Who's Home Sick With The Plague Today?

Me.

Any prayers you would like to send on upward would be greatly appreciated. :)

What Builds Your Faith?

I've been thinking alot lately about faith. How is it that we can believe so wholeheartedly in something that we can't see, touch, or smell? We certainly can feel Him: we can experience Him in awesome ways. We bear witness to His miracle working power, and we can feel Him in our hearts. But did you ever notice that those feelings can sometimes fade; that just like anything, we tend to forget just how awesome God is, because even after one of those breathtaking encounters with Him, the memory fades, and we begin to lose sight of His magnificence? Some would call those times valleys; but I often times wonder if it's simply a lack of faith. In John chapter 4, a royal official of Galilee was imploring Jesus to heal his son. Jesus said to him: "...Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe". (4:48) Doesn't that still hold true today? Isn't it so much easier to believe when we're seeing wondrous miracles happen before our very eyes? So what exactly is it that keeps us going when all we have is faith and faith alone?

Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 17:20: "...For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." What does that say about my faith? My cousin and I got into a pretty heated debate the other day about this very issue. She's Wiccan; so she basically believes that God is in everything: the trees, the rocks, the car radio. The other day when I was at her house, she was "cleansing" people by waving insense all around thier bodies. Hmmm. So anyway, she posed this question to me: "Stephanie, you are SO stuck on this religion of yours. You believe almost beyond a shadow of a doubt that YOUR God, YOUR Jesus is the only way. Well I have news for you: The guys who flew the jet-liners into the trade towers? They believe without a shadow of a doubt that Thier god is the only way. How do you justify that? How do you know so confidently that your way is the right way?" Ummm... good question. Really though: How do you answer a question like that, as a good, knowledgable, God-fearing Christian? I really didn't have a good answer for her at the time. All I could say was, "I just know." But isn't that what faith all boils down to? You just know in your heart of hearts that.. you know!

Jesus said in Matthew 21:22, "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith". Jesus calls us to have faith and never doubt. As humans, our sin nature inevitably gets in the way of that, don't you think? It's natural to doubt. Unfortunately that doubt gets in between us and God. How am I supposed to truly recieve the abundant gifts and blessings that God wants to give me if my faith is significantly smaller than that of a mustard seed? How am I supposed to live a victorious life in Jesus if I doubt Him?

I know that I'm not closing this post with my usual happy, inspirational ending, however, if things like this go on in my head, I know that some of you out there struggle with the same questions. More than that though, I'm hoping that some of you might step up to the plate with testimonies of what builds/increases your faith. What scriptures stick out in your mind that has helped to solidify your faith? Have you ever at any point in your life felt like your faith is insufficient? If so, what (if more than scripture) has strenthened you?

The Spectacle That Is Me

For those of you who pop in daily to catch my usual deep, thought provoking musings (*rolling eyes at myself*), my appologies in advance! I know it's been awhile, however, the one thing that is stopping me from resuming my posting of said musings is the fact that I have to share yet another embarrassing moment that I have recently added to my list. After reluctantly telling my roomate the following story this morning, she decided that as of this day, my middle name is officially "Spectacle". How did she know? So, I thought this might be a source of amusement for all of you as well.

So I'm sitting in class last night, absorbing every last ounce of all things theological that I can, all while trying to fend off my friend S.; our resident intellectual/class clown (is there even such a combination?) with an affinity for messing with anyone within a ten foot radius of himself. Suddenly I feel an itch in my eye. So I begin to try and get out whatever helped itself in. Rub rub rub! At this point, S. is still messing, not quite realizing the drama that has begun. Well, as I'm attempting to get out whatever was in my eye, I apparently helped along the problem by rubbing a mascara-coated eyelash right ON to my eye: suddenly it felt as if my cornea was being torn apart! Owie owie owieeee!!!

Okay, so now I'm starting to panic. S. is starting to look at me a little funny, but at this point I don't much care. I'm hunkered down in my seat digging in my eyeball. How attractive am I?! lol Okay, this is not working, so I jump up from my seat, begin to scoot around S. to make a run for the door when suddenly I realize a little too late that the whole bottom half of my left leg is totally and completely NUMB. Up until this point, I could think of nothing else but the eyelash that was impeding my vision, so I really wasn't aware of much else: until I tried to walk. Just then, my ankle gives out, twists, and I don't just stumble once, but twice, half hitting the wall, half landing in S.'s lap: keep in mind, this is all during lecture! I start giggling, trying to whisper to my poor, startled friend that my leg is asleep and I really wasn't trying to sit in his lap... no really! My leg is asleep! No dice. He starts snickering, while giving me the most crooked look ever: as if he was saying with his eyes, "what.the.crap.is.wrong.with.you?!" So I sit down, head hung in shame, trying desperately not to entertain my now amused friend with so much as a look, and wait for my poor leg and damaged ankle to wake up a bit. After a few seconds, I get up and try and walk as elegantly as possible out the door to dig out the cursed eyelash that started this whole mess in the first place: All while everyone in the room stifled uproarious laughter (I'm sure).

You know, I tried to tell my mother a couple of weeks back that I really have outgrown my clumsiness, that it's a thing of the past, and that I'm really much more graceful these days. I'm beginning to think not. I'm beginning to think that that statement was just me subconciously begging for some ridiculous events to occur over a short period of time just to prove to myself and everyone around me that I'll never outgrow this character trait of mine... my middle name will always be "Spectacle". No matter what I do.

