Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 5

Read about my personal journey that led me to this study:
" The Woman Sexist Against Women"

Correct doctrine found in God’s Word about women and men / husbands and wives...

Much prayer and research went into this Bible study. Even against my own tradition, upbringing, and opinion, the Lord God through His Spirit led me to this conclusion, and I am convinced it is His heart on the matter. God does not look at the appearance, but at the heart (I Samuel 16:7). We too must learn to stop limiting people by their flesh suits and free each to be what they were created to be in Christ!

• Men & Women in the body of Christ are equal. They are both “sons” of the living God and both can be qualified by God to become whatever He wills. Women are not, in general, subordinate nor superior to men in spiritual authority or church ministry as well as in all other areas of life, both men and women (even husbands and wives) have various individual strengths, gifts, and callings (Judges 2:16-18; 4 & 5; Romans 16; I Corinthians 1:11; 11:4-5; 12:18; Ephesians 4:11-13). God is an equal opportunity Employer - He is just and gives out giftings and callings and creates each of us with a purpose to fulfill in Him.

• Husbands & Wives, however, are unequal in spiritual authority in their home. Husbands are given a spiritual authority (only spiritual authority, not physical, legal or intellectual authority, nor superiority) over their own wives and children. A husband isn't a leader or ruler over his wife, like he is over his children, but he is to share management over the home with his wife. The spiritual authority appointed to husbands is for the purpose of adoring, protecting, romancing, and encouraging their wife, to lay their lives down for her, as Christ does for the Church. The spiritual authority a husband and father has in his home is not the role of priest, for all in Christ only has One High Priest and King – Jesus. But it is based in laying his life down for his family in prayer, responsibility, and love (Ephesians 5:23-28; Colossians 3:19). Wives are called to submit to that authority given to believing husbands in Christ. Wives are appointed and purposed to admire, respect, care for, and support their husbands (Ephesians 5:22-24; Colossians 3:18; Genesis 2:18). Both are purposed to love, serve, and give their bodies wholly to one another only, in unity (I Corinthians 7:3-5; I Peter 3:7:8; Genesis 2:24-25). The key is unity and love and serving one another. A marriage and family is an image that shows to the world Christ Jesus and His Church, of the Father's love and devotion to His children, and a children of obedience being blessed, protected, and provided for by their Father.

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This may be old hat teaching to some of you, and brand new to others. As time gets closer and closer to Christ's return, the church will merge into two distinct branches and only one will be the true Bride of Christ, who has grown up refined and into the perfect image of Christ, and has broken away from religion, the traditions of mankind, and the world system to follow after God's own heart. It isn't about what we want, or what makes us comfortable anymore - it's all about Him and bringing glory to His name! I pray that all believers in Christ will grow up to full maturity, freedom, and unity of faith and love. That we would make room for each other under His authority and grace to be what He designs us to be in His Body!

Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 4

Read about my personal journey that led me to this study:
" The Woman Sexist Against Women"

The Three Mistranslations of Scripture corrected:
I Corinthians 11:3-12; 14:34-36 & I Timothy 2:11-15

I Corinthians 11:3-12
HISTORY: Although Greek is an extensive language, it was also based upon the culture. The Greek word for “man” was the same Greek word for “husband”, and the same goes for “woman” also being the same word for “wife”. This was termed this way because the concepts were the same for them during that time. A woman before she was married was called a virgin and after she was married she was called either a widow or, in a very bad situation, a divorced woman. This described the stages in a woman’s life as well as her identity. Men had different labels, they were referred to as young men, men, or older men, or sometimes called, sons, husbands, or fathers, to refer to the various stages in their life. Because it was so uncommon and unholy for a grown woman to not be married, it made perfect sense for them to use the same word for both. Differences in the meanings were made according to context in which the word was spoken only. The concept of “head covering” here is a matter of custom within marriage. Married women wore a long flowing cloth on their heads to cover their hair. In that day and age, women who shaved their heads completely were either worshippers in a sex cult or were prostitutes. Women who were not yet married did not wear a covering over their heads at all, showing their hair was an innocent form of flirting and revealing to the public that she was not yet married, as marriage was a sign of higher status for women. Widows wore a black covering on their heads. About men and head coverings – the customs of the day instructed men to wear their hair short and their beards trimmed, but only priests were to wear something on their heads in the temple while ministering. Even though this was the case, by the time Paul writes I Corinthians Jewish men had taken up the custom of wearing something on their heads while praying or worshipping in the temple, from the surrounding cultures who had similar customs.

POPULAR MISTRANSLATIONS:
“Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of every woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3-12 (NIV)

Several small and innocent details are incorrect about the translation of this verse. One innocent mistake is the translators choice to interpret the words for “husbands” and “wives” as “men” and “women”, even though the entire chapter and surrounding chapters are about husbands and wives. The second common misinterpretation is for the word “head”. It is the right word, but the wrong meaning, this word for “head” is frequently confused with another Greek word for “Head”.

ORIGINAL MEANING: First of all, the main misleading translation goof is based on the fact that the Greek word for “head” can be translated several ways and there are more than one word for “head”. The Greek word used here means more than what we think of as “head”. In other places in Scripture, Christ is referred to as the “Head” of the church, using another word for “head” – connected to the meaning: the “highest leader”, the “highest authority” the “top”, or the “first”. But this word cannot be translated to mean that here. The word “head” means here: “source” or “origin”, like the term ”head waters” refers to the source spot of flowing rivers. This changes the meaning of the whole verse completely. Paul even backs up his statement with follow-up truths later in verses 8-12 that confirms this translation, as well as the fact that the whole of Scripture teaches this very concept from Genesis 1 & 2. So now let’s see that verse again with the correct translation so far:

“Now I want you to realize that the origin / source of every man is Christ, and the origin / source of every woman is man, and the origin / source of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3

Now let’s look at the details: Besides the fact that the words for “man” could be translated “husband” and the word for “woman” could be translated “wife”, the plural and singular forms of these words should also be noted. In the first phrase, man not only refers to several men, but to all men or husbands because of the word “every”: “the origin of every man is Christ“. But the next phrase is singular, and an extra word is added that does not appear in the Greek: the word “every” - “the origin of the woman is the man”. This wording is referring to one woman and one man in particular, not men and women in general, nor husbands and wives in general. To go back to the “head” correction, Paul is speaking of a specific woman who’s origin was a specific man – of course he is speaking of Adam and Eve, who, not only were both made in the image of God, they were also the first marriage, but even more so, they were the ones who fell into sin and were cursed, it was to them that God spoke that the wife would be subject to her husband. Because women who were not married did not wear a cloth covering on their heads, this passage of Scripture clearly indicates that there is extra measure of propriety to be done within marriage and ministry. This does not at all instruct that women who are not married are unfit or not allowed to minister.

