Brian Mavis

Dress Like a Prostitute Day (Also Known As Halloween)

Sexy Halloween costumes have long been a staple for young women, but the market is so saturated with trampy fare this year that the New York Times, USA Today and the San Francisco Chronicle have all done stories on the trend. Turning heads this year is not just the volume of skimpy outfits, but the age range.

"We have a French maid costume for a toddler," said a Halloween Headquarters store manager in Santa Cruz, Calif. She wasn't kidding. You can get French maid costumes for girls ages 14 to four. Yes, four.

But consider for a moment that these outfits designed to sexualize children are being made for one reason. They sell, now more than ever. USA Today reported that Internet searches for "sexy Halloween costume" are up 400 percent over last year.

The desire to attract the attention of the opposite sex is nothing new. What's new is that it's become OK to do that by dressing not like a princess, but like a prostitute. Literally. According to the National Retail Federation, one of this year's best-selling costumes is a "woman of the night," USA Today reported.

Whereas there was a time when fathers would never let their daughters out of the house in anything remotely revealing, mothers are now buying French maid costumes for their toddlers, turning their pre-pubescent angels into little sex objects.

Things have heated up so much, one disgusted mother suggests that today ought to be called "Dress Like a Prostitute Day."

Source: SermonNews.com

Week 44: MT 19-22; MK 10-12; LK 17:11-19:48; JN 11-12

Here is your forty-fourth week's chronological Bible reading schedule:

October
Date           Book & Chapters
29               John 11
30               Luke 17:11-18:14
31               Matthew 19 ; Mark 10
   
November    Grace Day. If you have fallen behind reading, you've been given grace. Just start here.   
01               Matthew 20-21
02               Luke 18:15-19:48
03               Mark 11 ; John 12
04               Matthew 22 ; Mark 12

For practicing Lectio Divina, focus on a short passage, verse, or even a word to meditate on throughout the week. I am meditating on John 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."

Week 43: MT 18; LK 10:1-17:10; JN 7-10

Here is your forty-third week's chronological Bible reading schedule:

October
Date           Book & Chapters
22               Matthew 18
23               John 7-8
24               John 9:1-10:21
25               Luke 10-11 ; John 10:22-42
26               Luke 12-13
27               Luke 14-15
28               Luke 16-17:10

For practicing Lectio Divina, focus on a short passage, verse, or even a word to meditate on throughout the week. I am meditating on part of Luke 10:1 "He sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself was about to go."

Week 42: MT 8:14-34, 9, 10, 15-17; MK 4-9; LK 9; JN 6

Here is your forty-second week's chronological Bible reading schedule:

October
Date           Book & Chapters
15               Matthew 8:14-34 ; Mark 4-5
16               Matthew 9-10
17               Matthew 14 ; Mark 6 ; Luke 9:1-17
18               John 6
19               Matthew 15 ; Mark 7
20               Matthew 16 ; Mark 8 ; Luke 9:18-27
21               Matthew 17 ; Mark 9 ; Luke 9:28-62

For practicing Lectio Divina, focus on a short passage, verse, or even a word to meditate on throughout the week. I am meditating on John 6:9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

Week 41: MT 5-7, 8:1-13, 11-13; MK 3; LK 6-8, 11; JN 5

Here is your forty-first week's chronological Bible reading schedule:

October

Date           Book & Chapters
08               John 5
09               Matthew 12:1-21 ; Mark 3 ; Luke 6
10               Matthew 5-7
11               Matthew 8:1-13 ; Luke 7
12               Matthew 11
13               Matthew 12:22-50 ; Luke 11
14               Matthew 13 ; Luke 8

For practicing Lectio Divina, focus on a short passage, verse, or even a word to meditate on throughout the week. I am meditating on Matthew 13:23 " But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."