51

the comparison trap, especially,

18:53

you know, we live in the age of social media, so we're

18:55

constantly seeing images of

18:57

women, you know, that are

19:00

super strong or super sculpted bodies,

19:02

and we can compare ourselves and feel

19:04

like we're not enough. So we might fall

19:06

into, you know, obsessively

19:09

seeking after that and spending half a

19:11

day at the gym. Or we can fall into the other side

19:13

of just throwing our hands up in the air

19:15

and thinking, you know, I

19:17

give up. I'm just going to sit on the couch with my pint of

19:19

ice cream and not worry

19:22

about things. So it's easy to land

19:24

on either side.

19:25

Do Christian. And this is

19:27

a terribly unfair question, but I'll ask it anyway

19:30

because you're a pastor's wife. Do

19:32

Christian women help or hurt other Christian

19:34

women, or can we be just as competitive

19:36

and, dare I say, catty as women

19:38

who don't know the Lord? And if we are,

19:40

what's the solution?

19:44

Well, that's that's a hard question. I

19:46

mean, I think we definitely can be just because

19:48

we're sinful creatures and

19:51

we can fall into the same kinds of traps,

19:53

but we do have the Holy

19:55

Spirit living inside of us. And so we should

19:57

also be able to, um, repent

20:00

of that and speak edifying words to

20:02

our sisters and look for ways to encourage each

20:04

other in our pursuit of health

20:06

and living lives that honor God.

20:08

Mm hmm.

20:09

Let me go back to the fitness aspect of this. You

20:11

write in the book that you exercise as much

20:14

for the emotional benefits as the physical

20:16

benefits. Talk to me about that.

20:18

Yeah, I've just found over

20:21

my adult life especially that I can be

20:23

prone to some pretty, you know,

20:25

low emotions. And

20:27

when I move my body and

20:29

exercise, God uses that as

20:31

a way to make

20:33

me more joyful and really,

20:35

you know, seek my happiness in Christ.

20:37

It's, you know, once I sometimes

20:39

I go out in the morning and go for a walk

20:42

or go to the gym to a hit class,

20:44

and it's normally after that that

20:46

I can more easily focus on my Bible

20:48

reading and prayer, that I can

20:50

be a little bit more focused. And, you

20:53

know, I think God just creates us in ways that those

20:55

endorphins are released, um,

20:57

as a natural mood booster

20:59

and is a great way to connect

21:02

with the Lord and, and be thankful for the

21:04

body he's given us.

21:06

Again, being sensitive to people who are at different

21:08

stages of their life, who cannot either

21:10

afford to go to a gym or physically, they're just

21:12

absolutely not able to go to the gym.

21:15

Um, talk to the person who doesn't have

21:17

the Liberty to go to a gym, to fellowship,

21:19

to have that fun class together

21:21

that you're taking through aerobics. But

21:23

in fact, you're dealing with some physical

21:25

struggles every day. You have to make a choice.

21:28

The will precedes the emotion. As C.S. Lewis

21:30

reminded us, to get out of bed, to keep

21:32

moving, to say to yourself A thousand times like

21:34

that great ad from Madison Avenue, A body

21:36

in motion stays in motion and are trying

21:38

to keep moving. And that's the extent of your exercise.

21:41

Talk to that person who wants, more

21:43

than anything else, to have a body that would liberate

21:45

her, to be able to go to a gym, and it

21:47

moves, and it hurts to go from the chair

21:49

in the living room to the chair in the kitchen.

21:52

Yeah. And I do have so much compassion

21:55

on people struggling with that because

21:57

that's that is a trial in our

21:59

life. And I think it's important to remember

22:01

that God loves you exactly

22:03

as you are, that our righteousness is

22:06

not in going to the gym and getting

22:08

an hour long workout. Our righteousness is not

22:10

in running three miles, but

22:12

our righteousness is in trusting Christ

22:14

and and trusting Christ with the body

22:17

he's given us and the limitations that we have.

22:19

So, you know, any movement you

22:21

can do is good movement, even if it's

22:23

just walking to the kitchen and

22:26

serving your, you know, young children

22:28

breakfast or walking around

22:30

the yard. I mean, anything that

22:32

you're doing to move your body is

22:35

still good and is still

22:37

looked at by the Lord in loving

22:39

eyes.

