Boycott Chick-Fil-A? What about AARP?

Just this week, it was announced that Chick-Fil-A would no longer support certain charities. Read one article about this here. This particular article (as many others) indicates they dropped their support of these charities in response to pressure from the LBGTQ community. That reason may or may not be true. I don't know since I was not in the room when the decision was made.

However, I have found a good number of professing Christians publicly say "Bye-Bye" to Chick-Fil-A on social media and threaten boycott.

So, basically these professing Christians are doing exactly what the LBGTQ community did. They are telling Chick-Fil-A that unless they continue to contribute to charities they approve of, they will no longer be a customer. This is wrong, unbiblical and utterly foolish. If these people are going to condemn the tactics and actions of the LBGTQ community, why would they turn around and use the same tactics?

Liberty is something many people have a hard time understanding. In the US, we have liberty. Our right to liberty is in our constitution, embedded in our country's DNA. This liberty means Chick-Fil-A can operate in any way they see fit. It's unbecoming to Christianity to boycott Chick-Fil-A over a decision they made. It's inconsistent with Christianity to do this.

I will not boycott Chick-Fil-A.

If Christians want to boycott an organization that supports every liberal cause, including abortion, they should boycott AARP. So many Christians have joined (and promote) AARP, yet boycott places like Chick-Fil-A over one decision (a decision no one really knows the inside story about) that it's very confusing.

Christians, stop adopting the tactics of a liberal organization and use the Bible as your guide, instead.
Take a step back and realize Chick-Fil-A is free to make any decision they want and we as Christians should be the first to recognize - and rejoice in - their liberty to do so.

Now I'm getting hungry.....I think I'll go grab some of Chick-Fil-A's Chicken Tortilla Soup! That stuff is SO good!
~Tricia

Here's a Question for your Pastor

Because 1 Timothy 2:8-12 is often used to make the argument that all women are barred from all preaching and teaching of men for all time, I made a few interesting and powerful observations of how the Apostle Paul speaks to and about women in I Timothy 2:8-12. Keep in mind that my observations are in no way comprehensive and I'm not listing all the observations I've made in this passage. I'm mainly making observations about Paul's mention of women in these verses.

⁸ I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; ⁹in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, ¹⁰ but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. ¹² And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.  

My observations:

1. From the first chapter, I already know the Apostle Paul is talking to Timothy and this is the first letter he wrote to him.

2. Verse 9 uses the plural of the word gyné for women. 

3. Verse 10 uses the plural of the word gyné for women.

4. Verse 11 uses the singular of the word gyné for woman.

5. Verse 12 uses the singular of the word gyné for woman.

These observations raised questions in my mind. Why did Paul switch from talking about women, plural, to woman, singular? Is Paul talking about one particular woman and not all women?

We cannot know the exact thought of the Apostle Paul here, but we do know God is very precise in His Word and that every letter and symbol is intentional.

We cannot change the meaning from singular to plural when God has written, through Paul, a singular word. We cannot use this as a proof text that all women are to be silent in all churches for all time. Certainly, if this was an admonition for all women to be quiet in all churches for all time, Paul, himself, violated this again and again as he approved and used women in ministry as deacons, church leaders, patrons, etc.

This requires more study on the part of anyone who teaches or preaches God's Word.
Don't take my word for it, look it up for yourself. If your pastor does not make this distinction when preaching this passage, ask him why.

~Tricia

What Mark Cuban knows Better than your Pastor

Mark Cuban, famous owner of the Dallas Mavericks, inherited a patriarchal, abusive environment within the organization. He came up with a great solution and hired Cynt Marshall as his CEO. Before taking the job, she went around the company and interviewed women, finding out it was not a friendly place for women. She also found that the leadership in the organization was out of balance. She took the job and now, under her leadership, there is a balance of power within the organization and women have an equal voice. Click here for her interview on the Today Show. Click here for her message at an Expotential conference.