Here is an updated and re-examined translation of this passage in I Corinthians 11: 3
But I want you to understand that CHRIST is the origin / source of every man, and the man, Adam, was the origin / source of the woman, Eve, and GOD is the origin/ source of CHRIST. 4 Every husband who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. 5 But every wife who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. 6 For if a wife does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a wife to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. 7 For a husband ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of GOD; and also the wife is the glory of her husband. 8 For Adam did not originate from the woman, Eve, but the woman, Eve, from Adam; 9 for indeed Adam was not created for the woman's sake, but the woman for the man's sake. 10 Therefore the woman ought to have authority / freedom on her head, through God’s Servant. 11 However, in the LORD, neither is the woman independent of man, nor is the man independent of woman. 12 For as the woman originated from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from GOD.

APPLICATION TODAY: At first glance, most of 11:3-12 looks simply like a cultural dress code for being used by God and contemporary interpreters have resolved themselves to understanding this passage as a whole as instructions to dress modestly at church. But seeing how Paul book-ended this passage with the theme of “source” or “origin” tells us that the real spiritual truth of the matter has still been buried, and is in need of being dug out. Paul is actually restoring the equality of women and men and the honor to husbands and wives in ministry. To instruct men to not wear anything on their heads was important to note, because Paul was making sure they knew that there was only One Priest, and men or even husbands were not that role for themselves, for their wives, or for women in general. The punch line to the passage that makes it clear that it is not to be taken literally when reading it spiritually is the simple sentence that concludes it all in verse 13: Judge for yourselves - is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Paul foresaw that the culture would change, and that the proper safeguards surrounding marriage and ministry would have to evolve. He knew that one day it would be proper for a wife to minister without covering her head, but this day was not there yet. To refer to Adam and Eve reminds the people that God commanded both Adam and Eve to rule over the earth equally, but when sin entered the equation, husbands ruled over their wives. But now because of God’s Servant, Jesus, Paul explains that women are freed from the curse, and that wives are restored to their proper place of honor beside their husbands in ministry. Paul’s very clarification of women and men and husbands and wives was held together by a key factor, that we all came from God, even Jesus, Who we came from, came from God.

See the next post to continue:
Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 5

Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 3

Read about my personal journey that led me to this study:
" The Woman Sexist Against Women"

The Three Mistranslations of Scripture corrected:
I Corinthians 11:3-12; 14:34-36 & I Timothy 2:11-15

I Timothy 2:11-15
HISTORY: Ephesus at this time was a place of idolatrous paganism based upon, in part, a matriarchal society and entirely saturated with goddess worship. It was the religious myths believed by both the Romans and the Greeks of the day (although with slightly different versions and different names). The Gnostic heresy began with the false teaching that Eve was the First Virgin, the one who had no husband, and the originator of all life. She was the “Illuminator”, full of wisdom (given to her by the snake in the garden – through showing her the fruit of good and evil). This Eve saw her co-likeness lying flat on the earth and she commanded him to live. When Adam saw her, he said, “You will be called the mother of the living because you have given me life”. Eve “brought knowledge to Adam” when she shared with him the fruit. Therefore the followers of this Gnosticism believed that women bring knowledge to men, that women cannot be mistaken because they are all wise. The great mother goddess later became known as Artemis (to the Greeks) or Diana (to the Romans) and then became Diana of the Ephesians. Therefore, when the people there got converted to Christianity, some of them saw the similarities between what they’ve always believed with the new revelation of Jesus Christ and started incorporating the two beliefs together. Ephesus is where Mary was first called “the mother of God” – and so it is easy to understand how Mary worship started. This heresy also included a strong and powerful evil surrounding women – women were known to curse men to death, for example. The city itself was filled with temple prostitutes; the spirit of domination and seduction was wrapped up the their worship of the goddess Diana. From the religion, to the personal and family values, to the governing laws of Ephesus, the people of that city were slaves to the demonic spirits, twisting the truth by rewriting the Fall in the garden to make Satan (the snake) out to be God, the one who gave wisdom to Eve. Satan’s deceit perverted and accelerated the corruption of God’s design for holy relationships between men and women and between husbands and wives – as he was doing all over the known world at that time and still trying to do today.

POPULAR MISTRANSLATION:
“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing-- if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety" 1 Timothy 2:11-15 NIV.

This section of Scripture had been translated to English through a cultural bias that has caused nothing less than bondage, division, and much confusion within the Body of Christ – not to mention has been a poor witness to the world. Even though one could teach correctly this part of I Timothy using less than perfect translations, many still choose not to, and wording used in these translations help to only serve those who wish certain things of God to remain in the dark. The trick word in particular is the Greek word authentein that was translated “authority”. But what we mean as authority today isn’t at all the meaning of this original word, but still, translators chose to use authority as the translated word. Another purposeful translation goof is the wording “A woman”, making the Scripture sound like a general rule to apply to any and all women. This is poor translation, compared to the context, the grammar, and the doctrines taught throughout the rest of the Bible. And then lastly, the original translators left out a word in verse 15, “the”. The Childbearing continues Paul’s theme in teaching the truth about the Fall of humans. God promised a Child in Genesis 3:15, “an Offspring” that would crush the enemy’s head. Paul’s wording points to a specific Childbearing and not to childbearing in general. Without that exact detail known, readers see that God’s redemption plan for women is conditional based on whether or not they have children. What a terrible contrast to the reality of God’s character! Let us study the heart of God on this matter . . .