22:40

Mhm.

22:40

So and you write about

22:42

this in the book and I thought it was an interesting connection.

22:44

Is this part the, the, the choice

22:46

to exercise. Because you know, maybe

22:49

some people absolutely love the endorphins that

22:51

are released and other people go oh I'd rather

22:53

have a root canal than exercise. But

22:55

is there inherent in this conversation

22:57

at least, um, the understanding

22:59

of what it means to be a living sacrifice,

23:02

as the book of Romans talks about?

23:04

Yeah, I think that's a great point of,

23:06

you know, Romans 12 one talking about

23:08

living sacrifices. So that's, you

23:11

know, our whole body can be

23:13

a sacrifice to the Lord, you know, even

23:15

when it's our mouths, you know, giving

23:17

praise to Jesus in the midst of

23:19

a difficult trial is a

23:21

sacrifice or using our

23:23

hands to to help an

23:25

elderly neighbor, um, with their

23:27

groceries. All of you know, different

23:29

ways that we can use our bodies to bring

23:31

honor and glory to the Lord are ways that we can

23:33

be living sacrifices.

23:35

Based on what you just said, I think I've already known

23:37

part of the answer. But what helps you biblically?

23:40

What motivates you biblically to exercise?

23:43

Hmm.

23:44

Well, I think of Titus

23:46

three one second Timothy 221

23:49

that talks about being ready for

23:51

every good work. And

23:53

I think when I am keeping my body

23:56

moving and strong, then I'm

23:58

going to be ready and available for when

24:00

God wants me to do some sort of physical

24:03

work or physical movement.

24:05

That's to help someone else.

24:07

Um, and also, I think, you know, God provides

24:10

opportunities to share the gospel when we do

24:12

exercise, whether it's, you know, having a walking

24:14

partner in our neighborhood that we

24:16

go with or heading to the gym

24:18

and talking with the woman in your Zumba class, there's

24:20

opportunities to share the gospel.

24:22

Mm. Wow.

24:23

Is this changing your perspective, friend, on

24:25

the subject of beauty. Beautiful

24:27

freedom. That Stacy's brand new book. How the Bible

24:29

shapes your view of appearance, food and

24:32

fitness. Now, we've talked about fitness.

24:34

When we come back, let's start digging in a little bit to this

24:36

food stuff. You know, those tuna fish casseroles

24:38

that are offered and the church basement

24:40

suppers? Yeah, pretty

24:43

sure those calories aren't removed. So what

24:45

is our relationship with food is supposed to be? God

24:47

designed us to eat, so it's

24:49

implied there is going to be a relationship. How

24:51

do we have a Christ centered, God honoring relationship

24:54

with food? We'll talk about that when we return. Our

25:10

team of partial partners is growing, and I love

25:12

communicating behind the scenes with this special group

25:14

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25:17

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yours. Ready to become a partial partner?

25:27

Call 877 Janet 58

25:29

877 Janet 58 or go to

25:32

in the market with Janet parshall.org.

25:36

If you are just joining us, we're visiting with

25:38

Stacy Rehak. She's a writer, a pastor's

25:40

wife, and a mother of four who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

25:43

She's the author of Wilderness Wanderings

25:45

and the co-author of Making Room for

25:48

her. She wants to teach women how

25:50

to apply the whole truth of the whole gospel to

25:52

all of their lives. And that's

25:54

representative in her latest book called Beautiful

25:56

Freedom How the Bible Shapes Your View of Appearance,

25:59

Food, and Fitness. We've talked

26:01

a bit about fitness, and I thank you for the clarity

26:03

that you offered us biblically. On looking

26:05

at our relationship between our bodies and

26:08

exercising. But I want to talk about food

26:10

because, boy, there's so much the Bible

26:12

has to say about food. So many of Jesus's

26:14

significant conversations were over food.

26:17

Even in his resurrected body. He comes

26:19

back and he eats on the seashore.