Goooooooood Morning!

I have very little beyond that to say as of right now. Well, maybe not.

Actually, I would like to momentarily touch on how much I love weekends. For whatever reason, there was a good long time over the summer (and part of the beginning of fall) in which I wouldn't sleep. I wouldn't relax either. I was so "on the go" with friends, ministry, and basically any other earthly thing that I could find to occupy my time, that I didn't make any time for myself. Which, let me tell you is NOT good on the psyche OR the body. If you reference back to earlier posts, say, late August, early September, you'll notice that I was... well... out of my mind. I was actually asking people for tips on how to relax because I literally forgot how.

So lately, I've been getting back into a groove relaxation by studying by the fireplace at Starbucks over a venti pumpkin spice latte (skim, please!) - which, by the way, is truly one of my favorite things to do these days; I think that it kind feeds my obsession with fall: crispy weather, fireplaces, pumpkin flavored/smelling stuff.... you get the my drift. I've also been doing a lot of watching movies at home, curling up in my UBER comfy bed with my Bible, and just sitting around with my roommate talking about... everything. These are honestly things that I would not have dreamed of doing 3 months ago, because hanging out with friends until 3am and getting ZERO sleep, and then attempting to work and do ministry stuff the next day sounded so much more appealing. (My appologies, but I appear to be the run-on sentence queen today. It annoys me, so I'm sure it annoys you all too.)

Well anyway, so this weekend was a weekend of relaxation. Well, with the exception of the majority of my Sunday - but Sundays are usually busy for me no matter what. So anyway, I spent Friday evening at the parent's house, visiting, eating a home!cooked!meal! (thanks Amber :), and doing laundry. Pretty relaxing, I'd say. Saturday morning I woke up after nine hours of sleep, and decided that staying in my bed sounded way more fun than anything else that I could have conjured up... so I did! And I watched "My Best Friend's Wedding" - from my UBER comfy bed. Then, I just bummed around, cleaned for awhile, went to Starbucks and studied for a bit, and then rented a movie with my roomie later that night. Ever see "Surving Christmas"? Pretty funny. One and a half thumbs up. Good stuff. And even though I had a busy day yesterday (worship team, bible study, Packer Party... DO NOT LAUGH THEY MADE A VALIANT EFFORT AND THE VIKINGS ARE JUST A SNEAKY BUNCH OF DUDES AND I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT ;)...) I was still able to get to Starbucks last night and study for awhile. Love that Starbucks. I should see if they want to advertise on my site. Think I'd get a lifetime of free pumpkin spice lattes? I should think so.

So while I did learn a lot of new fun theological stuff that I'm sure I'll share over the course of the next few days, nothing overly exciting or earth-shattering happened to me this weekend... and I'm kind of diggin' that.

Like how I start off by saying that I have nothing to say, and then wind up with a novel in the end? It's part of my charm... really, it is! Just ask me! So! How was everyone else's weekend? What did you all do?

My Hawaiian Experience

Well, I didn't actually go to Hawaii. But we did have a Hawaiian themed party at a friend's house from church a couple of months ago, and I did promise y'all that I'd post pictures... so here they are in no particular order...




















My roommate Leah and I: Striking a pose! I should preface the rest of this with the fact that I was going OUT OF MY WAY to wear the most ridiculous outfit ever. I'm a leader for our young adult group and felt that it was my duty to set the standard for Hawaiian costumes that night. Please take note of the absolutely monstrous flower on my head; let me assure you that this was NOT an attempt at a new fashion statement. I was particularly striving for ridiculousness.






















Ummm yeah. Apparently we didn't "strike" well enough the first time...





















My sweet and adoreable married friends, M. and and J.!

















The Gang.

















Leah at home later that night. Isn't she CUTE?!?





















This is our Christmas tree! Can't wait can't wait!!! Totally unrelated to the rest of the story, but I came across the picture and got really excited for CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!!!



So there it is: Us in all of our glory... well actually, Leah's behind me reminding me that this is not us in ALL our glory: this is only a small part of it. We've reached levels of ridiculousness that has far surpassed what you have just seen. We're slightly sad. And that's okay.

Could I *BE* More Embarrassed?!

I'm going to let you all into a little part of my world that I usually try to desperately hide from the general public. However, something happened to me recently which I just can not keep inside for fear that I may burst: so I must share.

First and foremost, let me explain that ever since I met two of my best girlfriends, we'll call them Leah and Ra-Ra (that is actually one of her nicknames), I have been known as Phoebe: yes insinuating that I remind them of the Friends character. It actually all started when the three of us lived together on the East Side of Milwaukee ("hippie capitol of the world") in a old, worn out townhouse originally built sometime in the early 1900's. Over the course of time, we took notice of Leah's tendency toward being completely anal retentive about not just cleanliness, but rather everything, just like Monica, and Ra-Ra's affinity for all things fashion related, reminding us of Rachel. Apparently, the girls in an attempt at being funny, decided that I, then, just naturally fell into the position of Phoebe for a few reasons: A. I sing (Disclaimer: In an attempt to salvage my reputation as an musician/artist, I would like to say that I sing *nothing* like her. Thank You.) B. Apparently, being that I'm a professional facial contortionist, I'm incredibly animated and have taken on many facial expressions, characteristics, and even phrases similar to that of Phoebe. But most importantly, C. The strangest things always seem to happen to me: just like they do to Phoebe.

