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Resources to Know About
PODCASTS, ARTICLES, AND BOOKS Article: Ever notice how both Adam and Eve got rebuked for their mutual sin (Gen. 3)? And how both Ananias and Saphira got in trouble for their mutual sin (Acts 5:9)? And how both Ahab and Jezebel had consequences for their mutual sin (2 Kings 9:10)? But only David gets rebuked for his crime against Bathsheba? See this article: “Blame David, Not Bathsheba. The Prophet Nathan Did: In the Book of Samuel, three key voices say he’s the guilty one, not her.” Dr. Carmen Imes, author of Bearing God’s Name (you can read here the interview I did with her when Bearing God’s Name came out) wrote the piece for Christianity Today.…
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Did Jesus Have Women Disciples…and other questions
Were any of Jesus’s disciples women? Yes. Dorcas (Greek), also called Tabitha (Aramaic), lived in Joppa, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We find Dorcas’s story beginning in Acts 9:36. And the author introduces her as “a disciple.” This reference to Tabitha is the only time in the NT that we find the feminine form of the Greek word, μαθήτρια. The plural masculine form of the word, “disciples,” appears many times in the NT, including in contexts where women are included in a group. So Tabitha is certainly not the only woman disciple in the NT. But in this case she is singled out. She lived with widows, ministered to widows, and clothed them with lovely…
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Gender and Jesus: Scripture over Stereotype
When I enrolled in a master’s degree program back in the 1990s, I took a required standardized psych test for entry. And soon after that, I received a call from one of the school’s counselors. He told me he needed to set up an appointment because I had scored “overly masculine” on that test. And of course that result raised a red flag. Fortunately for me, this counselor had once been my supervisor in a church staff job, so he knew me well enough to laugh at such a silly test result. But still, he was required to call me in for a chat. After I settled in on his…
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Re-Introducing Five Women
Florence. Ever since the third century, an area in the north of Florence was dedicated to Christianity; up to the Middle Ages it represented the city’s most important religious center. From the 500s on, a building complex there included three churches, one of which was Santa Reparata. Around 800, Sta (Santa) Reparata became the new seat of the bishop. “Raparata” is a name known to few Americans, but her story is well known in Italy. A Christian martyr from third-century Palestine, she was the patron of the city of Florence (Firenze) up until the late Middle Ages. Today people can visit the remains of the church named for her—underneath the Duomo…
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A Wedding Prayer
Someone once told me that a big draw for people coming to the bible.org web site, which hosts this blog, is wedding resources. They come looking for wording. Whether seeking entire ceremonies or simply prayers and vows, they look to a site with the word “Bible” in it for help. So, today I’m sharing a prayer I crafted for one of my favorite couples, Lacie and Eric, at their beautiful wedding in the Air Force Academy Chapel near Colorado Springs. Some of the words I wrote myself, but I also borrowed phrases from songs like “Wonderful, Merciful Savior” and The Book of Common Prayer. Do you have a favorite wedding…
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How to Talk in Church about Roe vs. Wade
Did you feel the earth move? Politico published a leaked copy of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion relating to abortion laws in the USA, and the rhetoric about abortion ramped up. Way up. Thrive Women’s Clinic, a Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Dallas, Texas, provides pregnancy tests, medical consultations, and free sonograms to women in unplanned pregnancies, many of whom are considering abortion. And since my friend Sarah Rooker, BSN, RN, is a nurse at Thrive,* I asked her if she’d noticed any changes as a result of the leak. Her answer? Yes! She said women are seeking options with more urgency and secrecy. But one thing hasn’t changed: as disputes…
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Lost in Translation: Are Women Really Missing?
Jesus Wants Male and Female Disciples Years ago, during Vacation Bible School, I learned a little song based on Jesus’s words to his fisherman-followers. It went like this: I will make you fishers of men, Fishers of men, Fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men If you follow me… Men, men, men, men. Four times. I must have unconsciously internalized that, because I heard this: the male Jesus told his male followers to go find other males and invite them to follow the Lord. These words of Jesus to which I’m referring are recorded by Matthew (4:19). The English Standard Version (ESV),…
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Quiet Presence: Comfort Those Who Hurt
Two friends call with heartbreaking news—news that will change their lives. And as a “word” person, I’m profoundly aware of how inadequate words are at such times. In fact, offering comfort can be as much about what we don’t say as what we do. An obstetrician friend told me that during his first year of medical practice, he sat with his first couple to lose a baby—this one died at twenty-three weeks. Feeling at a loss for words, he sat in silence and wept with them. When they thanked him later for saying just the right words, he wondered aloud “What words? I didn’t say anything?” Then he realized…precisely. “The…
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Live into Holy Week
The church across the world observes the most important week of the year in our tradition—Holy Week—which begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter. Both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions call it “the Great Week” because God did great works during the week we reenact. (Note: Orthodox Christians celebrate Holy Week on different days from those in the west—their Easter falling on April 24 and the west celebrating April 17 this year). On Wednesday, sometimes called Spy Wednesday or Good Wednesday, we consider that Judas (the “spy”) bargained to betray Jesus with a kiss. Listen in as Jodie Neznik and I talk about this betrayal on the So Much More podcast. …
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Women’s History Month: Meet Some Female Martyrs from the Early Church
When I spoke to a class of seminary students recently about women in public ministry in the early church, someone asked me to share some names and narratives about our foremothers. It seemed fitting to provide a sampling here during Women’s History Month. (Some day I hope we will simply learn “history”; but until women are included in the telling of history, we’ll continue to need a special annual focus.) You can find all the women listed below in the mosaics of Ravenna’s “new” (6th c) Basilica of Sant’Apollinare. I’ve included a summary of the stories that usually accompany them, as well. You will notice a theme of women exercising…