26:21

Um, food is obviously

26:24

something that we're designed to take in because

26:26

God designed us fearfully and wonderfully, and we

26:28

need food to survive. Peter

26:30

has a dream about food. I mean, there's food conversations

26:32

throughout so much of Scripture.

26:35

So talk to me about God

26:37

and what he wants us to know first and foremost

26:39

about food.

26:42

Yeah, I think it's good to remember that

26:44

food is good, that food is a

26:46

gift from the Lord. And he created

26:48

it both for our nourishment,

26:50

like we see in Genesis one and

26:53

also for our enjoyment.

26:55

Um, one of the verses that I think about

26:58

is first Timothy four 4 to

27:00

5, that everything created by God

27:02

is good and nothing's to

27:04

be rejected if it's received with thanksgiving.

27:06

So, you know, we see throughout the Bible,

27:08

just like you said, we see a theme of food

27:10

we see in Exodus,

27:13

God providing manna and quail

27:15

for the Israelites. And and we

27:17

see miracles being done with food. We see

27:19

Jesus turning the water into

27:21

wine at the wedding of Cana. We see it being used

27:23

in celebration and and

27:25

ultimately we see it being used to

27:28

represent God Himself,

27:30

that he is our sustenance. Jesus

27:32

calls himself the bread of life,

27:35

that he is who fills us.

27:37

Um, just as we need food to fill our bodies.

27:40

So.

27:41

Talk to me about food morality. I thought this

27:43

was interesting in your book where you talk about people

27:45

saying, I'm trying to be good today, and

27:48

then the characterization of some foods.

27:50

Good foods are often considered those grown organically,

27:52

non-GMO plant based foods, etc.

27:55

bad foods are the ones that have the extra

27:57

fats in them. The extra saturated sugars,

27:59

the processing, all of that sort of thing. And

28:01

yet the point you're making is it's all

28:04

good. I'm sure that right now, every

28:06

nutritionist in our listening audience has grabbed for

28:08

the smelling salts. But explain

28:10

why. You can say definitively that all food is

28:12

good.

28:14

Yeah, well, Jesus declared

28:16

all foods clean in the New Testament

28:18

and that we can as

28:21

long as we're receiving the food with

28:23

Thanksgiving, it's to

28:25

be enjoyed. And and that's

28:27

whether it's a kale shake or a chocolate

28:29

shake, that both kinds

28:31

of foods are gifts from God. And I think

28:33

in our culture today, yeah, we can easily

28:35

demonize food and we can assign,

28:38

you know, morality to it. And I think

28:40

the danger with that is also then that

28:42

morality gets assigned to us, like,

28:44

I'm going to pass, I'm being good today,

28:46

so I'm going to pass on the plate of brownies

28:48

or, you know, I'm being really bad.

28:50

I just, I just ate a McDonald's hamburger

28:53

so we can, you know, cause

28:55

shame for ourselves by

28:57

what we've eaten. And in the Bible,

28:59

there is no food, morality.

29:01

All of it's considered clean.

29:03

So let me push back on that a little

29:05

bit. Um, I could take here's brother

29:08

Paul. I might have the liberty to have 15

29:10

chocolate shakes in one day, but is it profitable?

29:12

So how do I make sure

29:14

that I'm not using this as an excuse

29:16

to say, hey, God said all food is good, so I'm going to have

29:18

I'm going to have eight. I'm going to eat the entire

29:20

package of Oreo cookies, not just one.

29:23

Yeah, well, I think that's where we have

29:26

to also remember verses in

29:28

the Bible like we're stewards

29:30

of our bodies, that our body is a temple

29:32

of the Holy Spirit. So so we do need

29:34

to give thought to what we're putting in our

29:36

body, right? We do need to think about,

29:38

um, what foods are going to nourish us and make

29:41

us feel good. Um, but

29:43

at the same time, we don't want to have

29:45

unnecessary restrictions on ourselves.

29:47

So I think, again, it's, you know, asking the Lord for wisdom

29:49

and having a healthy balance.

29:52

Yeah. I was going to say, I think that asking for wisdom

29:54

is very important. And not only that, but

29:56

with the Bible says, when we ask for wisdom, he will

29:58

give it to us liberally. So if we're trying to

30:00

say, Lord, I want to take good care of

30:02

this body, I understand that it is the temple.