Allow me to cite an example:

Just the other day, I had the office to myself: which actually isn't all that uncommon considering that the owner is rarely here during my workday (he comes in during the early morning and late afternoon hours), and my coworker leaves at 3:15 every afternoon to pick up her grand-daughter from school. So, what does one do when she has the office to herself? Whatever she wants! So let me preface this by sharing with you that all stinkin' day I had been struggling with the shirt that I was wearing. It was too big (but my favorite, no less) and so I had it pinned in the back to keep it from looking ridiculous. Well, the pin had bent somehow and kept popping open, so I had my co-worker adjust it for me a couple of times.

Well, after she had left, I noticed that the last time she adjusted for me, she placed the pin in such a way that it was showing, and well, we can't have that! So, seeing that I had the office to myself and all (it was the end of the day and I had to head straight to school from work - can't be crooked at school!), I whipped off my shirt (yes, I did have a shirt on underneath: a teeny tiny little black tank top which by itself - NOT PROFESSIONAL WORK ATTIRE) and got to work on readjusting my pin: on the desk which sits directly outside the door of my boss's office. Smart. Now, before I go any further, I would like to ponder with you a moment on WHY I would not have found it easier just to go to the bathroom and do this. I'll never know. Was I just too lazy? Was it the adrenaline rush of the possibility of being caught? What posesses me to put myself on the line like this, I'll never know.

And then it happens: The front door opens.

"Helloooooooo!" Ohmygoshohmygoodness the big boss man is here what am I going to do WHATAMIGOINGTODO?!?!?! So I duck behind one of the cubicle partition dealies, and desperately try to throw my shirt on over my teeny tiny little black tank top: THE STINKIN' SHIRT WAS PINNED TOGETHER: FRONT TO BACK. Oh.my.Lord.help.Me. I think even God Himself was up there with his arms crossed, shaking His head, laughing at me all while watching the horrific events unfold.

So what's a girl to do in this particular situation? Hold the pinned shirt over her front and hope to God that while passing by boss man doesn't see me. Oh but... HE DOES!

Boss Man: *laughing* "What are you DOING? This is not a dressing room!"

Me: *Holding my shirt in front of myself looking insanly guilty* "Um... um... well you see... um..."

Boss Man: *laughing harder*

Me: "Oh come on, I'm wearing a tank top! I just needed to readjust my... *sigh* nevermind..." (nice save PHEOBE)


Seriously. Seriously.... I promise you... the wierdest stuff happens to me all the time: and I'm pretty sure it's all my fault for the majority. So there you go. A peek into the strange, twisted, comical side of my world. Don't you wish you were me?

I'm Back!

First and foremost: GOD IS GOOD!!! I'm done with my midterms, and I think I did - okay! (Which is much better than I thought I was going to do, that's for sure!) So, praise God for that!

Secondly, I'd like to touch (more like pounce, actually) on the subject of women in ministry again. Sometime last week, my head pastor's wife (our fine arts pastor, my "spiritual mom") sent me and a couple of her other "spiritual daughters" an article that she wrote on behalf of her son who was being picked on in school for having a "mom who is a pastor". (This "bully" was trying to tell S that his mom was out of God's will and going against His purpose (according to scriptures) by being a pastor.) So Pastor's Wife got to work and put the following article together arguing women and authority in the church. Now, keeping in mind all of the fuss here in "blogland" lately about this very issue, the fact that this has been a hot topic for us in my class at school, and that my friends and even my roommate and I have been talking quite a bit about this, let's take a moment and reflect on just how truly amazing God and His timing truly are...

AND! Without further adieu, I give you:

Women and Ministry

Throughout much of our world, women have a restricted role in society, in the home, in business and enterprise, and sadly, even in the church. Prejudiced views have long justified the abuse, oppression, and restriction of women. Many Christians believe that the Bible itself limits the possibilities of leadership for women in the church. Since the accomplishment and fulfillment of the divine destiny of our lives is often determined by what we believe, it is of utmost importance that this matter of women and ministry be studied.

We will first look at the overall picture of Scripture before addressing specific passages. When we put together a puzzle with many pieces, we always start with those that form the outline. We start with the corners, then the framework that connects to those corners, and then work inward to the more difficult pieces. As we continue to work, we begin to see the picture come together. This process helps us to see where the difficult pieces fit, and also helps us to avoid wrongfully forcing pieces into places that they don’t belong (which would ultimately distort the true picture and damage the pieces). Finally the full `1picture comes together. Scripture is the same way. We start out with the framework of our Father God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. We add to the framework patterns of how God dealt with His people, how Jesus came and treated those He lived among, how the Holy Spirit worked in the early church and how the prophets and apostles addressed the difficulties they faced . We then add the doctrines that are plainly spelled out in the Word (faith, repentance, baptism, etc.). Then we progress to issues that pose more of a problem or are hard to comprehend. Anything that seems unclear must be held up against the light of those things that are clearly discernable. Ultimately the whole picture comes together within a framework that makes things more easily understood to form a clearer, more beautiful picture.