In her Today Show interview, she stated, "Diversity is being invited to the party, but it includes being

asked to dance. You can be at the table, but if you can't talk and people are not including you, so what?"

This made me think of the situation at ABWE where, after Donn Ketcham got away with decades of abusing women and girls on the mission field in Bangladesh, ABWE finally put women on their board of directors.....3 women.....and 16 men remained. To this day, ABWE has not done enough to rectify their culture of abuse. It remains.

How is it that a worldly man like Mark Cuban can "get it" about abuse and power and churches don't? One could argue that church leadership is not about "power" but I see nothing but power, and the abuse of power, within today's church leadership.

A recent adult "Bible" study played this out. It was a group of married adults and they were studying a Sunday School quarterly. This particular lesson covered a few of the 10 Commandments, including "You shall not commit adultery." The teacher took the class to Matthew 5:27 & 28, where Jesus says, ".....if a man looks at a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart." Ok, so far, so good, but I was shocked at what happened next.

In the class, the people started a discussion about this verse and one woman said, "Well, girls have to be modest." They followed this statement up with extreme examples of women and girls not being modest in church. In looking around the church, I found no one dressed immodestly.

This turned the discussion to women and the "part" we women play in "causing" men to sin and commit adultery in their hearts. I was appalled. This discussion went on for about 10 minutes, and even though a couple of us presented the Truth, that this verse said nothing about women having a "part" in a man's sin, the people stuck to their thinking that men would sin less if women were more modest. Women have NO part in any man's sin.

So, the culture of abuse remains. Women are continuing to be blamed for the sins of men in the church. While I agree women ought to be modest, I contend that the Bible is not talking about modesty in the same way we do today. When Paul taught instructed women to dress in modest apparel, he was talking to wealthy Ephesian women who were flaunting their wealth in church and he wanted them to tone that down since it's not good to flaunt wealth in church. Read more in I Timothy 2:9-10. Paul clarifies that women are to "dress modestly, not with elaborate hair styles, gold, pearls of expensive clothing, but with good deeds..." These verses say nothing about dressing modestly to help men avoid sinning.

What struck me about the discussion in the class is how quickly they spun the Truth of the verses they were studying. Even the teacher of the class did not refute their opinions, but reaffirmed what they were thinking. They are wrong. Spinning Scripture at any time is wrong and it's wrong to take what Jesus said and spin it like they did.

The natural leap of patriarchy is to blame women for men's sins at every turn. If a man sins with a woman, the church talks about what she was wearing or what she did to entice him. But Scripture does not teach this. Scripture teaches that when a man sins, he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). It does not say women need to modify their behavior in any way to help men avoid sin.

To jump from a verse about adultery where Jesus addresses men specifically, to the subject of girls needing to be modest is a huge and unjustified jump. This jump is very natural for patriarchy, however, and many church folk would argue with me, some vehemently; but they are out of line.

It's not safe or wise to filter the Bible through any lens, even the lens of patriarchy.

Do I think women and men should dress modestly? Of course. I simply stand against the idea that this is taught in Matthew 5:27&28.

~Tricia

The Top 5 Reasons Bible Study Books are Bad for You

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like or use Bible study books.
I see danger in them and I want to tell you why.

1. Using a Bible study book does not promote good Bible understanding. Using a Bible study book gives you a good understanding of what the author of that book thinks, but it does not give you a good understanding of what the Bible says. Every single Bible study book contains errors. Every single one. Avoid these errors by using the Bible, not a study book that has errors.

2. Bible study books taint the Bible. When my son was deployed to Iraq, I cherished his letters.  I would never have allowed someone else to read them then tell me their thoughts and ideas about what he had written. No way! I had to read them (devour them) for myself. It's the same with God's Word; I have to read the Word for myself and can never be satisfied with someone else's summary or thoughts about the Word. To study by reading someone else's take on the Bible taints the Scriptures with that person's ideas and thoughts. Everyone has filters....whether they admit it or not...and those filters taint the Word. I'd rather not have their take on it; I'd rather have the Scriptures alone.