30:05

It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So

30:07

I know that with my cholesterol

30:09

count and with my body mass,

30:12

that if I have a lot of saturated foods, it's

30:14

not going to be good. I know you said all food was

30:16

good, but father, I need real wisdom in

30:18

understanding what I should put into my

30:20

mouth. Now, that kind of mature

30:22

discernment, I think is required of the saints,

30:25

without thinking that there's a shame over laymen. If

30:27

you go, you know, two Big Macs in one

30:29

day, probably not a good idea for anybody.

30:32

Mhm. Yeah, definitely. I mean

30:34

we, we need to use wisdom and, and

30:36

obviously if our doctor has given

30:38

us a warning or a diet,

30:40

if you have celiac disease then yes,

30:42

don't eat gluten or if

30:45

you have high cholesterol it's probably not good to

30:47

indulge in the fast food hamburgers.

30:50

Um, but I just think it's important to,

30:52

to, you know, not be so

30:54

quick to demonize kinds

30:57

of foods that aren't all organic

30:59

or whole grain or bought at Whole

31:01

Foods.

31:03

Yeah, I think this is where my mom's

31:05

wisdom comes into play, where she would say everything

31:07

in moderation. And I found that interesting.

31:09

Hearing a model do an interview one day that

31:11

says she subscribes to what she called the 80 over 20

31:14

plan, 80% of the time.

31:16

She's very, very good and very

31:18

strict and making sure that what she puts in her body

31:21

is going to be conducive to the work that she's

31:23

been called to do. 20% of the time, she'll have

31:25

the entire pizza if she wants. And I thought,

31:27

isn't that a perfect picture of moderation?

31:29

So you're not doing it every single day, but

31:31

you're not. Again, I think the sand

31:33

trap and all of this is making

31:35

and I you haven't used the word, but it's implied

31:37

in everything you've said. Making an idol

31:40

of all of this. If your Pilates is

31:42

an idol, then you got a problem. If

31:44

making sure that you have a zero

31:46

body mass, then you've got a problem.

31:48

So in other words, it's whatever we've pushed

31:50

off the throne of our heart where

31:52

Jesus should be seated and

31:54

we've replaced it with something else.

31:57

Yes, definitely.

31:59

And that's a challenge. I think that that's that's

32:01

the one step forward, one step back time

32:03

that I think that we have to exercise. You

32:06

talk about food being relational. I think this is

32:08

important too, about if we're going

32:10

to break bread. I noted earlier that so many of Jesus's

32:12

important conversations were over meals.

32:15

You list ways in which we

32:17

can think through how we're going to feed other people

32:19

that come to our table. Why is that important and

32:21

how should we be thinking?

32:24

Well, I love hospitality because

32:26

it's it's such a front door ministry

32:28

to, you know, share the gospel

32:30

with other people to share your life

32:32

over a meal to them, a meal with

32:34

them. Um, so I think, you know,

32:36

it's a it's a way that

32:38

God allows us to have fellowship

32:40

with other believers. It's a way that we can do

32:42

outreach to our neighbors and to

32:44

unbelievers around us. Um, but

32:47

I think there's, you know, the danger

32:49

in these days of becoming, you know,

32:51

so individualistic

32:53

in our diets, of having so many restrictions

32:56

that it can keep us from having fellowship

32:58

with other people.

32:59

Um, so let me linger on this hospitality

33:02

part and full transparency. Uh,

33:04

when I read the scriptures and it says practice hospitality,

33:07

I thought it was a gift. I didn't have it. I got

33:09

a pass. I realize

33:11

that's not what the Scripture says at all.

33:13

What I loved when you got into the food part

33:15

of the book is that you really and you just

33:17

used a beautiful phrase. You talked about a front door ministry.

33:20

I'm going to cling to that. I think it's a great idea

33:22

that really inviting people to our

33:24

table. Um, being sensitive

33:26

to what might please them as opposed to serving just

33:28

my favorites. It's it's

33:30

kind of, uh, step number one in evangelism

33:33

and discipleship, is it not?