Both the Old and New Testament, assert that God is no respecter of persons (God is not prejudiced.). Romans 2:11 clearly states “For there is no respect of persons with God.” (see also II Samuel 14:14; II Chronicles 19:7; Acts 10:34; Ephesians 6:9 ). Similarly, this principle is further espoused by Paul in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” James 2 goes a step further by admonishing us “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons (v.1)”. Then he adds, “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors (v.9).” Can we afford to disregard the admonitions of Scripture that teach so clearly that God has no respect of persons, that in Christ there is no respect of persons, and finally that we are not to have respect of persons? Since women are persons, these passages clearly apply to their fair and equal treatment. If God has called men into ministry, would He not also call women? Would the God of whom such passages are written about, and who requires such conduct from us, then establish just the opposite through rules and regulations in His Word that would require His church to act totally opposite to those foundational principles? Definitely not!

Let us look further to discover whether or not God used women in the Old Testament.
The Bible lists women used in the ministry of a prophetess:

Miriam (Moses had two siblings: God used Aaron as priest, and Miriam as a prophetess)
Deborah (a judge of Israel has two chapters devoted to her ministry in Judges 4&5) (The Bible never infers that Deborah was God’s choice because a suitable man was not available or willing.)
Huldah (I Kings 22/ II Chronicles 3:4)
Isaiah’s wife (Isaiah 8:3)

There are also other women in the Old Testament that God used to give spiritual words of instruction to men:

Samson’s mother (Judges 13:2-23) (to Manoah)
Abigail (I Samuel 25:28-33) (to David)
Bathsheba (Proverbs 31:1)

It is also interesting to note that the Patriarchs of the Old Testament never treated their wives as if they were a lower element of society. They were treated with honor and respect. We, also, see no restrictive words in the Old Testament that prohibit women being used in ministry. Rather we see a pattern of just the opposite, that God used women in mighty ways.

Let us now look at the New Testament, specifically the women in the life of Jesus:

His own mother was a woman of such faith, that when the angel spoke to her about the birth of Jesus, she immediately responded with faith upon hearing the angel’s words (Remember that Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father did not). She later broke forth in words of both prophecy and prophetic praise (Luke 1:46-55) in response to the words of prophecy that her cousin Elizabeth spoke (Luke 1:41-45). It is important to note that at Jesus birth, both a prophet (Simeon) and a prophetess (Anna) were used by God to proclaim the birth and future work of our Savior (Luke 2:36-38) Jesus actually performed His first miracle at the prompting of His mother, Mary, a mighty woman of faith.

Jesus also cared about the plight of women . He raised the Widow of Nain’s son. He raised Lazarus from the dead in behalf of his two grieving sisters. He healed a desperate Gentile woman’s daughter. He rescued the woman caught in adultery. He delivered Mary Magdalene of seven devils. He went out of His way to witness to a woman of Samaria. He fed the 5,000 and 4,000 men, but He also included the women and children. He blessed the children of mothers who made the special effort to come to Him. He took note of the sacrificial offering of a widow. He praised the woman who anointed Him with her alabaster box.

There were many women that followed Jesus faithfully, along with his disciples (Luke 8: 1-3). Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus were used to minister to Jesus (Luke 10:40-42), as were other women (Mark 15:41). As mentioned before, Jesus chose in John, chapter 4, to talk to a woman of Samaria. She was a woman of ill repute. It is interesting that Jesus came not only to redeem her, but to use her to minister. He knew that she was the key to a whole city. It was as a result of this woman’s testimony that the whole city of Samaria came forth to Him. The female followers of Jesus were the most faithful, most loyal, as well as among those with the greatest faith in His ministry. John was the only disciple that stayed at the cross during those hours of suffering. Yet, the Bible says a group of women disciples remained steadfastly with Him (Matt 27:55) Please take of what Barnes has to say in his commentary on this verse:
Matt 27:55
[Ministering unto him] Attending him and providing for his wants. While multitudes of people joined in the cry, "Crucify him!" and forsook him in his trying moments, it does not appear that ANY of his female followers were thus unfaithful. In the midst of all his trials, and all the Contempt poured upon him, they adhered to their Redeemer. Never did female constancy shine more brightly, and never was a happier example set for all who should afterward believe on him!
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

These same women were not only faithful to His death, but were faithful after His death. They were the first to the tomb, very early in the morning on the day after the Sabbath, to finish the processes involved in His burial. It was to these women that Jesus chose to give the message of the resurrection. (He appeared first to a woman – Mary Magdalene.) He could have waited until one of the disciples finally came on the scene, to let the news be told, but He didn’t. He affirmed the testimony of a woman, once again (as He did in Samaria). It is important to note that the Jews did not allow a woman’s testimony in court at that time because they did not feel it could be trusted. Jesus affirmed the ability of women to proclaim the gospel by entrusting them with this most important news of the New Testament: “He is risen!”.