ORIGINAL MEANING: First of all, we can make a pretty fair guess as to what Paul is answering in his letter here by looking at his earlier introduction in this book, I Timothy 1:3-7. Using both the cultural setting and the rest of the context, the passage of Scripture suggests that there were women - or one woman in particular – who was bringing Gnosticism into the church there at Ephesus. The woman was most likely promoting herself with highest honors, teaching it, and beating the men over the head with it. This was a major problem and needed to be addressed quickly and sternly. In Verse 12, the word for “authority” here at the time it was written meant more like the word for “domination” or “origin”. The word had a dark connotation to it – also meaning “to murder” and was connected to the idea of “sex & murder”. By 200 A.D., the word also held the meaning “to claim ownership of property”. Verse 12 could be better translated into English saying, “I am not allowing the woman, (or this woman) to teach or proclaim herself or preach women the originator(s) of men or as having domination over men.” This translation not only fits the context of I Timothy perfectly but also the context of the whole Bible. Paul then goes on in verses 13-15 to back up his statement, giving the reason for his statement, and correcting the Gnostic heresy. Paul is actually being very kind and restorative to this women, (remembering how Jesus had brought him out of false thinking and used him despite his past; vs.12-17) instructing that she simply stay quiet and learn the Truth of the One True God.

Here is an updated and re-examined translation of this passage in I Timothy 2: 11
The woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow that woman to teach authority or exercise “authority” over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into sin. 15 But the women there will be preserved / restored through the CHILDbearing- if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.


APPLICATION TODAY: The Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and so we cannot dismiss, overlook, or ignore any part of Scripture – we must find the original meaning of God’s Words in order to correctly apply them. Looking in-depth at this Scripture, we can take to heart the fact that false doctrine is very serious, and anyone teaching it should be silenced. We can also learn that women in ministry positions need to always submit to the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:21) and to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8; James 4:7), as well as do men in ministry. Neither gender is “above” the other, as Paul tries to explain here and in various other places (Galatians 3:28; I Corinthians 11:11-12). What we cannot do, is take these verses literally as popularly translated and use it to apply oppression or restriction on all women in ministry – that would be mishandling the Word of God. Another application that comes from this Scripture is that those who are teaching, preaching, or leading, must be well studied up first, regardless of gender. There are certain qualifications God expects out of leadership in the church, not just character qualifications, but also true knowledge of the Word of God interpreted correctly by listening to the voice of the Spirit as He leads us to Truth (John 16:13). Heavy price tags are attached to people in leadership who teach false doctrine, man-made traditions, or to place up stumbling blocks for other believers (James 3:1; Luke 11:52;17-1-2; Matthew 23:13-16) .

See the next post to continue:
Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 4

Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 2

Read about my personal journey that led me to this study:
" The Woman Sexist Against Women"

The Three Mistranslations of Scripture corrected:
I Corinthians 11:3-12; 14:34-36 & I Timothy 2:11-15

I Corinthians 14:34-36
HISTORY: In Corinth, at the time I & II Corinthians were written, there were ungodly extremes going on in all directions concerning women, conceptions that were held by both men and women of that city based on their religion and culture. Views from: women being honored as sexual vessels only to worship or worship with; to women being thought of as little more than property; to women having full un-questioned rights to bring chaos, immorality, and loud screaming fits into worship.

POPULAR MISTRANSLATIONS:
• “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (NIV)

• “for God is not {a God} of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church. Was it from you that the word of God {first} went forth? Or has it come to you only?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (NASU)

• “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (NKJ)

• “For He [Who is the source of their prophesying] is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order. As [is the practice] in all the churches of saints (God’s people), the women should keep quiet in the churches, for they are not authorized to speak, but should take a secondary and subordinate place, just as the Law also says. [Gen. 3:16] But if there is anything they want to learn, they should ask their own husbands a home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to talk in church [for her to usurp and exercise authority over men in the church]. What! Did the word of the Lord originate with you [Corinthians], or has it reached only you? Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (AMP)

• “Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the other churches. Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says. If they have any questions to ask, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings. Do you think that the knowledge of God's word begins and ends with you Corinthians? Well, you are mistaken!” 1 Corinthians 14:32-36 (NLT)

This section of Scripture had been radically mistranslated when converted to English through a cultural bias that has long been used to “keep women in their place” traditionally speaking – not at all spiritually speaking. Because the original Greek had no punctuation, translators must decide where and where not to place periods, commas, question marks, quotations, ect. into the passage in English. As you can see by the example Bible versions above, the translators often chose to place a period in the middle of verse 33, connecting the phrase “as in all the congregations of the saints” to the following statement in verse 34, “women should remain silent in the churches” (NIV & AMP). This alone changes the entire meaning of the Scriptures here, but it changes it to a meaning that does not agree with the rest of God’s Word. Another mistranslation is later on in verse 34, “They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says”. This sentence is misleading in several ways. There is actually no Law in the Old Testament Scriptures that says that women are not allowed to speak, or not to speak in church, or that women must be in submission under men in the church, which would be the first clue that the sentence is not translated correctly. Paul would not be quoting man-made traditions and call it Law, so, we must look further into what’s really being said here. And the third inaccurate translation is in verse 35, “it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church”. Here is a classic case of translators omitting quotation marks, when according to the context quotation marks are completely necessary to translate what was meant here to English. What do the Scriptures really say?