33:35

Yeah, definitely. I think,

33:37

you know, so many people might not

33:39

come to church if we invite them,

33:41

right. But if we invite them over

33:43

for dinner, they might be

33:45

more than willing to come share a meal. So

33:48

I think it's just a really beautiful

33:50

opportunity that the Lord gives believers

33:52

to welcome others into our homes and into our

33:54

lives, and give us an opportunity to

33:56

share what our life is about.

33:58

Yeah, exactly. You touched on this

34:00

before, but I'd love for you to flesh this out just a little bit

34:02

more. The three iterations again, back to goldilocks's.

34:05

Porridge. Food. Morality.

34:07

Food. Salvation. Food. Individualism.

34:10

What are each of those? Um, how would you

34:12

define them and help me find the balance?

34:15

Yeah. So these are popular narratives

34:17

today. We kind of already talked some about food

34:20

morality, but that was just kind of assigning

34:22

those good and bad, um,

34:24

categories to different kinds of foods

34:27

and forgetting that God

34:29

has declared all foods clean, that we can

34:31

receive it with thanksgiving, that we don't need to

34:33

feel shame because we ate

34:35

an Oreo cookie and it ruined the clean

34:37

eating plan for the day. Um, food

34:40

salvation is, you know,

34:42

thinking that we can control

34:44

our health, that we can control,

34:47

um, how we look our our if

34:49

we look, you know, a lot younger or

34:51

control, um, the span of our

34:53

life by what we eat kind of thinking

34:55

that diet choices can solve all

34:57

our problems. Um, that diet can

34:59

be our salvation. It can become our

35:01

God. So, you know, like we talked about before,

35:04

another form of idolatry. Um,

35:06

and then food, individualism,

35:08

kind of the have it your way mentality. And

35:10

that's just, you know, being,

35:13

um, very restrictive, possibly

35:16

in your own diet and that keeping

35:18

us from fellowship with other people. So

35:20

maybe there's a church potluck and you're

35:23

afraid to go to it because you don't

35:25

know what ingredients are in the food, or

35:27

you're worried about the calories that

35:29

would be in some of the dishes that are made so you don't

35:31

go. Or maybe you're afraid

35:34

to invite someone into your home for

35:36

a meal because you know they have a very

35:38

demanding diet and you're afraid you might

35:40

make something wrong. So sometimes

35:42

I think, you know, the food individualism,

35:45

um, can get in the way of

35:47

hospitality and fellowship of believers.

35:50

Yeah.

35:50

Um, wise, wise, wise insight. Stacy

35:53

is with us. She's written the book Beautiful Freedom

35:55

How the Bible Shapes Your View of Appearance,

35:57

food and Fitness. We're going to take a break, but

35:59

I want to draw you to the information page because

36:02

there I've got a link to Stacy's website as well,

36:04

and you can learn more about her writing. And

36:06

also if this book has absolutely

36:08

piqued your curiosity, if you're interested

36:10

in really getting a biblical perspective

36:13

on beauty and food and fitness

36:15

and Stacy's book is for you. So I've got it

36:17

linked on my information page. Click on through

36:19

to find out how you can get your copy. How do you

36:21

get there? Easy in the market with

36:23

Janet parshall.org in

36:26

the market with Janet parshall.org

36:28

underneath the front page. The description

36:30

of the program you'll see a box red with

36:33

white letters. It says program details

36:35

and audio. Click then on takes you over to

36:37

the information page. There's a picture of

36:39

Stacy. Beautiful picture of Stacy, her bio,

36:41

a link to her website and on the right hand side,

36:44

the book. The basis of our conversation

36:46

today. Beautiful freedom how

36:48

the Bible shapes your view of appearance, food.

36:50

And fitness back after this.

37:00

Beautiful freedom. How the Bible shapes your view

37:02

of appearance, food and fitness. It is

37:05

the new book by Stacy Rehak, who

37:07

is a wife, a mother, and a writer residing

37:09

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Uh,

37:11

a quick word on overindulgence, because

37:14

you use the word shame before. And boy, for

37:16

so many people who struggle in this area,

37:18

um, with that overindulgence just sends them

37:20

spiraling. Now, we often talk about the seven deadly

37:23

sins note to file that's not enumerated

37:25

anywhere in Scripture, but it isn't interesting

37:27

that gluttony is one of the ones that fits in

37:29

there. So talk to me about overindulgence.

