Get out of the way

As I go through 1 Timothy 3 again, there are a couple of quick notes:

  1. I am working on making a case for women in ministry that show Paul is TRUE to calling for women IN ministry. It’s something I’ve always held to, but I want to use “THE” passage men often use to withhold ministry from women to demonstrate Paul could see further in the Kingdom and was working to build a new path where women would be part of church leadership.
  2. The second note is related to the first: the call of Christian leadership is to be faithful to Christ… and not hinder the Gospel. We really need to make it that simple and we keep refusing.

We make barriers and extra steps and so many other things to complicate the Gospel. Let the barriers come down. Jesus is inviting us on a powerful journey. Our job is to GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Extreme views and the fall of democracy

Christian nationalism is a hot topic. Extreme ideologies to both sides are a worry to me. Each extreme works to tell people what IS right, which is THEIR way.

But Christian nationalism is of concern because it rips out the bedrock bellied to love our neighbor. This edition of the Holy Post podcast truly deserves your attention. The warnings are clear. It’s not about losing democracy to me. It is about the church in America losing its soul because they want power.

Do I really believe these things or not?

Matthew 13:1–9 (NIV): That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Continue reading “Do I really believe these things or not?”

The unvarnished private thoughts and opinions

“I, like all other human beings, expose to the world only my trimmed and perfumed and carefully barbered public opinions and conceal carefully, cautiously, wisely, my private ones.” — Mark Twain

Tough in the age of social media. My opinions aren’t exactly carefully barbered, but they are somewhat cut to look a little neater.