Engage
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Guess What Paul Has in Mind for Marriage?
Today I’m happy to have as my guest Dallas Theological Seminary student Shena Ashcraft, who has spent the past semester doing an independent study focused on the Roman household codes and what they have to do with Paul’s instruction about marriage in Ephesians 5. For a video version of this content, go here. Rewind with me to the 1980s, when kids in classrooms and at kitchen tables were playing the classic board game, Guess Who? Both players chose a secret character card that the opposite player would try to guess by asking only yes or no questions. Their opponent had hinged pictures of all the characters in front of them…
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Wanting to See Jesus’s Face
During worship at my church several years ago, the familiar song, “I Want to Know You,” struck a different chord in me than usual. The chorus represents the soul speaking to Jesus about knowing Him more. This is what the song had us declare, “I want to know You, I want to hear Your voice, I want to touch You.” The next phrase is what grabbed me, “I want to see Your face.” Yes, my heart is wanting to see Jesus’s face. Christianity is Christ. It is not a lifestyle or rules of conduct. It is not an organization whose members were initiated by the sprinkling or covering of water.…
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Shopping for a Shepherd: A Female Shepherd Like Rachel
I noticed the aroma of spiced apples scenting the air as I stepped into the shop. My eyes lighted on the carved wooden figures grouped into Nativity sets and nestled on long shelves lining the walls. Our group of fourteen had spent the morning touring biblical sites in Jerusalem, followed by lunch and a visit to the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem, part of the Palestinian-administered area of Israel. To finish the day, we were driven nearby for a requisite gift shop stop. Sipping complimentary apple cider, my husband Lindsey and I began browsing the wares. We had purchased an olive wood nativity set during our first trip…
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Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Mary’s Story
As we head into the final week before Christmas, we expectantly anticipate the coming—the Advent—of the Son of the Most High as his mother, Mary, did. Consider with me the traditional Advent themes as seen in Mary’s story. HOPE “Listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” —the angel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth (LUKE 1:31-33) The Bible defines hope as patiently…
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Views of the Role of Women in the Church: Grounded in Scripture or in Culture?
Some believe the role of women in the church is changing because of cultural pressures on the church. How much of what I believe about Scripture is based on cultural trends? I recently got into an online discussion regarding 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Paul states in this passage that he did not allow women to “teach or exercise authority over men.” To me, the broadest interpretation this passage can support is that women are not allowed to teach men in church. The narrowest is that Paul did not allow women to teach men in his particular local church. However, my friend felt that this prohibition extended beyond the local church. As…
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Savor Christ
Today I’m happy to bring you a guest post from Dallas Theological Seminary students Makay Bergthold and Kristen Powell: If you could uncork a glass bottle of “Christmas,” what delightful scent would greet you? Gingerbread? A fresh-cut Christmas tree? The spices of cinnamon and cloves in hot apple cider simmering on the stovetop? Whatever your Christmas treat of choice, the opportunity to savor smells and tastes that bring pleasure may spark a happy memory that connects you to loved ones or a time in your life when Christmas was simpler or more joyful. For many adults Christmas no longer brings simple delights, but instead anxieties over expectations, potential family conflict,…
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Releasing the Knowledge Trap
In reading and pondering John chapter 7, verse 18 stood out to me, “The one who speaks on his own authority, seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him is true, and in Him there is no falsehood.” Jesus is making a contrast with Himself (who was sent by God with His teaching and sought God’s glory) and others (who spoke on their own to glorify themselves). Others possibly started with some truth but used that truth to glorify themselves. I asked myself a question, “How do I use knowledge?” This question led to other questions: “What are some inappropriate uses of…
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Releasing “Mom Guilt”
Once upon a time I served as an educator. While serving a special needs family, the mom revealed to me that she felt like her daughter’s disability was a punishment for her own sins. This mom was steeped in deep grief, somehow allowing herself to believe that she was personally responsible for her child’s cognitive disability. I knew her to be a healthy mom in a healthy home environment. She was actually a wealthy mom with all the comforts this modern world offers. Despite having the American dream, she was unable to enjoy the rich blessings of her life due to this story of guilt she had written for self. …
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What’s Amazing about the Annunciation!
Trigger warning: sexual assault How we experience life embodied as sexed beings affects how we read the biblical text. So how do many women do so? We do so as those who have (a) been violated ourselves or (b) as those who live in close proximity with someone who is a survivor of such violation. According to RAINN, one out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Contrast this with the one in 33 American men who have been victims of attempted or completed rape. Women are raped more than five times as often as men. And neither of these statistics…
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Overflowing with Thankfulness
Did you know that the book of Colossians is one of the most “thankful” books in the New Testament? The repeated emphasis on thanksgiving makes it so! Seven times in this short letter the Spirit of God reminds us through the writing of Paul that we should be continually grateful, even to the point of overflowing with thankfulness. But how is that possible? What would that look like? Thank God for Other Christians in Your Life Paul started out by saying this, “We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that…