37:31

Overindulgence. How do I moderate

37:33

identify and get that in check?

37:37

Yeah. I mean, I think that's a really

37:39

common issue and something

37:41

that I've definitely struggled with. I think it's

37:44

one of the ditches, you know, the other side of the

37:46

ditch from food, you know, restriction

37:48

is, is overindulging.

37:51

And I think you know that too, of

37:53

realizing, you know, Jesus has given

37:55

liberty. We can enjoy

37:57

foods, you know, with freedom, but,

38:00

you know, not taking that as a license

38:02

to sin. And, you know,

38:05

thinking about, are we turning this into an

38:07

idol in our lives? Is there a food

38:09

that I feel like I just can't go

38:11

without this food today? And

38:13

if there is something like that, then maybe that's

38:15

something, you know, to take to the Lord and

38:18

to, you know, take a break

38:20

from for a few days and ask that you would

38:22

rely on Jesus's strength instead

38:24

of the strength of that chocolate bar, which

38:26

for me, that's, you know,

38:28

something that I can go to way too easily

38:30

when I'm feeling stressed or, um,

38:33

you know, overwhelmed with things. And

38:35

it's a common trap that people fall

38:38

into.

38:38

Yeah, absolutely. One at every

38:40

chapter, by the way, I want to point out to my friends has questions

38:43

for reflection. And one of the questions

38:45

you ask on the end of this

38:47

conversation about overindulgence is how can

38:49

we enjoy food in a God honoring way?

38:52

That's an interesting question, and I bet the majority

38:54

of us have never really thought about that. It's food,

38:56

something we have to do, or it becomes

38:58

an obsession or it becomes

39:00

a real challenge in our life. But stopping and

39:02

saying, wait a minute, how do I honor God

39:05

with the food choices I make? That's

39:07

a fascinating and thought provoking question. So

39:09

how do I do that?

39:11

Well, I think first it's eating with a thankful

39:14

heart, right? So instead of just digging

39:16

in right away, but, you know, stopping

39:18

to thank the Lord for what he's provided

39:21

and and eating slow enough that

39:23

we can enjoy and savor the

39:25

tastes. You know, God created a smorgasbord

39:27

of flavors of we have tangy

39:29

lemons and we have savory,

39:32

you know, pretzels. And we have all kinds

39:34

of different foods that we can enjoy. But, you

39:36

know, with the trap of overindulgence, we can go

39:38

into, you know, just thinking about the next bite or

39:40

the next course that we want to enjoy,

39:43

but just slowing down and being grateful for

39:45

what God has provided.

39:47

Um.

39:47

That Thanksgiving part that's so tremendously

39:50

important. So you end appropriately

39:52

on taking a look at the idea of beauty and

39:54

aging. You know, I made reference

39:57

to Madison Avenue before. Uh,

39:59

this is where a gazillion dollars are made. You know, the

40:01

Bible says that I'm going to fade away. I'm

40:03

going to wither away. Um, the

40:05

psalmist talks about gray hair and eyes

40:07

that are failing and teeth that are not there.

40:09

And yet, apparently American

40:11

culture in particular is trying to outdistance

40:14

death with every pill or

40:16

drug or inserted

40:18

chemical in our face, we can possibly find.

40:21

What is God's perspective on aging

40:23

first?

40:25

Yeah, God's perspective is

40:27

upside down compared to the world's

40:29

because, you know, the book of

40:31

Proverbs tells us that gray hair

40:33

is a crown of glory. Well,

40:36

you know, in America, most of us are trying to hide

40:38

our gray hairs. We're running out to the salon

40:41

and wanting to color our hair to get rid of the grays.