ORIGINAL MEANING: Using the context of chapter 14, and in light of Paul’s other writings about women and the Church, we get the idea that all of 14:27-26 are recommendations he is giving to this specific congregation in Corinth, addressing three issues that are causing havoc in that church at that time. Verse 34: “The women” Paul is referring to are probably converted women from the cult of Dionysus – which explains why he uses the particular wording he does while continuing his theme on order. Also, this explanation fits perfectly with Paul’s constant record of promoting women in leadership throughout all his writings and women in public ministry all through this same book (and specifically, chapter 11 – Paul would not go to all the trouble to tell the women “how” to pray and prophesy if they were not allowed to). It is clear, that there was a group of women who were bringing in their form of worship from their cult experience, which included no form of learning or growing, but instead was entirely made up of loud chaotic wailing and talking without submission to anyone or anything. Verses 35-36: Paul often writes in his letters responses to questions or concerns using a phrase or sentence from the original statement he is answering. In I Corinthians alone, Paul quotes many sources, including Old Testament Scripture (see one example in 1:19), the words of Jesus (see 11:24-25), proverbs of rabbinic origin (see one example in 4:6), words of unbelievers (see one example in 10:28) and believers (see one example is in 6:12-13) in Corinth as well as others. Paul is certainly quoting something that was said to him here, because of what he says immediately following, which was also left out from the New International version – Paul uses a small word at the beginning of verse 36 which literally means, “What?!” or “Nonsense!” or “By no means!” — indicating that he disagrees with the statement directly before, and is followed by the reason he disagrees. Just how much of that statement is a quote is a little less obvious. The most possible translation is to quote the last part of verse 35, ”for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church”. This is possibly a statement given to him by members of the Corinthian church who viewed women as second-class citizens stating that because of the culture, or perhaps it is a quote from the oral rabbinic laws that the church at Corinth was trying to apply towards the disrupting women in this situation. Either way, Paul then uses verse 36 to teach that the concept of it “being disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church” was ridiculous and incorrect. His wording takes the statement about women and turns it into a question. The question also did not seem to be comparing Corinthians to other people, but people who were women compared to people who were not, which only leaves men. Therefore Paul’s follow up sentence after his “Nonsense!” declaration is referring to the men there, not to Corinthians in general.

Here is an updated and re-examined translation of this passage in I Corinthians 14, beginning with verse 26:

26 What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification: 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; 28 but if there is no interpreter, they must keep silent in the church; and let them speak to them self and to GOD. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep quiet, listening. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and prophets are to keep their spirits subject (to the Holy Spirit, and to the church); 33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 34 Those women there are to keep quiet, listening in the churches or church assemblies; for they not permitted to speak out, but are to submit themselves (to the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD, and to the church), just as the Law also says (2 Chronicles 30:8; Psalm37:7). 35 If they desire to learn anything more, let them ask their own husbands at home; “for it is improper for a woman to speak in church”? 36 Nonsense! Was it from you men that the word of GOD first went forth? Or has it come to the men only?

APPLICATION TODAY: Don’t let disorder occur in church meetings, from anyone of either gender or of any level of ministry — not from those who are spiritually gifted (verses 27-28), nor from those who are in leadership (verses 29-33), nor from new converts (verses 34-36). All must learn in quiet submission until they are ready to serve further. Church meetings must remain edifying to all present (verse 26).


See the next post to continue:
Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 3

Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 1

Read about my personal journey that led me to this study:
" The Woman Sexist Against Women"

This issue is still a hot topic in much of the church community today even though thorough study of Scriptures clearly reveals God’s heart on the matter. Those whose pride or male ego get in the way, will teach and defend tradition over Scripture time and time again in modern times much like good-hearted white Christians would stand strong on their stance for slavery only 200 years ago in this country, using Scripture to back up their tradition and prejudice way of thinking. The truth of the matter is that God calls who He wills for whatever purpose He wills, regardless of their physical body. If Jesus were to reappear in physical form today in a church meeting today and heard a sermon against women in leadership, He would stand up and protest like He had to about rabbinical laws that the spiritual leaders were teaching that were based on God’s Laws, but without God’s Spirit. It is one thing to limit someone else’s spiritual authority based on sin, it is quite another to limit it based on what gender, race, or position a person is born.

The Bible noticeably teaches that women are used by God in leadership just as men are:
• Deborah in Judges 4 was a prophetess and the judge of Israel. She didn’t place herself there – God raised her up for that position, the highest spiritual authority position among His people at that time. How do we know God put her in that position? Because just a chapter and a half earlier, in 2:16-18, Scripture states that the Lord raised up the judges and was with the judges. So here is God placing a woman in a position of spiritual authority over men even as early as a few hundred years before Christ comes to bring freedom to all in Him.

• Jesus included women in His ministry. Although the twelve disciples were all young men, Jesus had many followers that comprised of mostly women who are referred to in connection with his closest twelve in Luke 8:1-3. Many times in the gospels, it is pointed out that there where a group of women who followed Jesus – they were the ones who stayed with Him while He hung on the cross, and they were with the group of disciples praying in the upper room in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit fell on them on the Day of Pentecost. So when Jesus sent seventy of His disciples out in pairs to do ministry and preach the gospel in Luke 10:1, it is hard to imagine that some of these disciples weren’t women. “The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good news are a great host.” Psalms 68:11

• Paul talks of two women in Romans 16 specifically who are in significant ministry positions. In verses 1 & 2, he praises a woman named Phoebe, who he calls a deaconess, and then describes her as someone who has assisted many in ministry, himself included. The other woman in a significant ministry position was Junia in verse 7. In addition to being described by Paul as a relative of his and as a fellow prisoner, Junia is a woman also described as being an apostle.

• Paul often talked of a married couple, Priscilla and Aquilla who were equal in ministry. Paul spoke of them also in Romans 16 as having a home church as well as being Teachers. Pricilla was un-customly referred to first by Paul several times when her and her husband were mentioned, which tells us that in those cases, she was the primary minister.

• The Scripture passage of Ephesians 4:11-13 educates us that Jesus gives the 5-fold ministers to build up His Church. In the wording, we’re shown that these offices are not strictly male offices within the church body. The Greek words for “some” in the phrase “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers…”, is a word that includes both genders. Greek is a very extensive language. There is a Greek word for “some” that refers only to the masculine, as in “some men”, but the word used here was not this word – it was the word meaning “some men or women”.

