What is The Sexperiment?

Posted on February 9, 2014 by dkoop

SEX RidgeAre you up for it?  What could happen in your marriage if you had sex with your spouse for seven straight days?

If you are single what would happen if you began to pray and seek God’s will for you in the area of sexual purity?  What if God is preparing you now for something amazing in your future?

Thousands of couples around the country have taken part in the Sexperiment and discovered the amazing purpose and plan God has for their marriages. We challenge you to take this Sexperiment for yourself and discover just how sex can be the superglue to strengthen your marriage.

But these seven days aren’t just about sex. That week could be the foundation for phenomenal growth, amazing influence and everlasting impact for the rest of your marriage and the rest of your life.

Take the Sexperiment and experience the power of marriage done God’s way—with intentionality, and creativity. What starts as a week long experience can become a lifestyle that helps you make the most of the rest of your life.

sexperimentHere’s How to Take the Sexperiment

1.  Set aside a week with your spouse that you both agree to have sex for seven days. If you are single set aside seven days to read, reflect and pray.  At The Ridge the time frame many people are choosing their seven days are between February 9th – March 15th

2.  Sit down with your spouse and talk about what you hope to gain from the Sexperiment.  If you are single write down what your hope to gain from seeking God’s perspective on sex.

3.  Read a Sexperiment devotion  each day.  There is one for each day for couples or singles that are posted at www.TheRidgeBlog.com  You can also read a chapter each day from the book, Sexperiment.   *If you sign up for a Sexperiment Growth Group at The Ridge and it’s your first time to sign up, we have a free Sexperiement book for you!

Over the course of just seven days, creative sex in marriage—the way God created it—is a tremendous catalyst that leads to much more than a week of happiness. And by the end, you’ll discover:

  • A greater sense of purpose for your life together
  • A deeper understanding of God’s plan for your marriage
  • A more intimate connection with your spouse
  • Richer purity in your lives
  • A lasting legacy for your future
  • Open communication in your marriage
  • True oneness as a couple

While many would argue that there is a lot more to marriage than just sex, there are also a lot of benefits!

www.RidgeFellowship.com

For more about The Sexperiment, go to www.thesexperiment.com

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Steve Reynolds, Bod 4 God author, will be here Saturday!

Posted on February 5, 2014 by dkoop

Bod4God author, Steve Reynolds – whom the media labeled “the Anti-Fat Pastor” after he lost more than 100 pounds – will share  the simple lifestyle changes, both inside and out, that have led to his incredible weight loss.

Steve Reynolds will be at The Ridge Fellowship (Leander location) on Saturday, February 8th 2014 from 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM.   All invited! Childcare provided.

Click here for a map to The Ridge Fellowship in Leander.

On Saturday you will hear how you can change your life forever by committing your body to God’s glory. One of the biggest reasons most people fail on traditional diet plans is that they are required to eat what the plan tells them to eat. This approach simply doesn’t work, because we don’t all have the same appetites, background or circumstances! Bod4God helps you craft your own personal plan that you will follow gladly for the rest of your life.

Another way to find support in developing your Bod 4 God lifestyle is…

Bod 4 God Growth Groups! 

To go along with the Bod 4 God series, we will have Bod 4 God groups!  Don’t lose weight alone — join a group of losers! There will be mid-sized groups meeting weekly on Wednesday nights for 12 weeks at the Ridge in Leander and Taylor. They will use DVDs (2- 25 minute video sessions).  There are also other Bod 4 God groups that will meet for 6 sessions (2 DVD sessons at a time) in Leander and Jarrell. You can choose, Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays for group days.

To sign up for Leander go to:  http://leander.ridgefellowship.com/#/get-connected/interests-activities

To sign up for Jarrell go to:  http://jarrell.ridgefellowship.com/#/get-connected/interests-activities

To sign up for Taylor go to:  http://taylor.ridgefellowship.com/#/get-connected/interests-activities

For more about Steve or the Bod 4 God book, check out his website:  www.Bod4God.org

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4 Attitudes about Our Body, Which One is Yours?

Posted on February 4, 2014 by dkoop

Bod 4 God posterOur attitude is so important.  Making changes that will honor God begin with our attitude.  Every change we want to see on the outside must start on the inside.  Jesus talked about this in Mark 7:20-22.

“From the inside of a person’s heart come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envies, slander, pride and foolishness.”

Negative issues start on the inside.  In having the correct attitude we have to face some unhealthy attitudes about our body. Here are three unhealthy attitudes.

1. I reject my body.  A lot of us do this. The reason we struggle so much in this area is because  our culture paints this picture of a body that none of us will ever live up to.

We see the images on magazine covers and think, “I don’t have a body like they do so why try?   And for you ladies it is a whole lot harder for you. There is the pressure to look certain way.  As a kid, I played with GI Joe. He had a Kung-Foo grip and six pack abs.  When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t look like G I Joe but Mr. Potato head!  If you think you can look like Barbie, it’s not going to happen!  So what do we do? We reject our bodies.

Can I tell you something?  First of all, like Barbie the images on the magazines are fake! Here’s one site that shows you celebrities before and after, http://likes.com/celebs/celebrities-beforeafter-photoshop .  Artists take and add inches, cover wrinkles in order make something that is not real. Secondly, you are beautiful!  You are handsome. We need to see ourselves as God does. Do you understand how much time and thought God put into you?