The story of the early church in the book of Acts, addresses the way that God would use both men and women in the new church age that was about to begin. Peter on the day of Pentecost begins his explanation of the phenomenal events that were occurring by saying in Acts 2:15-18:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

These words immediately set a precedence for what would follow in that God would use all flesh –including women. Now let us look at the early church to see if there was evidence of the ministry of women:
-Lydia – used her house for the establishment of a church (Acts 16: 14,15)
-Tabitha was used in the ministry of helps (Acts 9:36).
-Philip’s 4 daughter’s prophesied (Acts 21:8,9)
-Euodia, Synteche –coworkers (Phil 4:2,3)(the same word is used for male coworkers
-Chloe (I Cor 1:11) literally “Those of Chloe” Paul’s greeting of her parallels patterns of greetings given to other leaders of house churches
-Priscilla – a fellow laborer of Paul’s mentioned as one, along with her husband, who helped to teach Apollos the Way more clearly. (5 of the 7 times that she is mentioned in the NT, her name precedes her husband Aquila’s – a practice totally uncommon in Paul’s day. Concerning she and her husband’s teaching of Apollos, Tertullian, the early church father so often quoted for his accusatory statements against women, recognized that “by the holy Prisca (or Priscilla) the Gospel is preached.” (p. 146 Why Not Women by Loren Cunningham)
-Phoebe (Romans 16:1,2) diakonos is the word used here and used elsewhere in the New Testament meaning deacon (feminine form is used here)
-Junia (Romans 16:7) notable among the apostles

It is obvious that women had an integral part in the ministry of the gospel.

Let us address now the two passages in the New Testament that are most often used as a prohibition against the ministry of women:

1 Cor 14:34-35
34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

“Since these must be placed along side Paul’s other statements and practices, they can hardly be absolute, unequivocal prohibitions of the ministry of women. Instead, they seem to be teachings dealing with specific local problems that needed correction.” (taken from the article “The Role of Women in Ministry as Described in Holy Scripture”). Since Paul has addressed women praying and prophesying in public in an affirmative way just verses before, he would be in total contradiction of himself if this passage had any other meaning. When Paul wrote of women being used in prayer and prophecy, his concern was not that they were being used in these ways, but rather that they were appropriately dressed when they were used by God in these ways (I Cor. 11:5,6). A good example that could be used concerning this principle, is a parent cautioning a child that they should not talk in church. This doesn’t mean that the child should never be used to speak a scripture publicly, or be used in a Christmas program in a speaking part. It simply means that for a service to be orderly, we must listen, rather than speaking to those beside us. Since the entire chapter is discussing order in the church, it seems to be fitting that this interpretation is accurate, otherwise Paul is liable to the charge of self-contradiction.

“…if Paul was giving an absolute, telling all women everywhere to be quiet in the church, we should apply his demand to all sound coming from women in church. Women not only should be banned from preaching but also shouldn’t sing, pray aloud, give a praise report, or even make an announcement. They shouldn’t even laugh at the preacher’s jokes, cough, or shuffle their feet! Does that seem ridiculous? Consider some of the lengths women have had to go to fulfill what has been taught as an absolute of Scripture

Sophie Mueller is one example. She went out as a missionary to Columbia in the late 1940’s. She worked near where the Orinoco and Amazon rivers come together, starting at least 500 churches. But since she had been taught that women should be silent in the church, she taught her converts outside. When it rained, this dear pioneer missionary taught her students under a lean-to. Was this necessary? Is the church a building? Of course not! The church is the people. (Why Not Women by Loren Cunningham)

I Timothy 2:11-15
“I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man” (I Timothy 2:12).
It is evident that there were other problems that Paul had to address concerning women in this church (immodest apparel –I Timothy 2:9; idleness, tattling I Tim 5:13). It should be noted that Paul is not making a command here. Paul said other things that he himself felt, but did not speak as commandments. Let me give you some examples:
- “I say, therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.” (I Cor. 7:7). It is interesting that we don’t see anyone insisting on that statement to be adhered to, even though it was a practice that Paul himself chose to follow.
- “I speak with tongues more than ye all.” Amazingly many have chosen not to follow Paul’s words here, though scriptural evidence shows that the outpouring and infilling of the Holy Spirit (evidenced by tongues as shown in Acts 2) was to continue. After all, are we not even more so “in the last days”(Acts 2:17,18 & Joel 2:28) than Peter who proclaimed them , and weren’t these manifestations promised “to your children, and to all that are afar off”(Acts 2:39) which shows that there was no timeline of cutoff for these manifestations until the Messiah returned. How easy it is for some to make a big case about one of Paul’s statements that is not confirmed by the whole of Scripture and yet be so delinquent of one that is confirmed by prophets and apostles alike.

Here is an excerpt from Loren Cunningham’s book Why Not Women:

“…if we can find one example in the Bible where God uses woman to teach, blessing the results, then the premise- that God does not want women to teach – is incorrect. Are there women teachers in the Bible?

Yes, certainly! Did you know that at least 886 verses of Scripture came to us through women? One example is Mary’s beautiful words glorifying God in Luke 1:46-55. Paul told Timothy that all Scripture was given by God for teaching. If God really did prohibit women from teaching, then men must not read verses that came through those women, such as these words from Mary, for then they will be taught by those women! In fact, if we follow this argument to its logical conclusion, to avoid being taught by a woman, those 886 verses should be cut out of our Bibles.

One of the most cherished teachings in the Bible – Proverbs 31 – was given by King Lemuel. The king acknowledged that it was an oracle that his mother taught him.”