40:43

But you know, the Bible

40:45

looks at aging as

40:48

something beautiful, that it's showing

40:50

the righteous life, the wisdom that

40:52

we've gained. Psalm 92

40:54

talks about, um, a tree,

40:56

a flourishing tree still bearing fruit

40:59

in old age. And I think that's a beautiful

41:01

thing to aspire to if we're still bearing

41:03

the fruits of the spirit, the love,

41:05

joy, peace, patience, kindness in our life,

41:08

even as the wrinkles increase and the

41:10

gray hairs pop through.

41:11

Yeah, that's so tremendously important.

41:13

You talk about a crown of glory and

41:15

how the Bible celebrates the growing number

41:18

of candles on our birthday cake,

41:20

and you give us verses from the Old Testament, from

41:22

job, from Proverbs and Psalm. I love

41:24

what you just said, that God really takes this idea of

41:26

aging and turns it upside down.

41:28

Do we not, if we're reading God's scriptures

41:31

appropriately, see that aging has the potential

41:33

of being a gift, not a burden?

41:36

Exactly right. It can

41:38

definitely be a gift. And that's how God

41:40

wants us to see it. But the world

41:42

pushes against that, that we should hide

41:44

how old we are, and we should do everything we can to

41:46

look ten years younger. So I think,

41:48

you know, it takes going to God's Word consistently

41:51

to reframe our perspective

41:53

and to see, you know, the laugh lines

41:55

that are on my face as a gift from

41:58

all the times I've had laughing with my

42:00

family or the stretch marks on my abdomen

42:02

as a reminder of the gift of bearing

42:04

children, it's a totally different way

42:06

to look at it. Yeah.

42:07

Markedly different. So as a pastor's

42:09

wife, they have to know that you're a writer. Tell me

42:11

about the women in your own church. How do they respond

42:14

to your message?

42:16

Uh, they've been great. They have been a gift.

42:18

And it was fun in writing

42:20

this book to write about some of

42:22

them. In fact, in this aging chapter,

42:25

um, I highlighted a few different ladies

42:27

that, you know, serve our church,

42:30

serve the young moms by providing childcare

42:32

for our moms group. Or, you know,

42:34

one woman, Ellen, who diligently

42:37

cares for her own body with exercise and

42:39

then helps a blind sister get to church

42:41

each week and helps her aging parents get to different

42:43

appointments. And so it's just been

42:45

fun to share that, and it's been fun to see

42:47

them rejoice with me as the book

42:49

is getting published and coming out tomorrow.

42:52

And just a joy to have these

42:54

ladies to celebrate with.

42:56

Well, so if this is

42:58

a radically new way for our listeners

43:00

to start looking at the concept of beauty,

43:03

and they think, I really want God's perspective

43:05

on this, you've given us three areas

43:07

where we can concentrate our approach toward our outward

43:09

appearance, our our approach toward our relationship

43:12

with food, and our approach toward our

43:14

bodies. Step 1000

43:16

mile journey starts with that first step to somebody listening

43:18

today, how do we begin this journey of

43:20

real transformation in our

43:23

thinking, believing, and acting about beauty?

43:28

Yeah, I think we opened the word of God,

43:30

and we see what he says, and we ask

43:32

for his perspective to change

43:34

our thoughts and minds from what the world says

43:37

to what the Lord says, to see it as a gift

43:39

from him.

43:41

What a note to end on. Stacey, thank you so much. The

43:43

book again is called Beautiful Freedom How

43:45

the Bible Shapes Your View of Appearance,

43:47

food and Fitness. Again, it's written by

43:49

our guest, Stacey Rehak. She is a

43:51

writer, a pastor's wife, and a mom who lives

43:53

in Pennsylvania. Her own church loves what

43:55

she's saying. And if this is an area where you've

43:57

been struggling, maybe you've heard something today

43:59

that's really challenged your thinking. By the way. Again,

44:02

I have a link to Stacey's website so you can learn

44:04

more about the work that she's doing. Don't forget

44:06

we are listener supported radio. Every

44:08

month I give you a new truth tool, but

44:10

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44:13

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44:15

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44:17

check your calendar, see where we are.

44:19

If you think that that book is about to

44:21

disappear and go into the Library of History,

44:24

you might want to call 877 Janet

44:26

58 and get a copy. After you've

44:28

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44:30

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44:58

58. Thanks, friends. We'll see you next time.