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Women Must Keep Silent?
Reading Time: 6 minutesYou may be aware that there are a few verses that, as traditionally interpreted, seem to completely contradict Paul’s recurring message of ‘freedom and oneness in Christ’, particularly in relation to women’s contribution to and participation in church ministry. The verses in question are found in 1 Corinthians 14:34-36, 1 Timothy 2:11-12, and 1 Corinthians 11:1-16.
1 Corinthians 14 is the only passage that (seems to) explicitly forbid women ‘speaking in church’ (and which is… -
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Reading Time: 6 minutesI don’t know about you but sometimes I feel bad for not knowing then what I know now.
Bad, as in, I wish I’d known better, I wish I had known more, I wish I had known sooner or responded better or chosen differently.
But here’s the thing. We only wish this because of what we know now. Which is to say, in all the time that’s passed from then until now, we’ve learned something, we’ve grown, we’ve become more equipped, less reactive, we can make better choices only because of what we’ve… -
Will Progressive Christianity Destroy The Church?
Reading Time: 8 minutesI want to talk about something that’s been on my mind for a while. Some time ago, I watched a commentary by a ‘Christian pastor’ that totally shocked me. In fact, I haven’t really stopped thinking about it since.
I found it disturbing; equal parts ridiculous and horrifying, and I really couldn’t believe it was being presented under the guise of legitimate Christianity.
For me, it highlighted a disturbing and, frankly, heartbreaking direction that modern Christianity, or… -
John Writes A Letter
Reading Time: 8 minutes“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day – our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a…
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The Faith | Works ‘Conundrum’
Reading Time: 12 minutesThe simple truth that we find acceptance with God by grace through faith alone is the Bible’s most beautiful theme. Grace began long ago when God set in motion the means for humanity to find their way back to Him, to find their way home. He promised Adam and Eve that a redeemer would come who would save humanity from the consequences of their sin. That redeemer would be His very own Son, born for…
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Leaving
Reading Time: 8 minutesLeaving is never because of just one thing. Not really.
It’s the result of a thousand, inconsequential one things that all converge in a single moment of sudden, irreconcilable difference.
For me, the eventual leaving of the religious community I grew up in began as a tiny question fluttering at the back of my mind.
Back then, I’d never met a question I didn’t want to take apart, examine, rearrange and then carefully reassemble, perfectly ordered, and satisfactorily… -
Jesus, The Hope Of The World
Reading Time: 12 minutes“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Emmanuel” (which means, “God with us”)” | Matthew 1:23, BRB
Scripture tells of a crowded family home in a bustling ancestral town, set at the southern end of the Judean hills. Filled to the brim already, perhaps with relatives from both near and far, there was no room in the guest quarters for the additional arrival of a heavily pregnant… -
Come Walk With Me
Reading Time: 3 minutesCome walk with Me.
Imagine we are once again in Eden, walking together in the cool shade of the trees.
Listen to the sound of the great river, flowing through My garden paradise. Hear the rush of its distributaries, flowing north, east, south, and westward out from My garden. Living water springs from this place, refreshing and pure.
Close your eyes and breathe in the rich, loamy scent of this good earth. There is gold here, and precious… -
Crossing Over
Reading Time: 5 minutesThere are many crossings a human will make in a lifetime.
Our introduction to life is just the first.
From the dim, watery, stillness of the womb, we are thrust out into the bright light of day; into this dizzying kaleidoscope we call life.
Our lungs, filled with fluid and collapsed upon themselves like waxy, paper bags, suddenly inflate; as our intricately crafted nervous system reacts to the sudden change in temperature and environment. We breathe, for the… -
By One Man
Reading Time: 8 minutesI like the Apostle Paul.
I like his ability to ‘call a spade a spade’, the unrelenting pursuit of his faith, and his bold assertion to “preach nothing but the cross of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:2). No doubt he ruffled more than a few feathers at times, with his unapologetic directness and refusal to tolerate any other gospel than that of being saved by grace through faith alone.
He doesn’t shy away from telling it how it…