• Also, when examining the Scriptures about elders/overseers in I Timothy 3:1-7, the terminology used, “husband of one wife” (v.2), implies that overseers must be men, but further study shows otherwise. In verse 1 where it states, “if any man…”, the word for “man” in the Greek is the word for “human being” or “one” or “person” that includes both genders. Again, there is a Greek word for “man” that means strictly “man” as in a male person, but the word used here is not that word. So in this case, why would Paul use the feminine inclusive word for “person” in one sentence and then state “the husband of one wife” in the next sentence? The answer is simple – even though the Greek language is much more extensive than English, there actually is no Greek word for “spouse” that would go either way. So, just as “he” is a generic default pronoun that is used in English when he/she is obnoxious to use over and over again, Paul defaults his instruction generically to “husband”. This makes perfect sense as, those who were reading Paul’s letter at the time would see the word for “person” beforehand and know immediately that he was referring to “any one” - male or female. Paul’s point in even mentioning marriage to one was that anyone in a church office must not be a polygamist, despite the culture around them.

Dark Church History Concerning Women
So if this is so obvious in Scripture, why do Bible teachers say otherwise? In a word, power. Church history reveals how the “one man ministry” evolved and allowed the Dark Ages to bring in an era of decline and corruption into the Church. When one person takes on a realm of undisputed spiritual authority, decline and corruption are bound to follow, and that’s exactly what happened in the church. The “one man ministry” became a breeding ground for power, control, and manipulation on all fronts. Just before the Dark Ages, around 400AD, the Greek philosophers were beginning to influence the established Church. While this influence was going on, one position of headship rose up that replaced Jesus – the Pope, who took up a “kingship” in Rome, claiming spiritual authority because he was the direct line from Peter, who Jesus built His church on. The position of overseers became Bishops who were under the Pope and over the individual offices of deacons, who became known as Priests in individual churches. Whenever the Pope himself made a change in doctrine, it trickled down the ranks and became law. God’s written Word was collected and translated into Latin and was proclaimed the Cannon – the standard, which could only be interpreted correctly by the Pope. That set the stage for error to infiltrate the body of Christ until it became tradition. What followed was a head first plunge into one of the longest stages of dark times within the history of God’s people. Many things became lost, not just freedom to women, and the light to evangelize the world went out. All it took was one or two Popes consecutively early on who were influenced by the secular philosophies of the time to not only put an end to women in leadership, but also to put an end to their freedom and equality in Christ in general. The Popes converted the philosophies about women into a Christian doctrine - “the Eve” doctrine, which was the belief that all women were Eve, simple-minded beings who bring evil into the world and are a curse to men. They were considered the weakness of man, beautiful to trap men and seduce them, only to lead them down the path of destruction. They believed women to be easily fooled by heresy and prone to fall into witchcraft.

"What is the difference whether it is in a wife or a mother, it is still Eve the temptress that we must beware of in any woman......I fail to see what use woman can be to man, if one excludes the function of bearing children." — St. Augustine of Hippo (354 to 430 AD)

Christ had come to break bondage, but the church listened to the world system and brought it back in. Now the church reflected the will of the enemy of God and not that of God. It only took a short while to lose what Jesus had paid so dearly to gain. This religious “law” against women leaders was a natural result of the enemy taking root in the hearts of men, and only displayed the attitude towards women that was prevalent everywhere in the world at that time – Satan taking back ground that had been lost to him because of Christ. Who could refute the “law”, no one could read God’s Word, and once the Pope had spoken, only a Pope could change the “law” now. Hundreds and hundreds of years go by, and women at best are treated as frail things that need taken care of. If any of these attitudes towards women seem familiar, it is because it is in our very heritage, the pride and superiority demons linger and are passed on from one generation to the next. Education was kept selective to promote the on-going attitude. Women were dependant on men for their spiritual well-being. And this bondage has been so deeply rooted into who the church is, that it will take all of our strength to pull out of it. Once God brought about the Protestant Restoration Movement, His Written Word was translated into the language of the common “man”. Still, more men could read than women. When these men translated the Bible, they did so through their cultural and human lenses. One of the men who originally translated the Bible from Latin to English for King James commented once that what he discovered in Scripture shocked him, he not only learned that women were equal to men, but that they could hold offices of spiritual authority! He thought the notion so absurd that he quickly changed the wording, because “it did not make sense that a woman should hold any authority over anyone except her infant children or her women slaves.” So today, we have Scripture that backs up cultural mindsets, instead of our minds and culture being changed by Scripture. Tradition has tainted the translation of God’s very Word regarding women.

See the next post to continue:
Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 2

The Woman Sexist Against Women

My personal journey out of bondage from sexism.

Like most people in mainstream traditional churches, I was raised and taught to believe that women were not approved for church ministry or leadership by God - and the usual common verses were used (I Corinthians 11:3-12; 14:34-36; and I Timothy 2:11-15) - ones that I could easily read myself and get the same interpretation from, so it was a mental approval yet a constant inner disappointment and sadness, but something I had just accepted as laying down my life to God's design and will - therefore there wasn't an issue. With this understanding and growing attitude, it was difficult to respect my mother and especially her Biblical instruction. As I grew up into a young adult, I began to become unable to take my women Sunday School teachers seriously, I started shutting my ears to women peers' perspective on God's Word, and I wouldn't even read any books that were written by women, no matter how far their Bible education and ministry experience had taken them. Women leaders and speakers in churches made my skin crawl and I'd debate to the death with anyone who defended women in any form of spiritual authority. All the while, I studied the Bible on my own and was seeking more of God for what His purpose was in my life. Inside, a huge part of me hated being born a female, because even though I knew God loved all equally, I believed He had a special place for men that I could never be in. This attitude against women in spiritual authority was extremely damaging to myself, because I thought - "God can't use me", "I have nothing anyone could ever learn from" - and I thought all women are in the same boat. Inferior. I can study and show myself approved, and align my behavior with His Word, and have an intimate relationship with Jesus, but I can never please Him like a man can in ministering to others, and I had no desire, drive, or heart to minister to children. I reserved myself to doing menial service and good works for the kingdom and pursued a secular profession.