3. Bible study books lead to idol worship. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people in "Bible" studies never open a Bible. They use some study book they found and never open the Scriptures. They've said the Scriptures are printed within the book, but I have only seen a few verses referenced in such books, followed by pages of commentary. The authors of these books have taken the Bible completely out of its context, put their own spin on it, then called it "Bible" study. It is not a Bible study; it's a book study. When you're studying what someone else has said about the Bible, you're not studying the Bible. These books are taking the place of the Bible in people's lives. They, and their authors, have become idols because they take the focus completely off God and put it on themselves. They do this by making application the primary focus. The primary focus of the Bible is not its application to your life; the primary focus of the Bible is Jesus. If we are thinking about ourselves and our response to His Word, we are no longer looking to Jesus, we are looking to ourselves. We then become the idols and you can see this play out all over social media.

4. Bible study books stunt spiritual growth. Because the main focus of these books is mostly application, the work of the Holy Spirit is replaced with the principles taught in these books that people think are "Biblical." The most you will get from a "Bible" study book is a list of things the author thinks you should or should not do in light of their interpretation. This is not spiritual growth; this actually stunts spiritual growth because these so-called "Biblical principles" only last until the next book is published, then a whole new set of "Biblical principles" takes shape. News flash: Biblical principles are a myth. They do not exist. If we could truly glean some "Biblical principle" from Scripture, then we could make the argument that becoming a prostitute and committing treason is a good principle. Look how that worked out for Rahab.....she's even in the line of Christ!

5. Bible study books are filled with misinterpretation and false teachings. I have not found even one Bible study book that teaches Truth without error. They all have errors because they are all made by people and people make mistakes every single day. Many authors, in their book introductions, even exalt themselves, telling people their book will change their lives and they need it (Beth Moore's books nearly all say this). Their books will not change your life. They might make you feel good or better in a given moment, but that fades with reality. The misinterpretations are hard to spot because they run very close to Scripture, but with small, dangerous changes. Be wary of any study that quotes a small portion of Scripture then builds an entire lesson around it. There's a 99% chance those verses are taken and used completely out of context, but you might never know if you're using that book instead of the Bible as your main text.

I'm not condemning all teachings from all people; I'm condemning "Bible" study books that are anything but. We can all learn something from each other. I'm not against learning from others. I am against replacing true, real Bible study with a book written by a human author that takes the place of my Bible. I've been in "Bible studies" where the participants often don't open or even bring their Bibles!

True, real Bible study is not difficult; I'm perplexed as to why anyone would choose a Bible study book, especially in a classroom (think Sunday School) setting, instead of the actual Bible.

God has promised His Word will not return void. No human author can make that claim. Their words are all void. Why do so many people settle for so much less when the Bible is so rich in doctrine, comfort, learning, teaching, truth and a host of other benefits?

Settle for More....more true understanding of the Bible.....more interaction with the Holy Spirit.....more knowledge of the Bible.....more of the Word.

Using Bible study books causes people to settle for less.

~Tricia

"The Shack" - A Surprising Review/Spoiler

A number of years ago, 2007 to be exact, a book was self-published by Canadian author William P. Young and within a year it had sold over one million copies. This caused it to be picked up by a publishing house, Hatchett Book Group, USA's Faithwords Imprint and ultimately sold more than 10 million copies and was later adapted into a movie. I realize I am late to the game with this review.

One woman in our church in 2007 was reading the book and a man in the church condemned the book outright, and her for reading it, saying it had no place in the Christian world. I asked him if he'd read it and he said he had not and would not since the book made God into a black woman.

And that was that to him. The woman simply said, quietly, "Well, I like it."

The book is The Shack and the movie is titled the same.

