Before all the hubbub of the holidays, I had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat with Dave Jenkins of the Servants of Grace podcast.
Listen in (or watch and listen above) as we delve into the issue of women pastors and why this is such a blight on the modern day church, how the church can support women and foster Titus 2 relationships, and more!
Be sure to check out all of the materials, podcasts, and other contributors at the Servants of Grace website, and find their social media links so you can give them a follow. Also, go subscribe to the Servants of Grace YouTube channel so you’ll never miss an episode, or add it to your queue on your favorite podcast platform.
Articles / resources mentioned or touched on in the episode:
Got a podcast of your own or have a podcasting friend who needs a guest? Need a speaker for a women’s conference or church event? Click the “Speaking Engagements” tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page, drop me an e-mail, and let’s chat!
Hi ladies! I hope you enjoyed our most recent Bible study, Judges, and that you’re looking forward to our new study as much as I am.
I’ll be taking a break for a few more weeks getting ready for our new study. I hope you’ll enjoy it and that it will edify you as you seek to grow in Christ and His Word. (The picture above does not mean we will be studying James. :0) Stay tuned, and keep an eye on the blog on Wednesdays.
In the meantime, I’ll be posting some articles from the archives that I think you’ll find helpful as we make our way toward our next study. Here is this week’s article:
Wednesday’s Word
Wednesday is Bible study day here on the blog. In my Wednesday’s Word Bible study series you’ll find miscellaneous, one lesson Bible studies from each book of the Bible. One chapter of Scripture followed by study questions. This sampler series demonstrates that there’s nothing to be afraid of when approaching those “lesser known” books and that every book of the Bible is valuable and worth studying.
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”…Continue Reading
I know, I know – it’s January 4. Time to get back to real life after the holidays, right? But it’s so hard to let go and leave that festive and fun time of the year behind! So, yes, this is another New Years-y related post, but after today, I promise to mothball all the holiday stuff until next year. Scout’s honor. (In the interest of full disclosure, you should know I was never a Scout. :0)
Last week, Amy and I released the AWFS’s Evangelical Resolutions Wish List episode of A Word Fitly Spoken. Did you get a chance to listen yet? If not, I’d recommend you fire up the old podcast machine (or just click the link on the title above) and give it a listen, because a) what follows won’t make as much sense if you don’t, and b) we chose the best resolutions for the podcast episode. Trust me, you’re going to kick yourself if you don’t listen.
(And for those who are already getting a little squinchy at the idea of Christians occasionally engaging in fun and frolic, we addressed that – from Scripture – right off the bat. So no complainies on that aspect of the episode or this post, please.)
The basic idea is that we made up a list of New Year’s resolutions (some of which were more akin to “razz-olutions”) we wish various evangelical celebrities – the good, the bad, and the ugly (from our favorite doctrinally sound teachers all the way down to heretics) – would make.
Here are the leftovers that didn’t make the cut for the episode. The junk on the cutting room floor, so to speak…
We wish Steven Furtick would resolve to stop wearing tight pants. It’s cutting off the circulation to the portion of his brain that might otherwise be able to comprehend sound doctrine. Or…you know…like…any verse of Scripture at all.
We wish Bethel would resolve to stop putting gold glitter in their air ducts. That ain’t a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, y’all. It’s 25 bucks and a trip to Hobby Lobby.
We wish somebody would resolve to lock Ed Litton in a room with only a pencil, paper, and a Bible, and challenge him to write an original sermon. If we weren’t all good Baptists, we’d be taking bets as to whether or not he could. The smart money is on “not”.
We wish Beth Moore would resolve to go home. I mean, on her Instagram it seems like she enjoys cooking and gardening…that’s a good start, right?
We wish Benny Hinn would resolve to get a new suit. Or maybe a sweater vest. Or even a windbreaker. Maybe Ed Young, Jr. can help him.
We wish Gloria Copeland would resolve to prevent just one devastating storm this year. You don’t see “weather controllers” preventing devastating storms for the same reason you don’t see “faith healers” emptying out hospitals. Oops, did I just double dip on some of those heretics?
We wish Todd Friel would resolve to come out of his shell a little. He’s just so staid and passive. Get a little life in ye, me good man!
We wish Chris Rosebrough would resolve to make a heretic walk the plank. The crocs are hungry, Cap’n.
We wish contemporary “Christian” artists would resolve to stop looking like they’re passing a kidney stone when they’re singing. Is praising the Lord really this painful? Well…maybe…if you’re praising the lord of the flies.
We wish Todd White would resolve to get a haircut. My head and neck hurt just thinking how heavy that mass of hair must be. You’re not Samson, dude.
We wish James White would resolve to stop wearing seizure-inducing sweaters. And, great googly moogly, the dear brother lives in Phoenix! It’s like wearing sweaters on the surface of the sun!