One of the ways that God has validated the ministry of women, is through the fact that many have come to Christ through their teaching, preaching. Miracles have occurred through their ministry in and out of the church. Churches have been established through their work and under their leadership. Here is just a small list out of the untold numbers of women that God has raised up in ministry:
-Mrs. Ingalls of Burma – a bishop over scores of churches (1888)
-Adele Fielde – missionary to China – preached the gospel and raised up churches
-Aimee Simple McPherson (many hundreds of churches established by her ministry)
-Katherine Khulman (many miracles and healings resulted from her ministry)
-Corrie Ten Boom (many were saved and discipled under her ministry)
-Sophie Mueller – missionary to Columbia in 1940’s –started at least 500 churches
-Dora Yu – Chinese woman evangelist under whose ministry Watchman Nee was converted
-Catherine Booth – preached along with her husband, William Booth (Salvation Army)
-Joy Dawson – teaching evangelist – ministry focus on intercessory prayer
-Henrietta Mears – founded Gospel Light Press – impacted Billy Graham and Bill Bright
-Ann Graham Lotz – evangelist and preacher
-The women of Paul Yonggi Cho’s house churches – helped to establish the world’s largest church
-Mrs. Choi – Cho’s mother-in-law; powerful preacher and intercessor
-“The most dangerous woman in Vietnam” – title given by the government - this woman has established hundreds of churches in Vietnam
- Sister Dawson – preacher and pastor that was instrumental in Paul Radtke going into ministry (He pastored for over 30 years in New Orleans)


In the book of Acts, Peter was brought before the other Apostles to be questioned because they felt like that he had done something unscriptural and out of line. Peter affirmed the entrance of the Gentile’s into Christ by the signs which he saw. He testified in Acts 11:17 “Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?” When John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask in Matt 11:3-5 “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” In both of these instances, it was the outcome of the ministry that validated those who were ministering. For Peter, it was evidenced that he truly had followed God in ministering to the Gentiles, because the Holy Spirit had fallen on them as on the Jews. For Jesus, the signs, miracles, and the gospel being preached with effectiveness was verification given to John that He, Jesus, was truly the Messiah sent from God. God alone can confirm a ministry with signs following, whether it is through people being saved and discipled, or miracles and healings. More than ½ of the present day church is made up of women (That would be a very conservative number.) Like the women of old, many are the most loyal, faithful, and sacrificial part of the church. The enemy would like nothing better than to bind this powerful army of warriors by telling them that they are unfit for ministry. The enemy knows that multitudes would be saved through the unleashing of this powerful group, so he uses even the church to keep them from fulfilling their God-given destiny. God desires to use every person that names the name of Christ. His commands to us are never gender biased. We have all received the same command, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). Also, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations…Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19,20). If God has confirmed the ministry of women countless times through signs following, why shouldn’t we? Only God can empower the ministry of those He has called and He has chosen to do just that. Psalms 68:11 says “The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host.” We must say in obedience, like Peter, “Who are we that we can withstand God”.

@ Copyright M.H. 2005

Alright, and so now that we have yet another perspective on this hot topic, what are your thoughts? Comment, comment, comment!

I AM GROUNDED!!!

I am officially grounding myself from blogging for the duration of the week, people!

I HAVE MIDTERMS IN LESS THAN A WEEK.

And I'm not prepared. Go figure.

SO, I'm using my free time at work wisely, and will be studying and writing papers from now until Monday. If any of you desperately need to reach me, or if you just miss me that much over the course of the next five days, you have my email address. Use it sparingly ;)

I'm only telling you this because I just don't want you to send out the search and rescue teams for me if you fail to hear from me for more than twenty-four hours. I will be okay, and you all will be okay without me. *rolling eyes at myself* The Drama Queen has officially entered the building, can you tell?

Listen. If I happen to swing by your site over the course of the next few days, please don't yell. I'm weak. I can't help it. Plus, there are a few of you that just draw me in like magnets: it's beyond my control! (Plus I may need a study break here or there.) So if you think of it, please send up a little prayer in God's general direction for me in my studying and test-taking endeavors. Thank you kindly.

So, hope "y'all" have a blessed week, and... oh yeah!

Happy Birthday To Katie Today!

This Last Weekend

Okay, okay, so while I may not have been "honkey-tonky-ing it" (totally not a word, I know) in Texas this past weekend, I did have a few adventures of my own. I took a long weekend (off of work on Monday) and headed up to Long Lake, WI. For those of you who have NO clue, it's about twenty minutes south of the Michigan State line. VERY North of Milwaukee. VERY North.
So I packed up on Friday night, headed up there around 5:30, and had about a four and a half hour ride ahead of me. So what's a girl to do for 5-ish hours in a car by herself in the dark? Well... pray! I popped in some worship music, and sang, sang, sang, and talked with God for a good long time. Did you ever talk to God and just know that He really heard you? As if you are one hundred percent sure that what you had said really made it "all the way up to heaven"? Well, that's the place I was in that night. You know, it's amazing what God has to say to us when we really open ourselves up and listen. He wants to tell us so many things, and in our busy lives, we tend to shut Him out for the sake of saving time... or because we just simply forget:

"This house is echoing

with the sound of you knocking at the door.

