Engage
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Writing for Ministry: Ten Tips
Also, part of loving others and reaching the widest-possible audience is using gender-inclusive language. The following statement, with which I heartily agree, is adapted from the syllabus of one of my colleagues: “All written submissions should strive to use male/female-inclusive language. As a gospel-shaped, gospel-centered community of learning, we have compelling reasons to think, write, and speak in such a way as to ensure that none are either intentionally or inadvertently excluded by our use of language. Consider using ‘humans,’ ‘persons,’ ‘humanity,’ or ‘humankind”’ rather than ‘man’ or ‘men’ when referring to humans in general. Consider alternating between the use of ‘he’ and ‘she’ as generic pronouns or substituting…
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Will Change Ever Get Easier?
“I have decided to accept the offer in Spain,” my colleague announced. Here we go again, my heart cried. Even though I rejoiced that God had answered her prayers for direction, I still balked. After all these years will change ever get easier? I think back to my childhood in Papua New Guinea and the classmates who came and went, the rhythm of home assignment, the moving of my belongings from home to children’s hostel every three months. Then I consider my 12 years in Indonesia. My team and leadership configuration morphed at least 15 times until my family also returned to our passport country. My senior worker and team mentor…
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Is 1 Timothy 2:12 a Clear, or Obscure, Text?
Is 1 Timothy 2:12 a clear, or obscure, text? The scripture says, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet.” Before addressing the “clear or obscure?” question, it’s interesting that the one Bible verse that speaks of preventing a woman from teaching is 1 Timothy 2:12. Consequently, the overarching question for interpreters must be, “What is the divine meaning of 1 Timothy 2:12 in the context of the church?
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Why I Love to Learn I’m Wrong
As the webmistress for Probe.org, I love getting emails alerting me to typos, either in the content of our articles or the coding that keeps people from seeing or hearing what they are looking for. I love being able to fix mistakes; there’s a deeply satisfying sense of, “Ohhhh that’s better!” I want to get things right. I want to set things right. I want to BE right. That could certainly be about sinful pride, but there’s another side to it. I love truth, that which corresponds to reality. If I am mistaken—or worse, misled—about something, I love learning about it so I can shift, bringing my beliefs or my…
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A Prayer for the Hostages in the Dark. And for Us.
A nephew of one of the released Hamas hostages said his aunt “’had to adjust to the sunlight’ because she had been in darkness for weeks. ‘She was in complete darkness,…completely cut off from the outside world.’” Imagine living in total darkness, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 7 weeks—50 days for the now-released hostages, 102 days and counting for those still in captivity. Think what you were doing on October 7th. Now think of erasing all you’ve done since then. All that work, vacation, time with family and friends, church fellowship, football, Thanksgiving, Christmas prep–all those moments you’ve held dear. Imagine instead sitting and sleeping in plastic…
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Dealing with Distractions in Prayer
As we move into 2024 many of us as christians make resolutions or goals for our spiritual lives. Because we often feel defeated by our attempts at prayer, we try harder to be consistent and engaged, but it doesn’t always last. One big problem is that we become distracted during our time of prayer, and once we are, we get busy with whatever it is and never get back to prayer. And then we feel guilty. Distractions during prayer have always been a big challenge for me too. So I’ve read and listened to suggestions from many sources and hope that their advice helps you, as it has me. I…
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ABCs with Meaning
If you’ve been a Bible reader for more than a few years, and if you’re like me, you may find yourself skimming over words that have a vague meaning but its value hasn’t yet been “treasured in your heart.” I’ve noted a few of these lately. Let’s look at three.
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About Bathsheba…
Today I’m happy to feature Lindsay Ann Nickens, a budding Old Testament scholar at Dallas Theological Seminary, in this guest post about Bathsheba. Lust, betrayal, shame. These words often come to mind when we hear David and Bathsheba’s story. But 2 Samuel 11–12, where we find their story, is primarily—surprisingly—a war text. The story begins with a spring setting, at a time when kings customarily go to war to enlarge national boundaries and defend territories from invading kings (11:1). The Old Testament describes Yahweh as invested in defending Israel as a place solely devoted to his worship. Yet David chose to stay home during the war season instead of investing…
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Fill Your Tank in the New Year
Of all the book titles I have encountered, Daniel Handlers, “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” has by far felt the most relatable to me. At times, on the more eventful days, it is painful to reflect on just how chaotic the day can be! Recently, in the midst of the chaos of the Christmas season once such day stood out to me. In the course of 24 hours I had attempted to cram every good and right thing in. In the spirit of fitting it all in, I woke up early determined to exercise, like a good girl. The only downside to this plan was that I had stayed up…
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One New Year’s Resolution: Desert Blame and Develop Blessing
Perhaps you routinely do self-examination to start off the New Year. Some habits need to be developed and others need to be deserted. I unexpectedly found something God had for me to develop—blessing and to desert—blame. The passage in John 9 where Jesus heals the blind man born blind, revealed my need to develop discovering the blessings and desert finding the blame in difficulties. Let’s take a look at that passage. “As He (Jesus) passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’” (John 9:1-2). From an Old Testament Jewish perspective, the…