Got a resolution you’d like to make for an evangelical celebrity? Make it lighthearted and pithy – not mean-spirited – and share it in the comments below. I’ll pick my favorite and add it to this article. (Bonus points if yours is funnier than mine were – and that’s a pretty low bar!)
Photo Credits: I did not take any of these photos. I am not claiming credit for any of these photos. I am not making money off any of these photos. If you are the photographer of one of these images and want credit, let me know, and I’ll credit you. If you aren’t the photographer and want to know who is, click here.
It’s almost the new year! Are you making a resolution to start having a personal, daily Bible study time? Would you like to improve on the way you study your Bible? Maybe you’re looking for a Bible reading plan, or maybe you’re just looking to change things up a little?
If that sounds like you, give a listen to this December 2020 episode of A Word Fitly Spoken:
Amy and I discuss what our own Bible study times look like, plus some other helpful methods and resources. We also discuss false doctrine and false teachers to avoid as you’re studying your Bible.
This episode is a great way to kick off the new year. And don’t forget to subscribe to A Word Fitly Spoken on your favorite podcast platform!
Remember Anna? She’s one of our often overlooked sisters from Scripture. As with Elizabeth, we don’t usually hear much about Anna, except sometimes, once a year, at Christmas.
When Jesus was about a month old, Mary and Joseph took Him to the temple to fulfill the requirement of the Levitical law of purification. And that’s where they encountered Anna.
Now, just a little lagniappe here, the purification ceremony where we meet Anna was completely separate from Jesus’ circumcision ceremony.
Circumcision took place when the baby was eight days old, probably in the parents’ home or possibly in the local synagogue (the synagogue was sort of a “branch campus” of the temple in towns that were outside of Jerusalem). Mary would not have been able to enter the synagogue in Bethlehem or the temple in Jerusalem for Jesus’ circumcision since she would still have been ceremonially unclean from His birth.
The purification ceremony that made her ritually clean again took place when Jesus was 33 days old at the temple in Jerusalem. A sacrifice was offered for Mary’s cleansing and Jesus was dedicated to the Lord. (see Leviticus 12)
I spell this all out because, if you’re like me, and you hear the Luke 2 account of Jesus’ birth every year, you tend to let it wash over you without really thinking about it. I never really gave much thought to the fact that these were two different events in two different places until I was studying about Anna.
And Luke 2 presents all of these events in kind of a machine gun fashion so it can practically feel like everything in that chapter is happening on the same day, and we can conflate things we shouldn’t. For example, many people think that Simeon and Anna were married just because their stories appear back to back in Luke 2. As we’re about to see, that wasn’t the case.
Let’s take a look at Anna’s story:
And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:36-38
Anna had a lot of strikes against her in life:
She was a woman. In Anna’s day, women were “low man on the totem pole” so to speak. They were regarded as less than men in practically every way- intelligence, abilities, worth, and so on. They couldn’t testify in court because their testimony wasn’t considered credible. And, maybe you’ve even heard of the daily prayer that Jewish men still say today, thanking God for not creating them a gentile…a slave…or a woman.
She was a widow, and possibly childless. A woman of that time without a husband or grown children to take care of her would have been in very real danger of poverty.
She was old. Average life expectancy in Anna’s day was 55. She was 84. When you’re 84 in ancient times with no modern medicine, you’re feeling it.
So, Anna was a woman, she was a widow, and she was old. She had some disadvantages. But Anna didn’t let those things stop her from serving the Lord full throttle. In fact, she took some of those supposed disadvantages and put them to work for her.
Anna didn’t let disadvantages stop her from serving the Lord full throttle. In fact, she took some of those supposed disadvantages and put them to work for her.
If Anna had had a husband to care for or children to raise, she wouldn’t have had the time or the energy to serve the Lord full time. And she wouldn’t have had the opportunity either, because no one in that culture would have thought it appropriate for a woman with a husband and children to abandon them to stay in the temple.
Also, in a culture that respected its elderly, it’s likely that more people – especially younger women – would have listened to her than if she had not been so advanced in years.
So Anna turned these disadvantages into opportunities. And what did she do with those opportunities? She used them to serve God and to tell people about Jesus.
That’s what the Christian life is all about – serving God and telling others about Jesus – whatever your station in life.
Maybe you’re single like Anna, and God has blessed you with the time and freedom to serve Him full time – or at least fuller time than you’d otherwise be able to.
Maybe you do have a husband and children- and God has given you the opportunity to serve Him by serving them: pouring the gospel into your children, being a godly helpmate to your husband, and being a faithful, serving member of your church.
Maybe you’re older, and instead of using your golden years for travel or hobbies or shopping, God is leading you to teach younger women or throw yourself into ministry in some way.
Anna’s example to us is to bloom where God plants us and grab hold of every opportunity to serve Him and tell others about Jesus.
Anna’s example to us is to bloom where God plants us and grab hold of every opportunity to serve Him and tell others about Jesus.