Then came the call.
See my prior blog entry "Desperate Housewife or Not • Part 1"
Torment, debate, confusion. Inner conflict insued and my rational jumped to fill the holes of human logic to justify what I was hearing. I submitted myself to only doing what God wanted me to do - however, I slowly began to shut out His voice in my heart as well, because it wasn't lining up with His Word. I thought, "surely this is my voice and inner pull, or the voice of the enemy trying to puff me up - because God would not conflict with His Word"!

I went on for some time, ignoring His Presence to study only the intellectual side of the Bible, I would pray, and then jump up and go on about my day without giving Him a chance to speak to me. I studied for knowledge and not understanding and determined to stay accountable to what I saw clearly in those three Scriptures and how they were taught to me. But it was a fight that was too strainious to keep up, and my starving my spirit to death made me once again run back to God to abandon myself and what I knew to His instruction and life.

I got married, and relied on my husband's spiritual authority and helping him do his ministry to fulfil my purpose and calling. But soon, my husband started branching off into his own ministry that was much different from where God was leading me and he started encouraging me to go do whatever God was telling me to do without him. Which was odd - and HARD! Without my husband, I didn't really think I could do anything. And God kept calling me - but I kept saying "I can't do anything now Lord, because my husband doesn't want to". And God kept saying - "I'm not calling him, I'm calling you".

Finally, one day when I was praying, I asked - "why would You call me if your Word says I can't?" And I heard God distinctly say "My Word says you can. Men say you can't." And God began revealing to me that I was more of a sexist against women that a lot of men were, and that it was breaking His heart. I was stunned, and really had to process. I was studying the book of John at the time and a new aspect of chapter 4 (Jesus and the Samaritan woman) jumped out at me. Jesus, in one radical move, tore down the walls of both sexism and racism just by speaking to this women, revealing God's attitude towards all people. If He wanted to reach Samaritians, He could have just gone on into the town, instead of stopping outside at the well. If He wanted to let the men be the ones to teach the women later, He would have not struck up the conversation with her, but again, would have gone into the town and preached to all. He did not go into the town, until after the woman had gone and witnessed of Him to the people in the town and they all came out to Him. Jesus was very purposeful with His actions. He knew full well what He was doing and the impact He made, specifically on His disciples. Jews hated Samaritans - there was thick racism between the two. Jews believed they were the favored people of God and superior to Samaritans. Men did not talk alone with women - men believed that they were favored of God and that women were less than them. Without knowing the full extent of those attitudes during those times and cultures, the weight of what Jesus did is still seen, but often overlooked or devalued today.

Within a week, I got sent two books from two different people about women in ministry - and I devoured them almost instantly and decided I had to see the proof for myself. (Books: Why Not Women? by Loren Cunningham & David Joel Hamilton, and 10 Lies the Church Tells Women by J. Lee Grady - both books written by men!). So I dug in deep to God's Word and discovered mistranslations, which blew my mind! Once I had finished the study - see next blog entries - a life-changing peace flooded in and a heavy weight was lifted off of me, so much so that I wanted to tell everyone what I had learned!

It took me years to adapt my own personal acceptance and self-esteem - and rewiring my mindset to this new freedom in Christ. Now, I totally believe God can use a woman do to anything He wants... it's just harder to actually be that woman! But God is leading me there - each step out of Egypt to His promise! He will fulfill the calling and purpose He has planting within me and as long as I'm pleasing Him, I don't care what the world and the religious think! I don't want glory, attention, power, or control, and I probably couldn't ever get myself to the other extreme of being a feminist - but I do want to honor God and let Him and His work flow through me so that Christ is lifted up for all to see! It is my passion to do the will of Him Who sent me and to give Him all the glory and bring forth fruit in His name! No man nor woman can accomplish anything eternal, it is only all God, in His leading, His wisdom, and His power through Jesus Christ working in and through us to the world!

I hope the following Bible study on Women in Church Leadership blesses you and brings freedom to you in Christ!

The Bible

I have said it before, and I'll say it again. It is impossible to truly understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit. I just read a few testimonies of ex-Christians who for 1. went their whole life spoon-fed doctrine by their churches and didn't once read the Bible for themselves, and 2. when they finally did decide to pick up their Bible to see what it really said - did so reading it naturally, through human wisdom, and their own limited experiences. The conclusion.... confusion and offense. How tragic that a lack of understanding God's Word pushed them away from God.

The Word of God is our written authority by which we know and understand God and His ways, ourselves and our purpose, the world and what is to come. However, the Word of God from which the Spirit of God imparted to us - is spiritual - and therefore must be interpreted and taught to us by the Author Himself, Who is Spirit. God is the Highest Authority. He reveals the truth behind the words. God's Word is to be honored as an extension of God, but we cannot hope to truly understand it without His guidance. Especially when Gentiles try to understand God's Word when reading a translation in their language from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, there is a depth of meaning they will automatically miss. Different languages can carry unique meanings for the same wording translated. Our Bible scholars do the best they can to accurately convert either wording or meaning or both over into a modern and local language to be best understood by the masses - but even then it seems commentary is required.

Each of us is quite able to adequately read and understand God's Word if we are in Christ and led by the Spirit, despite the language barrier. It requires study, seeking to hear and submit to the Holy Spirit's teaching, and meditation on the truth revealed - but it's possible. In order to properly study, we need to do historical and cultural research, as well as understanding the intent of the original languages. Prayer is absolutely necessary - not only to seek the truth of Scripture, but also to truly listen to what the Holy Spirit says and have our hearts and minds open to receive what He says over what we may want Him to say.