But with three locks And the shades down

You are easy to ignore

I put You on like an old pair of shoes

I've put You off,

But now I need You"

- Bethany Dillon

Love that girl, can you tell? Well, I just think that this particular piece of her song, "Why" says it all. We tend to shut ourselves in from God, making it all too easy to look the other way... to try and do it all on our own. And it's a daily battle; we have to die to our flesh daily and put our own desires aside in order to let God get in there and really work in our hearts and lives. The bottom line in this portion of my weekend recap is this: I had all the time in the world to talk with God, and let me tell you: we talked. And it was awesome. 'Nough said. I'll get down off my soapbox now :)

Alright. So, I get all the way up to "Nowheresville USA", and find that I have to get out of the car in the middle of the north woods at ten o'clock at night to shut the stupid gates that guard the property on which our family's cabin resides. S-C-A-R-Y!! Well, suffice it to say, I survived (even though we later discover that there's a family of blackbears living in a den not too far from our cabin), and made my journey one and a half miles back into the woods to the cabin.

Saturday morning, I wake up, and I. AM. DEAD. SOOOOO sick. Who gets sick on vacation?!?! Boo. Well, if I cared enough about the fact that my body "just didn't wanna" anymore, I would have kept my butt on the couch and nursed my illness. But noooooo! I went out shopping with mom in the little rinky-dink towns in the area, four-wheeled all around the woods near our cabin and "explored the wilderness" (I'm an outdoorsy kind of gal, what can I say?), and generally just wore myself out. So, when the evenings approached, I layed on the couch and watch movies all night. (Gotta love electricity in the middle of the woods. Just like home!)

Mom, having a combination of the cooking skills of my grandmother and Emeril, made two awesome dinners, and an outstanding breakfast, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I saw a slew of deer, and other random wildlife; I think I failed to mention that the cabin is set atop a cliff over-looking the beautiful Wolf River - gorgeous view between the river and the fall colors... just breathtaking. I have some pictures on mom's camera (who is still up there enjoying the wilderness), so I'll be sure to post those when she gets back in town.

Aside from the fact that I was feeling less than stellar, it was a great weekend. I caught up on my movies, got a little studying done, fufilled my need for speed on the four-wheeler, and learned a bit more about the kind of respect I should be having for the great outdoors (I think I failed also to mention that while hunting on Sunday, my dad came across a four hundred pound black bear and her two cubs. Talk about respecting the great outdoors. Sheesh!). All in all, it was beautiful, relaxing, and totally worth the five hour drive. Pics to come!

On The Subject of Creation...

I found this beautiful bit of commentary in my "Knowing The Doctrines Of The Bible" textbook that I thought I would share regarding the topic of creation. So simple, yet it paints such a beautiful picture of the hierarchy that God created between man and beast. Beautiful imagery:

Man has filled the earth with his productions. It is his special privilege to subdue the power of nature unto himself. He has forced the lightning to be his messenger, has put a girdle round the globe, has climbed up to the clouds and penetrated to the depths of the sea. He has turned the forces of Nature against herself; commanding the winds to help him in braving the sea. And marvelous as is man's rule over the external, dead nature, more marvelous still is his rule over animate nature. To see the rained falcon strike down the quarry at the feet of his master and come back, when God's free heaven is before him; to see the hound use his speed in the service of his master; to take a prey not to be given to himself; to see the camel of the desert carrying man through his own home: all these show the creative ability of man and his resemblance to God the Creator.

- Anonymous

And to that, all I can say is:

How Great Thou Art
Oh Lord my God when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation
To take me home
What joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim my God how great Thou art
Then sings my soul my savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul my savior God to Thee
How great Thou art how great Thou art.

Theology Recap Tuesday (Only A Day Late)

Women And Authority In Marriage and The Church - Where Do You Stand?

A rather lengthy debate broke out in class on Monday night, and again people, I'm asking you to step up to the plate and state your position on yet another touchy subject. I'm going to touch on a few key issues within this one topic, so while I might seem to be jumping around, please bear with me: it all unites to create one major point in the end.

First and foremost, we look at Ephesians 5:22-32:

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

So in this context, what should a woman's role in marriage be? How should her husband treat her? If a marriage relationship were modeled after this passage of scripture, how do you think it would appear and function? Would there be a definite "dominance" of the man in the household, or would there be a sense of equal submission on both parts?

Next we look at Genesis 3:16:

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

The debate here was three-fold: what does God mean when he says, "thy desire shall be to thy husband"? Does this mean that we will always be yearning for and chasing after the affections of our husbands because we are more emotional than they are? Or does it mean that we will always "aspire" to be equal to, or on the same level as them in the relationship, thus creating friction? It states rather clearly at the end of that verse, "and he shall rule over you", what the roles are, no? Also, the men were rather insistant upon the issue of Adam being "punished for Eve's wrongdoings". But that begs the question, why didn't Adam do anything to stop her? Would not then, he be equally as guilty for not having stepped in as Eve was for giving into temptation?

And lastly, where do you stand on the issue of women's role in the church? It states in 1Tim 2:11-12:

11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

So! Should we say that this scripture was merely "speaking to the times" and say that it's okay for a woman to assume the role of senior pastor of a church, knowing that she would have spiritual authority over men? Or, do we say, keep women out of that role of authority, but allow women to pastor children, youth, and other women? What do you think of women like Joyce Myers, etc...?

For more information on the issue of women and authority in the church, please visit The Broken Messenger: As I was formulating my thoughts for this post yesterday, I came across his site, and couldn't believe that he wrote about the exact issue that I was struggling with at that very moment. It's a great read, so please take the time to read it, and then, in true Katie fashion: please please please come back and comment!

