During the time of writing the book I wanted children to see how important it is to have a servants heart, also that there will be struggles we will encounter, but never give up and always follow the truth of your adventure. I want parents to get excited about how they can get involved in making it happen. The characters in this book are my pride and joy my children and grandchildren along with some of my family members. The book was really fun to write , but the message is a call to everyone . So my prayer is this, in reading this book to all children it will help you fine your servants heart. as you led them in finding theirs.
New York Times Bestseller. With just the right mixture of humor and insight, compassion and incredulity, A Year of Biblical Womanhood is an exercise in scriptural exploration and spiritual contemplation. What does God truly expect of women, and is there really a prescription for biblical womanhood? Come along with Evans as she looks for answers in the rich heritage of biblical heroines, models of grace, and all-around women of valor. What is "biblical womanhood" . . . really? Strong-willed and independent, Rachel Held Evans couldn't sew a button on a blouse before she embarked on a radical life experiment--a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist resurgence that led many of her friends to abandon their careers to assume traditional gender roles in the home, Evans decides to try it for herself, vowing to take all of the Bible's instructions for women as literally as possible for a year. Pursuing a different virtue each month, Evans learns the hard way that her quest for biblical womanhood requires more than a "gentle and quiet spirit" (1 Peter 3:4). It means growing out her hair, making her own clothes, covering her head, obeying her husband, rising before dawn, abstaining from gossip, remaining silent in church, and even camping out in the front yard during her period. See what happens when a thoroughly modern woman starts referring to her husband as "master" and "praises him at the city gate" with a homemade sign. Learn the insights she receives from an ongoing correspondence with an Orthodox Jewish woman, and find out what she discovers from her exchanges with a polygamist wife. Join her as she wrestles with difficult passages of scripture that portray misogyny and violence against women.
What Does Christ-Centered Leadership Look Like? As a Christian, does your leadership approach look any different from that of those who don't follow Christ? Throughout the Bible, God shows us what leadership looks in His kingdom, and sometimes it can seem upside-down. The first shall be last. The master shall be the servant. But how can we apply these counterintuitive truths in our world today? Rather than focusing on the nuts and bolts of management, Lead like Christ uses the book of Titus to take a close look at what biblical leadership entails. Using Paul's instructions to his young ministry partner as a guide, Tozer takes us through themes of grace, servanthood, spiritual boldness, and humility toward the Word of God. This foundation will lead to powerful, long-lasting change in both your own leadership role today as well as in God's eternal kingdom.
Do you think that Jesus only surrounded himself with men? Think again. Inspired by their popular Channel 4 documentary Jesus' Female Disciples, historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor explore the way in which Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha and a whole host of other women - named and unnamed - have been remembered by posterity, noting how many were silenced, tamed or slurred by innuendo - though occasionally they get to slay dragons. Women Remembered looks at the representation of these women in art, and the way they have been remembered in inscriptions and archaeology. And of course they dig into the biblical texts, exposing misogyny and offering alternative and unexpected ways of appreciating these women as disciples, apostles, teachers, messengers and church-founders. At a time when both the church and society more widely are still grappling with the full inclusion and equality of women, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical and cultural origins of Christianity.
JOANNA is a story of love and betrayal based on historic events and real people during the final year of Jesus' earthly ministry. Stroll beside Joanna as she walks with Jesus. Experience with her the unbelievable tragedy as it unfolds. Then join in her life altering joy that follows. Twelve men followed Jesus to become his disciples. Less well known, several women also accompanied the group and contributed financial resources toward Jesus' ministry. The Bible includes Mary, mother of the younger James, Mary Magdalene, Susanna and Joanna. Luke's Gospel then revealed an explosive detail concerning Joanna's husband. Cuza is manager of the palace of King Herod Antipas. With Jesus immediately behind John the Baptist on Herod's short list of enemies, how could Joanna become a Jesus follower? What would have motivated this most unlikely woman to leave her family, along with the comforts of the capital city, and follow this peasant Jewish preacher? Danger abounds as the Roman government her husband represents clashes with the humble, life-changing message of Jesus. The perils only intensify when Jesus adds a former terrorist to his disciples. Can her ability to warn Jesus of threats from Herod's palace offset losing her own family?
Much of the history of women, in religion as in other fields, is lost because it was overlooked or considered unimportant. It is therefore surprising that so many fragments of women's stories survive in the New Testament texts composed by men. Why did they include so many references to women and why are women, as a group, treated so positively by the male New Testament writers? Women in the New Testament shows how the stories of women are an integral part of the Gospel and its meaning for us. It also relays how we can respond to the challenge these women represent, whether we are men trying to understand or women trying to find our voices within the tradition of faith found in the New Testament. Chapter one discusses three women of expectant faith. Chapters two and three deal with women who are changed by Jesus. Chapter four focuses on New Testament women of influence. Chapters five and six show how women disciples spread and gave shape to the gospel message. Chapters are "Women of Expectant Faith," “Women Changed by Jesus,” “More Women Changed by Jesus,” “Women of Prominence,” “Women and Discipleship,” and “More Women and Discipleship.” Mary Ann Getty-Sullivan, PhD, teaches at St. Vincent College and St. Vincent Seminary, Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She is the author of First and Second Corinthians from the Collegeville Bible Commentary series, author of the God Speaks to Us series of children's books, and editor of the Zacchaeus Studies: New Testament series published by The Liturgical Press. "
This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license. This book reveals exciting early Christian evidence that Mary was remembered as a powerful role model for women leaders—women apostles, baptizers, and presiders at the ritual meal. Early Christian art portrays Mary and other women clergy serving as deacon, presbyter/priest, and bishop. In addition, the two oldest surviving artifacts to depict people at an altar table inside a real church depict women and men in a gender-parallel liturgy inside two of the most important churches in Christendom—Old Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the second Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Dr. Kateusz’s research brings to light centuries of censorship, both ancient and modern, and debunks the modern imagination that from the beginning only men were apostles and clergy.
Jacob and Solomon were polygamists. Tamar and Rahab were prostitutes. What are polygamists and prostitutes doing on the pages of Holy Scripture? And God told the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute. What about Cain—did he really marry his sister? Abraham did, and he was also a polygamist. Lot offered his daughters up for rape, David committed adultery (or rape?) and the Bible calls both men righteous. Love, Old Testament style, was bizarre. As readers of the Old Testament encounter these weird, confusing, and horrific “love” stories they ask, “What’s up with sex in the Old Testament?” The church often ignores the R-rated bits of the Bible, so it’s hard for people to find answers to their disturbing questions about sex in Scripture, which can lead people to give up on God and God’s word. However, these stories were included in the Bible for a reason, to reveal an even more shocking “love” story. When humans behave badly, God behaves graciously. God not only forgives people with sexual baggage, but also redeems their lives and includes them in his mission. God’s word records their story to benefit us. Just as sex was not often ideal in the Old Testament, it’s often not ideal today. Instead of ignoring these stories, Prostitutes and Polygamists engages, discusses, and learns from them.