At the time of that conversation between that woman and man, I dismissed it as just another controversial book and had no interest. Over a number of years, I would hear criticism of the book by people who had not read it. The criticism was harsh, condemning and based on non-facts about the book. The negativity was all based on perceptions of the book, not the book itself. Sad.

Fast forward 11 years.....I'm a new resident of North Carolina, settling into a new home and coming upon an entire week in which my husband was going to be out of town on business. Flipping through some channels on TV, I saw that "The Shack" was on Lifetime Movie Network that night. On a whim, I hit record with intent to watch it the following week while my husband was out of town.

When I settled in to watch the movie, I almost didn't. Christians in my life had been so highly critical of the movie that I thought maybe I was wrong to watch it. But, my sensibilities overrode my doubts and I thought I should see for myself. Since I don't get my theology from books or movies anyway, I thought it was harmless to see it.

Imagine my surprise when the movie turned out to be nothing like the critical Christians had described it to be.

SPOILER ALERT!

If you have not read the book or seen the movie, and you want to read it/see it, stop reading now and come back after you've read/seen it. I'm going to be giving details. For those of you not wanting to read further for fear of the spoiler, I say, read this book, watch this movie. It shows incredible creativity and has a high entertainment value and does not make any theological statements whatsoever.

The story starts with a young boy, Mackensie (Mac), growing up in an abusive home where his father beat him and his mother mercilessly. After some of his beatings as a boy, he often found comfort on the front porch of a neighbor, a kind black woman who showed him compassion, empathy and care. She knew what he was going through. She was his comfort. She listened.

Then Mac grew up, got married and had a family of his own. This part of the story starts when his two oldest kids were teens and his youngest, Missy, was 10 years old. His wife, a woman of great faith, had taught the children to call God "Papa." Mac takes his kids on a camping trip, something he often did with just his kids. On the way to the campground, they spotted a run-down shack in the woods, thought it was interesting, and went on.

Later, the older son and daughter were out on the lake in a canoe and the daughter stood up to get her dad's attention, flipping the canoe upside down.

Her brother got stuck under the canoe and couldn't get loose. Mac dived into the lake, swam out to the canoe, got his son, brought him back to the dock and began CPR. Everyone at the campground had gathered around and all breathed a sigh of relief when the son began coughing and spitting out water. He was going to be ok.

Missy had been coloring at a picnic table by their camper when this happened and after helping his son get up and be ok, Mac looked up to the picnic table where he had left Missy....but she was gone. He began to look all around for her, sent his older daughter into the ladies room/shower to see if she was there, asked his fellow campers to all check their sites for her. Everyone looked extensively for Missy, but she was nowhere to be found.

Police were called.....they set out on a search....Mac's wife drove to the campsite and everyone was searching for Missy. Much later, they found something, got Mac and took him to the old shack they had seen earlier. Inside the shack was a blood-stained red dress....Missy's dress. Missy was nowhere to be found, but her bloody dress told the story. Missy was gone, declared dead. Even though a recovery search continued, the family was devastated and went home to try to put their lives back together again. The police had a suspect, a man who had abducted other little girls before.

As the family tried to cope with the insurmountable loss, Mac fell into a deep depression, began to doubt his faith and turned away from God, his family and became angry and disoriented in life.

He found a note in his mailbox one morning....a note with no postmark....an invitation to the shack...the shack where Missy's dress was found. Angry, he confronted a neighbor thinking he had played a bad joke; the neighbor had done no such thing. He finally decided to show up at the shack and confront whomever had sent the note and get his own justice. His neighbor offered to go, not wanting Mac to go alone, and they packed up the neighbor's truck - a four-wheel-drive needed in the snowy mountains.

But while the neighbor went back into his garage for some things, Mac hopped into his truck and took off. He was doing this alone.