Psalm 139 reminds us, “You, God, made all the delicate and inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex.”  Do you understand that we are all created different?  None of us look the same, nor should we try.

The second unhealthy attitude,

2.  I perfect my body.  This is the prevailing view in our society.  We live in a culture where we worship perfect bodies.  So many people make that their aim, perfection. Often these types run in crowds, they are always at the gym, at competitions and they are food Nazis.

I have leaned in this direction before.  I have found that if my goal is all about perfecting my body, first of all I can’t achieve it, and secondly all other priorities go out the window.  Another problem of living this way is that perfection involves a lot comparison. We unfairly compare our weaknesses to someone else’s strength!  The bible says it’s not wise,

“We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with others… (it) is not wise. 2 Corinthians 10:12-13

I’ve discovered I can’t be perfect, who can?   The third unhealthy attitude is

3. I neglect my body.  This is easy to do.  My excuses go like this, “I’m busy, I have kids, I don’t have time.”  I have been here the past two years and this attitude has NOT served me very well.   Neglect rears its ugly head in following ways: my clothes don’t fit; I despise the scale, the mirror or being out of breath going up the stairs.

I have had the all the above the attitudes but now, I want to embrace this fourth but healthy attitude.

4.  I maximize my body.   Instead of neglecting or rejecting my body, comparing my body to anyone else or obsessing about it, I want to see my body as a gift from God.   I want treat my body the best that I can.  I want make the best of my body with God’s help for God’s purposes.

How about you?

Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

 Source:
Steve Reyolds, Bod 4 God
For more about Bod 4 God, go to www.Bod4God.org

 

 

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3 Reasons to Have Bod 4 God Lifestyle Now

Posted on February 3, 2014 by dkoop

Bod 4 God poster“I know I should change, I’ll start tomorrow.”   Have you ever said that? I have!  “I’ll start after Thanksgiving, no Christmas, no New Year, after the Super Bowl, after Valentines…”

 James has a way of stomping on my procrastination, he writes, “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins”  James 4:17.  Ouch.

 Why should you develop a Bod 4 God lifestyle now?

 1.      I will feel better.

 We turn to alcohol, drugs, or food because of a feeling. Yes, those things can make us feel better, but only in the short term.  A Bod 4 God lifestyle allows you to feel better all the time.   

 I’ve noticed a cycle I get myself into.  When I don’t make time to eat right or exercise I turn to sugar or caffeine for a pick me up.  This works short term, then after a crash, I have to re-medicate.  As I gain weight from too much sugar or snacking I have less energy which takes more sugar or caffeine.  Then I feel, “I have to have coffee or an energy drink to make it through the afternoon.”   If I drink coffee or an energy drink too late it affects my sleep which makes the cycle worse.    BUT If I raise my heart rate with exercise instead a continual diet of caffeine.  If I drink more water instead of relying energy drinks, I have steady energy, less lifts and crashes and I feel better.  Not to mention it is cheaper!  Coffee, energy drinks, cookies and candy add up.

 2.      I will look better

 When I gain weigh the first place I notice is in my face.  The camera really does add 5 or more pounds!   But when I lose weight the first place I see it is in my face. 

 The Hebrew word for “face” or “countenance” means the “presence of the person” or “way you present yourself.”  Notice how the scripture describes a face as “shining”

  “Let your face shine on your servant; and teach me your decrees. Psalms 119:135

 Instead of not liking my pictures or the way I am presenting or projecting myself to others, I want to look better and project a better image.   

 3.     I will live better and longer.  

 There’s no question that diet, exercise and overall health affect how we live and how long we live.    

We already looked at the truth that our body is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  I desire to care for that temple and take care of it.

 Now let’s take that concept a step further and see an illustration that motivates to me.

 In Matthew 21:12-13, before our bodies became God’s temple, Jesus goes into the temple in Jerusalem.  Before the resurrection, the temple was the central place of God’s presence and the people’s worship.  What Jesus found was troubling to him.  People were disrespecting the temple. They had taken what should have been a place of prayer and turned it into a den of thieves.  The place of worship was now a place where people were ripped off. 

 And what does Jesus do? He gets mad. I don’t know what your view of Jesus is, but put this in with your other views of Jesus. He starts flipping tables. He is mad at what is going on at the temple.

 Now the point is not to imply that Jesus is mad at what’s going on in your temple.  The question is, “Are you mad at what’s going on?”

 When are you going to get mad?  When are you going to start flipping some tables? Or slamming down your ice cream scoop or bag of chips? When are you going to start acting? What are you going to start doing?

 This helps to inspire me. I had to get mad. I was destroying the quality of my life and the quantity of my life.  And I have to get mad about it and say, “Enough!  This is not going to continue to happen.”

 I love 3 John 2,

“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

 This is the proper definition of prosperity: healthy body and soul.  The nature and character of God wants you to prosper.  He wants you to be in good health that it may go well with you each day and for years to come.   

 Now is the time.  Are you ready?

 Darrell

 www.RidgeFellowship.com

 Source:

Steve Reyolds, Bod 4 God

For more about Bod 4 God, go to www.Bod4God.org

 

 

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