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Sharper in Real Life
This month, I am honored to feature the writing of a woman who has come into my life in the last two years. Today, she shares the joy, freedom and growth that we experience through friendship. I remember the first time she came to my home. I was hosting a birthday party, and her daughter was at the top of the guest list. Though I didn’t know her well, we worshipped together, and I knew we had things in common: we loved music, we married sports enthusiasts, and we were each parenting teenagers, newborns, and a few in between. We greeted loudly that Saturday morning: giggly girls hugging hello, baby…
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God’s Thoughts and Ways – Part XII (Zipporah, Wife of Moses)
Seek to become more like brave Zipporah in her wholehearted service to the Lord! 0
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Compassion Reflects Overflowing Joy in the Lord
One of the most amazing verses in the whole Bible is 2 Corinthians 8:2! Paul, writing to the Christians living in southern Greece, discusses the offering being collected by the Christians in northern Greece for those suffering terrible hardship in Jerusalem. “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” Oh, my, that is so radical! Extreme poverty giving generously? Those early Christians are an amazing example to all believers, including you and me, of the dynamic difference that God’s grace can make in the mindset of His people when it comes to provision. Gratefully receiving and generously giving comes from…
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Vindicating Vixens: What about Michel, wife of David?
Since the publication of Vindicating the Vixens, I’ve received messages suggesting additional women in the Bible we’ve probably seen through negative eyes when the biblical text does not present them that way. Often I agree. But sometimes I don’t—as is the case with those who think we should add Michal, daughter of Saul and wife of David, to the list. We find her story in 1 Samuel. To set the scene, Saul is King, and the shepherd-boy David has defeated Goliath. So King Saul offers David the elder of two daughters, Merab, in marriage. David declines with “I’m unworthy,” so Saul marries off Merab to someone else (1 Sam 18:17–20). King…
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What’s Left When Our Props Are Removed?
My husband and I were talking this week about our American culture’s emphasis on financial security. We determined that financial security is not a biblical concept. Most of the world barely survives a day or a week. There is likely not even an opportunity to save for the future to feel financially secure. Biblically, we are to look at God as our provider through our work and other means He supplies. But, at any moment, that which we depend upon to make us feel secure, such as money in the bank, can be taken away. Such an event will certainly show us if we are depending on these props to…
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Fresh Perspectives on Women in the Bible: Esther By Natalie Edwards
The sound of water flowing fills the palace. Trickling fountains. Incense burning. The smell of lavender lingers in the air. Shades of fine silk in purple, red and blue are laid out for the choosing. It’s a spa of the most luxurious sort and hundreds of women are preparing for their encounter with the king. Yet only one will be chosen queen of Persia and marry King Ahasuerus. Among the crowd of women to come before the king is Esther, our Bible character in this week’s Fresh Perspective on Women in The Bible. Does God value bold courage as a desired feminine quality too? Let's find out. Raised…
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Fresh perspectives on Biblical Women–The Woman at the Well
Who do you immediately picture when you think of the woman at the well in John 4? Do you see a sleazy woman with overdone makeup, bangles and spangles, one of those morally loose floozies with a weakness for the wrong kind of men? When you meet her in heaven, how will you feel if she's actually a woman of integrity, courage, insight, and served Jesus as an evangelist? Of course, she was a sinner just like all of us. But we must be careful not to disparage anyone's character before we know the facts. What does John 4, as well as first century social customs, reveal about her character? …
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Would Jesus turn #MeToo into #UsTwo?
I came home pumped!! My friend Barb led our mixed Sunday School through a fresh look at the leadership partnership between Deborah and Barak (Judges 4 and 5) as part of an eight week series entitled "Fresh Perspectives on Women of the Bible." The week before, we saw Jesus praise the woman at the well for evangelizing her Samaritan village, a people group the disciples formerly discounted as unworthy of salvation (John 4). For the first time, these two women jumped off the page in living color as role models for other women to emulate. We set aside the over-sexualized interpretations too often imposed on the text and let…
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An Interview with Theologian Nika Spaulding: Instinctive Theology
Today I’m happy to have as my guest Allie Mock, who talked with theologian Nika Spaulding about the need to have our theology deeply ingrained in us: Without even thinking about it, Nika Saulding instinctively jumped up and chased the man down the street, vaulting over chairs and pushing aside tables. She could see her laptop tucked under the thief’s arm. Her legs burned as she put on a burst of speed. Ahead of her, the thief veered off the sidewalk and straight into a getaway car. Nika watched, helpless, as the car skidded away, her computer safe inside. Replacing her laptop, though annoying and expensive, wasn’t Nika’s first concern.…
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“Biblical Womanhood”: What is a Woman?
What a woman is. She is an image-bearer. It was the first day of a class I was teaching on the role of women in the home, church, and society. Driving in to the seminary where I teach, I thought through the material I planned to cover, and honestly I feared that some of what I’d prepared to say was too elementary for graduate-level students. Many of them were raised in church and have heard messages all their lives. Did they really need to hear again that Genesis 1:26–27 teaches that both male and female were made in the image of God? Nevertheless, I determined I’d better make sure. So I…