I do understand that not everyone has the time to invest into in-depth Bible study - God certainly understood this and gave teachers and teaching gifts to the church, they are necessary in the Body of Christ. However, human teachers in general tend to pass along the learning they have received from human interpretation of God's Word, rather than directly from God. They also tend to leave stuff out - and don't cover or explain every corner of the Bible. Then the gapping holes become soft areas of attack from within and from the enemy in the hearts of those who come to know God from their teaching. The church is responsible for teaching, but the majority of churches have fallen to human error and have set up the local church as a one man show. The fivefold offices of overseers: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher are not found, so that the one pastor, or the one pastor and some associate pastors, have to do the jobs of all these offices - whether they are gifted and called to do so or not. Sometimes some churches are blessed to have a multi-talented and workaholic pastor who actually serves his or her congregation with several of these responsibilities in combination, much to the detriment of their families. However, that is not how it is intended to be. Most congregations do not have a pastor who teaches, or a teacher or pastors, much less does any of the other roles. When the job becomes too much, many pastors will preach only what they know well from long ago study, or what they consider applicable or beneficial for their church or situation. It becomes a lot of talking and not nearly enough doing; education quickly can become a method of control rather than imparting truth. In this case, every believer is left to read God's Word on their own. At the very least, pastors should teach their people how to correctly handle the Word of Truth, which would prevent a lot of the misunderstand and offense.

When we each pick up the Bible and start reading it without relying on the Holy Spirit, we will each reach our own conclusions and interpretations. We read out of it what we can reason in our minds or what we have experienced in our lives - we don't read out of it the truth. This is why we have division and denominations within the body of Christ. But God's Word is not up for human interpretation, it belongs to God alone to communicate His heart and will through it. If we are all taught Scripture by the Holy Spirit (directly or through believers who are taught by the Holy Spirit), we will all reach the same conclusions and interpretations, and a unity of faith is cultivated. When approaching God's Word, we must commit to tear down our own expectations, experiences, reason, and will, so that we can freely receive the Truth of God's Word from the Holy Spirit. It is our job to submit to the Holy Spirit, and not to conform God into our image through His Word. We are to conform to Him. It is not our place to judge, be offended, or explain away God's Word based on our experiences or lack of thereof, but rather to seek out the Truth of God, worship Him for it, and strive to line our lives up with that Truth!

Father's Day

This is a picture of my dad and myself in 1995, about a year after I left home for college. A year later, I got married, moved around a couple states away, and have only seen my dad once, sometimes twice a year since then.

My dad has been one of the most impactful influences in my life. I grew up most like him rather than my mom - I inherited his sense of humor, his sense of integrity, his virtue in always striving to be better, and a lot of his looks. He spent real time with me when I was young, and gave great advice when I was a teen. He inspired me to be the best I could be, supported my dreams, and caught me when I stumbled and fell all over the place, hurting everyone in my path. He never gave up on me, and did all he could to teach me important lessons and prepare me for my life ahead. Sure, he wasn't perfect - no one is, but the world would be a better place if everyone had a dad like him. He has far more good qualities than bad. I feel blessed to have him as my dad! I appreciate and love him more than he'll ever know!
Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Seek God • First

You know how life sort of overtakes you with busy-ness? Like you are always playing "catch up" and reacting to everything as it happens, rather than having the chance to plan it out and dive in first to make things happen? It's modern civilization that brings us all sorts of modern technology and easier living, yet it comes with the hefty price of schedules and appointments, bills and obligations that force us to constantly run as hard as we can to compete or keep up in order not to lose anything.

God has been teaching me a lot lately - about Himself and His kingdom. A couple weeks back, I took a spiritual retreat that had a strange impact on me. God spoke to my spirit and left my mind completely out of it. The results have been confusing, yet over the past few weeks, the Holy Spirit has revealed more and more to me, and I'm just now really beginning to understand. Normally, in my regular prayers, I'd pray for regular things, like provision, job promotion and blessing for my husband, health for those I knew needed it, salvation for those I knew needed that, blessing and peace for those who were unsettled or unhappy with something... stuff - but I never felt I was getting the results like how God's Word describes:

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him." I John 5:14-15

"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Matthew 21:22

"And Jesus answered saying to them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.'" Mark 11:22-25

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:12-14

I knew God was hearing me, and I'd examine myself to make sure that I was praying according to His will, with faith, and with a pure and clean heart. Yet, I wasn't experiencing the promises. One elementary truth in God's kingdom is that every promise is conditional: "IF... THEN". So I began asking God what it was in me that was hindering His answers and power. Slowly, I started to see that even though I wasn't sinning and was free from sin in Christ, and even though I was praying according to His will - I became painfully aware that I wasn't completely obeying either. I was praying as I was living, under the principle of playing "catch up". If I got a headache, then I would pray for my health. If we were doing poorly in our finances, then I would pray for financial blessing... I was responding to the world (grant it - responding properly), but not obeying the Word (as in living above the circumstances so that I don't have to respond, rather, it responds to me).

Being a student of God's Word, and a disciple of Christ Jesus the Lord, Who is King over all heaven and earth - I knew that God's Laws come with blessings and curses, yet I lived as if they didn't exist because of my freedom in Christ and the gift of God's grace in the new covenant in Jesus. But all of God's Word is forever, and our freedom in Christ isn't a freedom to do things our way or an exempt pass from doing things we don't want to do, but rather it is a freedom to do all that God commands us to do in His Word. I had been praying backwards... I was praying for "all these things" instead of for Jesus' character and quality to be implanted, grown, developed and displayed in me, and instead of doing the Word and giving God all the glory, and forgetting all about what I needed.

So, I remembered things God had brought into my understanding that I still hadn't conformed to - like observing His Holy Days. I repented and dedicated myself to start observing them, and blessing poured out on me immediately. As soon as I shifted my mindset, I started seeing incredible results in my life! Sometimes it's not about keeping sin out of our lives, sometimes, it's about putting more of God and His instructions into our lives. After all, it is all about Him...

We are to live on this earth worshipping God and seeking Him and His ways, living to please and honor Him only. His Word is not meaningless, it is reality.

Often we ignore or misunderstand God's instructions because they are spiritual and not natural. We humans tend to gravitate towards what we can see or reason with our physical eyes and with our human intellect, but using those gifts will only push us away from God unless we submit them to the Holy Spirit of God to enlighten us to the truth. Whatever God teaches us in His Word, we must first, understand it the way God meant it by searching out the truth of it, and then by implimenting that truth into our lives and conforming to it, whether we naturally agree with it or not, whether we feel like it or not. We don't really have our own lives, we are either a child of God or a child of Satan - so while Satan has us running around with busy-ness, we are distracted from giving all we are and have to God and we miss out on the extent of His amazing promises. We must learn that to live, freely, abundantly, fulfilled and joyously, is to die to self, to deny our tendancy to believe the illusion of self-rulership and self-worship - that is, living to do want we want to do in this world for our own pleasure or honor.

