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Deborah, a faith-inspiring leader
Judges 4:1–7 forms part of the lectionary readings for the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, which is November 15th. This book describes life in Israel after Joshua’s death (a period around 1210–1051 B.C.). As the nation was established in Canaan, its days of wandering ended. Many of the covenant promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were being fulfilled. Chapters 2–5, however, show a tragic cycle of disobedience, oppression, repentance, and deliverance that happened repeatedly throughout the times of the judges. The reason is that Israel forgot its heritage and all that God had done for the nation. Consequently, the people failed to finish the job of cleansing the land…
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Sheroes of the Bible
The last two months unfolded like an archeological dig. Week after week, I joined a group of women to unlock stories of the past, dust off musty translations, and peer into golden lives of unlikely sheroes. Who are these sheroes? Women easily overlooked, discounted, and even scorned.
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A fresh perspective on Deborah by Barb Haesecke
Our first-born daughter is a born leader. She came out of the womb with Director of Activities stamped on her forehead! She was smart, analytical, creative and passionate. She loved big projects and The Big Picture. (Still does!) On many a day, I just shook my head and said, “Lord, I don’t quite know what to do with her!” But as she headed off to college, I saw her blossom. She joined ROTC and after graduation spent five years serving our country…
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Mary Magdalene = #NotAProstitute
What do you get when you mix myth, legend, incorrect interpretation, and a dose of Hollywood all together? The misrepresented life story of Mary Magdalene—shaken, not stirred. For centuries Mary Magdalene’s reputation as a reformed prostitute has lived on, despite her official Roman Catholic exoneration from bad-girl status in the 1960s. Just do a simple online search for Mary Magdalene and you’ll quickly feel overwhelmed by the plethora of books and movies that portray her not only as the penitent prostitute, but also as Jesus’s secret lover, an apostle greater than John or Peter, and the poster child of gnostic literature. Yet of the thirteen times the New Testament mentions…
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“She Was a Pretty Good Prophet…for a Woman”?
A seminary-class grader once wrote this comment on an assignment turned in by the female who would go on to become his school's first female professor: "Your questions are really insightful for a woman." Recently one of my female seminary students told of feeling she did not matter to God. She described seeing herself as the less-favored one as compared with men. She said she constantly grapples with questions, such as, ‘Does God really love women the way he loves men?’ ‘Does God see women as inferior to men?’ and ‘Why did God allow women to be treated so poorly?’” Some of her questions stem from how she has heard…