On the way to the shack, Mac is - (or nearly is?) - hit by a truck. The story continues from Mac's perspective.....he goes to the shack and meets this young man on the way and threatens to shoot him but the young man seems oblivious to his threats and invites him to join him saying things are warm at the cottage. As Mac warily follows him, the winter snow gives way to a lush green landscape covered with beautiful flowers.....like Narnia thawing out. Confused, Mac continues to follow the young man who takes him into the cottage and introduces him to "Papa," who is a black woman. She makes him food and introduces him to a young woman who is always ever-so-slightly glowing.

The black woman identifies herself as "Papa," aka "The Great I Am" and Mac is totally confused and tells her he thought The Great I Am was a male with a white beard. "Papa" replies that she didn't think a male figure was appropriate, given his life. Over the course of a few days, he realizes the young man was representing Jesus, the black woman was representing God and the young glowing woman was the Holy Spirit.

Throughout his time at the shack, which is now a beautiful cottage, Mac is confronted with all his fears and doubts and allowed to have all his emotions, negative and positive. After the trio takes him through a series of experiences, he finds peace about Missy and assurance of her presence in Heaven. Mac then finds himself inexplicably waking up in a hospital bed with his neighbor looking down on him saying he's glad he finally decided to wake up.

Yes, Mac was hit by the truck and his entire time at "The Shack" was a dream. It was a dream!

Not one Christian who criticized the book to me mentioned that it was a dream. Not one person mentioned the tragedy of Missy's disappearance and death. Not one Christian person told me the truth about this book/movie. They all made assumptions based on non-facts they had heard from others.

The author of this book was not making a theological statement about God being a woman or anything of the sort. It was a dream! The author is crazy creative in how he put this dream together and made it so real, yet not real at all.

I recommend this book as it is intriguing, entertaining, thought-provoking and not a theological statement. It is entertainment. If you're scared to read a creative, thoughtful book because you fear your theology will be compromised, your theology is already shaky. I took zero theological lessons away from this movie. It was sheer creative entertainment and that is all. Those who criticize this book from a theological standpoint are way out of line; it's not theology, it's a dream. I have one Source for my theology and that is the Word of God.

I have such dreams. I often dream drastic, unreasonable dreams that seem very real. Maybe I should start writing them down.

~Tricia

A Fair Look at Women in Ministry

I often use the forum of this blog to refute articles and essays that I feel misrepresent and twist Scripture. My reason for this is pure burden; I want to stop spiritual abuse and helping people know what the Bible really says can help them avoid being spiritually abused.

Today, I have a refreshing change of pace for you. Today, I'm praising an article and telling you why I think this is so vitally important in the ministry of the Gospel. 

This article, And now for something completely different on women in ministry by David L. Turner is worth your attention. 

So often, men in ministry leadership positions slap down their personal feelings (often disguised as "convictions") and loudly call an end to the debate....as though their opinion is the end-all to the debate. But, they are wrong. They are wrong to think their opinion matters more than mine. They are wrong to think their conclusions on Scripture are more valid than mine. 

David L. Turner has presented a different approach. He has suggested humility, further study and a respectful approach when we debate this issue. 

I would say the lack of humility and compassion has been the legacy of the vast majority of men I've talked to about this topic. 

Mr. Turner takes a different approach. He said, "Whether we identify as complementarian or egalitarian, we should agree that ministry isn’t primarily about position or status—unless we buy into “the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them” model of church leadership (Matt 20:25-28). When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, he showed us that ministry is about serving one another  (John 13:12-17), not about who is the master and who is the servant. As Paul explained in Philippians 2:5-11,  Jesus’ example jolts us out of egocentric, status-oriented thinking, into cruciformity. This has profound implications for how we think about and enact ministry. Jesus was among us as one who serves (Luke 22:27), so we must do likewise."

I agree wholeheartedly! I wonder if the ego-filled pastors and other church leaders I've talked to would puff up their chest to Mr. Turner, raise their voices, talk down to him and shout, "WOMEN HAVE TO SUBMIT!" I don't think any of them would treat Mr. Turner that way.....but that's how they treat me and have treated a good number of women who dare to question them.