Amstaff Mom tagged me with a fun little game, and I decided to take her up on her challenge.

The Rules

The instructions are as follows:

1. Go into your archives.

2. Find your 23rd post.

3. Post the fifth sentence of closes to it.

4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

5. Tag 5 other people to do the same.

*********************

The actual 5th line of my 23rd post is:

"However, on account of that technicality, my class would be behind schedule if we didn't catch up, so we recieved our first homework assignment with our orientation packet."

SO NOT FUN.

So, I'm choosing this one instead...

"It was legal!"

Okay, now that that's out of my system...

I tag:

Amber, Steve, Thomas, Tracy, and Cav

My 10th Birthday...

...And What New Kids On The Block Means To Me.

Here it is folks, the long-awaited arrival of possibly some of the most embarassing photos of me to have ever been taken (aside from the bare butt in the tub, which, you will NEVER see here. Sorry to burst your bubble.) Please enjoy this while it lasts, because after having shown these to you, I very well might have to kill you in an attempt to salvage my pride. (heh. Of COURSE I would not kill you, but I will threaten bodily harm if you make fun of me in any way! ;)

So! Without further adieu, I bring you... ME! Age 10.

"What?!? Since when did New Kids on the Block become uncool?! Whatever dude. I'll still love Joey McIntyre until the day I DIE!!!"
(Cousin to the left of me: no joke, a year and some months older than me. Suffice it to say, she's now a whopping 4'10" as an adult, while I, tower over her standing at a healthy 5'9".) The cousin to the right of me: well... I'll explain her as we go along.














The Girls.
"Look at us in our NKOTB garb! We are SOOOO cool!" (Did you like my hat? Cause I sure did- I don't think I took that thing off my head for my entire 10th year of life. Mom did well picking that one out for me!)

Are you sensing a trend with this one? She's kind of a ham. Just wait. It gets SO much better...














The Girls. Again.













Isn't it just so perfect? A five year old, folks! A five year old who grabs her tush for the camera. Priceless... just priceless.

There you have it: Me, myself, my NKOTB obsession, my friends, my family, and of course: my five-year-old-tush-grabbing-cousin. You have now seen it all.

Have a blessed day.

Dare You To Move

"Dare You To Move"

Welcome to the planet

Welcome to existence

Everyone's here

Everyone's here

Everybody's watching you now

Everybody waits for you now

What happens next

What happens next

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout

Welcome to resistance

The tension is here

Tension is here

Between who you are and who you could be

Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened before

Maybe redemption has stories to tell

Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell

Where can you run to escape from yourself?

Where you gonna go?

Where you gonna go?

Salvation is here

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened

Today never happened

Today never happened before

Lyrics derived from: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/switchfoot/dareyoutomove.html

This was the theme song for our YA Ministries Weekend 2005. Dare You To Move. Let me tell you, I don't think I have been this moved (no pun intended, honestly) in quite some time. North Central University's very own One Accord (if I had a link for them, I would offer it to you guys to sample thier music. They are INCREDIBLE.) was our worship band for the weekend, and honestly, if I closed my eyes, I could barely tell a difference between them and the real thing. It was just that good. Along with the great music, the great worship, and the awesome connectedness with God, was the message. Dare You To Move.

The three questions that we were asked to really ponder and pray over this weekend in light of this very powerful and moving theme song were the following:

* What are your fears?

* What are your dreams?

*What is your next movement?

Our speaker, we'll call him P.H. for short, is an assistant professor at the North Central, and a very good friend of my church's young adult ministries pastor. P.H. has a flare for random thought processing which definitely reflects in his speeches, but he always somehow ties all of his fleeting thoughts together to create one awesome, powerful, inspirational message. He reminded us of things that we tend to push to the side, of the things that somehow get lost in the madness that is our lives... the things that, more than anything, deserve our attention: Hurricane Katrina victims, Sudan, Jamaica... the places... the people who, more often than not, feel like all hope is lost. The people that so badly need to hear our Lord's message, because, even if we can't save them in this physical world... God can. And they need to know what God promises them beyond this life. And honestly, it wasn't totally about the lost souls out there either, but about the lost souls in that very room in which P.H. was speaking. We were encouraged to take stock of our lives, our fears, our hopes, our dreams, our realities.

I wish that I could eloquently express to you on paper how I'm feeling at this very moment, but this moment, even after having had a half a day to process all of this, is still beyond my concious mind. My soul, my spirit, my heart, and my subconcious mind are all still wrestling... processing. I wanted to at least just begin to share with you something about this weekend and about this new journey that I have found myself on: and not that it's even really a new journey, because... I've been on one for awhile now. It just keeps taking new shapes, and shifting, and... getting greater as time goes by: as circumstances are presented: as life pushes forward.

My hope, my prayer is that something here made sense. Even just a little bit. But if you can't really follow, if I've made it virtually impossible, just please take this with you for the time being until I gather my thoughts and emotions: Our God is a God of hope, of peace, and of promise. Jeremiah 29:11 states, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.'" So while I may not have my spritual and emotional ducks in a row as I sit and write this, I know one thing is for sure: no matter what conclusion I come to, as long as I'm walking with the Lord our God, I'm safe, and I'm loved. I'm promised a bright, prosperous future, and God will work through me to make sure that many, MANY others can someday be confident in the same.