At best, we are to love ourselves and all others equally and significantly less than we love God...

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not look out for your own personal interests, but for the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4

"... Love your fellow human being as yourself.'..." Mark 12:31

Spending time, energy, resources, and passion on the things that matter to God is a much lighter load to carry than to run in the rat-race of the world trying to keep what you have or trying to obtain more. And we are surprisingly protected and given more by God anyway for it. Our primary concern should be our relationship with God and our conformity of Jesus' character and lifestyle, so that we may represent Him as pure lights accurately in this dark world and prove God's glory and name the hightest above all! If we cannot truly represent His will and personality our lives in and out by our unwavering faith and obedience, then He will not grant us His power to misrepresent Him in the world. If we know God's Word, and believe it, we must live it out and let it manifest through us!

Marriage

My recent anniversary has made me think about marriage a lot the past few days. What makes a marriage?

Marriage in my mind is a far different image than what my husband sees in his mind. I'm sure the concept is different for everybody - each having their own sets of expectations and dreams. Marriage is easy to define in a legal sense, and beautiful to define in the Biblical sense when you discover God's intent and purpose for it. But in a fallen, sinful world, and with everyone's baggage and damage, does marriage the way God ordained it even exist anymore?

My idea of marriage hasn't changed much through the years. When I picture it in my mind, it certainly does not look like what my parents have, or what TV and movie marriages look like - in fact, I've rarely seen it displayed in other married couples I know, although a few older Christian couples I have known have come close. I see a man and woman who are in a dating relationship living in the same house. It's an extremely sexual and evenly balanced relationship of give and take. I also see it as being a very spiritual relationship. I've always had the impression that God was the primary focus, the spouse is the secondary focus, and everything else falls under those two. Maybe this is a very female perspective, because I know that in general men find their identity from the work they do rather than from the God they serve and the wife that completes them. I have no idea what my husband idealizes marriage as now, but I do know that when we were first married - he had a traditional view of marriage, although not very strongly. So in his mind, he thought of marriage closer to the fifties style:... husband works and provides, wife takes care of the house and kids, and the two are life-long companions.

Companionship is important - but in my mind, anyone can be a companion... a close friend that hangs out with you a lot, a roommate, a dog or cat, a son or daughter, brother or sister, etc. Sex is what makes the relationship special or unique from all other relationships... the romance, the flirting, the touching, the erotic flare - this is the stuff that also helps make the relationship spiritual. Prayer and worship, fasting and giving, and dedicating finances, time and energy to seeking to please God as a couple is spiritual of course, but unity in soul and spirit without the body takes away from the bond a couple has with each other and that effects their relationship with God. It seems like the ideal marriage would be where you have one other person in the world to confide in and where you are allowed to be your worst while you strive to be your best. Having one person who sees the darkness in you, forgives it because God has, and helps you overcome it. The one other human in your life who sees you at your physical worst as well as your best: fat, ugly, sick, or whatever and still finds you the most attractive and desirable person ever; someone who always wants the best for you, not the easiest - and moves mountains and endures storms with you to help make it happen. I guess I get my vision of marriage from what the Bible describes and instructs. It seems like a pretty good set up to me, so I wonder why it's not the goal image for most people - even Christians?

Why do husbands jump to the conclusion that when the Bible says for husbands to lay down their lives for their wives, that they should work harder or more hours so that they can buy more stuff for their wives instead of spending less time and energy at work so that they can be with their wives more and maybe give them a backrub? Is it easier to labor your life away than to cultivate a exciting intimate relationship with your spouse? Isn't it simply loving yourself more than loving her when you keep your life busy with doing obligations or everything you want to do rather than include her in them or sacrifice some things in order to keep her a priority? And what about wives... when the Bible says to respect and submit to your husband, do you just think God is just teasing about that? Whenever I hear about wives who are controlling or manipulative - it just makes my skin crawl! And I can't stand hearing about women who use sex as a tool to punish or persuade their husbands. And then there's the ever classic wives who just aren't interested in sex or even touching their husbands, or displaying love in a sensual way. How hurtful. God created us to fulfill each other and to live an active sex life with our spouse - so active, that we're advised not to deprive each other except for mutually during times of fasting. The marriage covenant is based on laying down your natural tendencies to give to the other what they need to feel wanted, loved, accepted, and secure. To not give sexual love or intimacy on a regular basis, is to plant seeds of doubt and dislike in your spouse. Sex is a free marital gift - an open right for both parties - to use or deny sex for anything other than to benefit each other is using it for Satan's purposes.

People get married all the time, reciting a set of vows that they don't even pay attention to - enter into a holy, lifelong covenant with even legal consequences everyday... lightly. That amazes me to no end. I do understand that the contract is breakable... but I don't understand why Christians break it - because in order to break it, you have to do some serious sinning and down right rebelling. I feel sorry for Christians who honor God's ways in their marriage, but lose their marriage because their spouse did not. Divorce is a tragedy, and so is living in a marriage that is not pleasing to God, which is when we do marriage our way instead of His way. We ought to be loving our spouse the way they need loved, and giving them the best effort, not what's left over. Our marriage partner is a gift from God, and we ought to start treasuring that gift while we have them in this lifetime!

Anniversary Trip

My husband and I went to Knoxville TN for our 10th wedding anniversary for a few days - stayed in a suite with an in-room jacuzzi and all! Very romantic! It was great to stop the world and just be with each other for a little while. And then on our last day, we took advantage of being that far east in Tennessee and went through the Smoky Mountains. It was beautiful - and my first time there actually. We had a really great time and will probably go back to the Smoky Mountains again!

Here are a few shots from up on top of the mountains as we drove through.