I like that Mr. Turner says that "ministry isn't primarily about position or status," and I would take it a step further and say that ministry isn't ever about position or status. It's about being a servant, as Jesus' example so clearly showed us. Perhaps we mostly need to discuss what humility is and how it works itself out in relationships with fellow believers. It does not puff up.

Be careful not to disqualify yourself by an inappropriate response lacking humility and teach-ability.

-Tricia

Does Ephesians Really Teach THAT?

I recently listened to a woman describe her latest Bible study book and share some things she was learning from it. She was referring to a Bible study book, not the actual Bible. As with the vast majority of Christians, she was learning from a human author, not the Author of the Bible.

I digress.

This woman was very excited about her new Bible study book labeled "Ephesians." She said it was a verse-by-verse study of the Book of Ephesians and was enamored by what the author brought out. That day's "study" covered the first two verses of Ephesians chapter 1:

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The author of the book then proceeded to teach her readers what she thought the passage was saying:

"God has a will for your life. God has a plan for your life. How exciting to know that God has a plan and a will for your life! Be assured that if God has a will for your life, He will fulfill it in you!

In the notes section of this study, write down five things you will do this week to fulfill God's will in your life."

Ladies and gentlemen, this is wrong. 

These two verses are not teaching that God has a will for your life. What these verses are teaching:

Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. 

Paul identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. 

He said his apostleship was by the will of God. 

He addresses the saints at Ephesus.

He addresses the faithful in Christ Jesus. 

He extends grace to them, and peace, from God. 

He identifies God as "our father," using a possessive plural pronoun. 

He includes Jesus Christ in the grace and peace. 

He identifies Jesus Christ as Lord. 

There is no application in these verses, yet they are just as powerful as all other verses in the Bible. 

Here's how to study the Bible:

Read what it says.

Do not read anything into it.

Do not filter it through past teachings you've heard.

Read it again.

Ask God to help you understand.

Read it again.

Read it again.

Determine the context of the words by reading what came before and after the verses you're reading.
Ask yourself who's writing, who they are writing to, where they are, where their intended audience is, whether they are writing to an individual or a group, if there is more than one person writing, who the writer is in relationship to the recipient(s), etc.

Read it aloud. 

Look up confusing words in a Bible dictionary (not a regular dictionary) or lexicon to clarify their meaning.

Read it aloud again. 

Memorize it.

Read it again.

Think of it as you go through your day.

Read it again.

Take no one's word for what the Bible says.

Take no one's word for what the Bible teaches.

Read only the Bible, not a commentary or Bible study book.

Read it again.

It will nourish your soul.

You will grow.
The Holy Spirit, not a human author, is your guide.

The answer to the blog title is, No. Ephesians, in these two verses, is not teaching what the book author taught, that God has a will and plan for your life. Do not be fooled by this teaching; it is Secular Humanism. 

God has so much more for you in His Word. Do not settle for shallow teaching that only fills the human ego and does nothing for the soul. Stop shortchanging your Christian walk with books and faux "Bible" studies that water down and filter God's Word.

I'll never forget when my son was deployed to Iraq for the first time. It was 2004, the war was hot and heavy and my son was so very young - just 19. Nineteen. I wrote him a letter every single day and he would often receive them in batches so I made sure I numbered them so he'd know what order they came in. He wrote a few letters to me during this time, too, and I remember being glued to those letters, taking in every word, studying his handwriting, looking for a hidden message that would tell me he's ok. I was breathless when reading his letters. I still have every single one. I realized I would never be satisfied if someone else read his letters for me then summarized them. I would never have taken anyone else's word for anything he said. I had to see for myself! I had to read each and every letter over and over and over till I had them practically memorized.

This is a good reminder on how to approach God's Word. Take no one else's summary or thoughts, but go directly to God yourself and see what He has to say to you.

~Tricia