The Gospels include two genealogies of Jesus (Luke 3:23–38 and Matthew 1:1–17). Luke’s version traces our Lord back to Adam, placing him over the family of mankind. Matthew’s list establishes Jesus as heir to the Davidic dynasty. But another key difference between the two is that Matthew’s list, unlike most such lists in the first century, includes five women. Why?
If the person who wrote the publicity materials that accompanied The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom (HarperOne, 2013) wanted to provoke readers, the strategy worked.
When Jesus sent out his disciples (see Matthew 10), He warned them to expect hostility—but to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves. What does it mean to be wise and harmless in how we approach people who believe far differently from the way we do?
A class I teach includes an overview of women in church history. In addition to reading accounts of women martyrs, students watch the film “Iron Jawed Angels.” Most people don’t realize that Alice Paul, a key leader in the fight for suffrage in the USA, was a Quaker.
One so-called feminist idea that we might think came out of the Enlightenment actually came right out of the Reformation: The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. This teaching opened new ways for men and women to think of women not as intrinsically inferior to men, but as partners called to lead the world to Christ.
I love watching Downton Abbey, the mini-series with a chronology that begins the day the Titanic sank. And I’m a fan of the latest musical version of Les Misérables, Victor Hugo’s magnificent story set during the June Rebellion in Paris. If you’re anything like me, one of your favorite ways to learn history is to watch or read it in story form.
Many Christian pilgrimages to Israel include an optional excursion into Petra, an amazing UNESCO site famous for its rose-colored, rock-cut architecture, and made more famous by Indiana Jones. But strangely such excursions often leave out one of the holiest sites in the world—Bethany Beyond the Jordan.
When I looked at my Tapestry posts in order of popularity, they provided some insights into what interests readers. Of particular note was that my post on female masturbation had more than 10,000 hits.
At the time I wrote it, I found virtually nothing on the subject on the web from a Christian perspective. So clearly this is a topic about which people seek direction.
I saw a Pinterest cartoon recently in which the subject pointed out that America is the only place where people express gratitude on Thanksgiving for all the things they have and spend the next day shoving people over to get the stuff they don’t. Sadly, Black Friday is only the beginning.
Some say there are three kinds of wealth, others say seven. But regardless of how we define wealth, we know much of it comes from our non-material blessings. We have so much for which to be thankful, don't we? To remind us that our blessings exceed those of millionaires', we need the life-changing spiritual discipline of chronicling gifts.
I’m talking today with my friend and fellow Tapestry blogger, Kay Daigle, who recently released the book, From Ordinary Woman to Spiritual Leader: Grow Your Influence.
Some months back I read The Millennials, a non-fiction book by the father/son team, Thom S. Rainer and Jess W. Rainer. After conducting painstaking research on millennials drawing on a credibly-sized test group, the Rainers reported their results.
In an election year with conventions, platforms, and speeches in the news, we have a unique opportunity to converse in the public square. Having a Christian worldview should affect how we think and interact about politics. Here are some suggestions:
I looked up to Cindy*. She was older, wiser, and a trailblazer ahead of me in a business world previously dominated by men. So when I joined her as the second woman—and a fellow Christian—on a company retreat, I assumed she’d welcome my presence.
“I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel” (Phil. 4:2–3).
Last time we talked about building communication in marriage. Two more essentials for laying a strong foundation for marriage are to make a pre-marital visit to the doctor, and to reach a point of clarity about male/female roles before you walk the aisle.
Wedding season is upon us. For most the months of June through August represent the easiest season in which to schedule time off for the honeymoon and travel for family members. And as most proposals happen between December 24 and February 14, the timing gives the happy couple about six months to plan their big day.
The CDC tells us that obesity is now the number one health threat facing Americans. And instead of leading the way to change, the church in America is leading the path to ruin.
About eight weeks ago the World Bank said preliminary estimates for 2010 showed that the world’s extreme poverty rate — people living below $1.25 a day — had fallen to less than half of its 1990 value. Did you get that? Less than half!
I spent fourteen years of my life either as the spouse of a seminary student or as a student myself. Yes, you’re right—I probably needed to get a life. But I tell you that to tell you this: my husband and I still like each other … a lot. And you can emerge from seminary with a decent marriage, too. Here are some suggestions for how:
Often the worst day of the year for an infertile woman is Mother’s Day. On this holiday going to a house of worship can feel more like going to the house of mourning.
Look up “gender” in the dictionary, and you will probably find “sex” as its definition. As if the words were interchangeable. In the not-so-distant past, “gender” referred only to grammatical fields. But in 1955, a sexologist suggested that we distinguish between biological sex and gender as a way of distinguishing between male and female.
In the thirty-three years since I said “I do,” I’ve heard many messages and read lots of books on marriage. And if I’ve heard and read one thing about the job of the husband, it’s that “provider” is one of his key roles.
