Dancing Queen

I have been dancing today, its not a usual occurrence other than for exercise when I shake ‘my thang’ to Beto and instructions to ‘touch,touch, travel’ for my Zumba work out. I like to think I can dance but to be honest I have 2 left feet and my co-ordination is shocking. But today I have been learning a whole choreographed dance courtesy of Debbie Allen’ a star of the film Fame and the choreographer of the dance for the organisation ‘One billion Rising’ a global day to raise awareness of the abuse of women.
At one point I dragged Alan into my training because for the life of me I could not get the simple instruction to pivot.
I feel that this dance is significant from the opening where we are told to raise our hands to pray to ‘our God’. Then we begin to march to the beautiful voices singing ‘I’m not afraid anymore’.
The vision of its founder Eve Ensler author of the book the 'Vagina Monologues' One Billion Rising is an opportunity for women to use their creativity to come together and say 'no more' to the abuse faced by women on a daily basis across our globe. The statistics that are on the opening page of their website seem too shocking to comprehend, 1 in 3 women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime; as my daughter pointed out this is the same stats for the chances of being diagnosed with cancer; and this abuse is a cancer in our world eating away at our mothers, sisters and daughters.

So today I dance
‘I raise my arms to the sky
On my knees I pray
I’m not afraid anymore
I will walk through that door
Walk, dance, rise
Walk, dance, rise’.

When I wrote about the dance on my facebook page one of my very dear friends looked at the suggestion to learn a dance for this day and this is what she wrote

“I was wondering how this dance would help things. I decided to watch the choreographer's lesson on the page. (You know I am unable to dance because of all "the stuff" - never have been able to, that has never changed.)
Then she got to the part "this is my body. My body's holy. No more excuses. No more abuses" - left me in shuddering sobs, can't stop. I have NEVER heard that, seen that, felt that........... Have to take it in, meditate on it...... try to believe it.
I am not sure if the dance will stop people from hurting women, but certainly that line has been a knife into the mind of this victim of violence and abuse.... I pray the knife will be a scalpel, that will cut out "this is my body, My body hurts me."
My body's holy????? - This morning I have realised.... The most long term damage left over from abuse is the stuff THEY put into our MIND that goes on in our THOUGHTS every moment of every day, affecting how we see ourselves - how we relate to others - how we detach ourselves from our physicality ("this is my vehicle. I travel around in it.")
"this is my body. My body's holy" - I long to be able to believe it.
Thank you.”
Xxxxxxxxxx


I think this sums up what I am sure Eve and her team wanted from this day. So I am choosing to rise and I am going to ask a few of my friends to rise with me, and I am going to dance, yes me with my 2 left feet and I am going sing out loud:

'This is my body, my body’s holy
No more excuses, no more abuses
We are mothers, we are teachers,
We are beautiful, beautiful creatures'.

ONE BILLION WOMEN VIOLATED IS AN ATROCITY
ONE BILLION WOMEN DANCING IS A REVOLUTION

Break the Chains
I raise my arms to the sky
On my knees I pray
I’m not afraid anymore
I will walk through that door
Walk, dance, rise
Walk, dance, rise
I can see a world where we all live
Safe and free from all oppression
No more rape or incest, or abuse
Women are not a possession
You’ve never owned me, don’t even know me I’m not invisible, I’m simply wonderful I feel my heart for the first time racing I feel alive, I feel so amazing
I dance cause I love
Dance cause I dream
Dance cause I’ve had enough
Dance to stop the screams
Dance to break the rules
Dance to stop the pain
Dance to turn it upside down
Its time to break the chain, oh yeah
Break the Chain
Dance, rise
Dance, rise
In the middle of this madness, we will stand I know there is a better world Take your sisters & your brothers by the hand Reach out to every woman & girl
This is my body, my body’s holy
No more excuses, no more abuses
We are mothers, we are teachers,
We are beautiful, beautiful creatures
I dance cause I love
Dance cause I dream
Dance cause I’ve had enough
Dance to stop the screams
Dance to break the rules
Dance to stop the pain
Dance to turn it upside down
It’s time to break the chain, oh yeah
Break the Chain, oh yeah
Break the Chain
Dance Break Inst.
Dance, rise
Dance, rise
Sister won’t you help me, sister won’t you rise x4
Dance, rise
Dance, rise
Sister won’t you help me, sister won’t you rise x4
This is my body, my body’s holy
No more excuses, no more abuses
We are mothers, we are teachers,
We are beautiful, beautiful creatures
I dance cause I love
Dance cause I dream
Dance cause I’ve had enough
Dance to stop the screams
Dance to break the rules
Dance to stop the pain
Dance to turn it upside down
Its time to break the chain, oh yeah
Break the Chain, oh yeah
Break the Chain

Lyrics by Tena Clark
Music by Tena Clark/Tim Heintz
 

Marking the moments,making memories

We have just celebrated our 5th birthday at the Aire Valley Community church here in West Yorkshire. A few years ago we were invited to a lovely Anglican church in Norfolk to celebrate its 750th birthday, now that’s a celebration!
Regarding our celebration a dear friend asked me ‘why celebrate’? It’s a great question and here is why we think it’s important. 

On the 13th of January 2008 Alan, and our daughter Joanne and her soon to be husband Simon and myself, commenced the church in a small village hall. There were 20 of us on that opening service most of who only came to support. 

Alan and I have church planted before and we knew the pressure of wondering who would show up on this first Sunday. We were so grateful that people honoured us by coming even if it was only to support us. 

So why celebrate? 
Every year on the weekend the church started we remind ourselves that as a gathering of people we have come together for the previous 52 weeks growing as a faith community. Fortunately as the weeks go by people attend and by some miracle decide to stay. 


So why celebrate?
Our growing church family are held together by the highs and lows of each other’s lives and at this birthday celebration we look back and remember.

So why celebrate?
We made a decision that everyone is a part of the story, we do not tippex out anyone who has left, or the parts of our story that went wrong (we took on a building that unfortunately we had to leave, it was an expensive mistake in finances and emotions) and we choose to remember.

So why celebrate?

It helps those coming in to the church at various times in the journey attach themselves to the story. This is so important, we all need to feel we belong, every year we do this we see why it matters when we hear the stories and look at the photographs. 

So why celebrate?

And finally just because its great to have time to be together and celebrate.
Any excuse for a party hey.

Here are a few photographs from this years celebration that we will show again in 2014. 

Marking the moments and making memories

Rest for our souls

As we enter a New Year after a busy Christmas filled with the blessing of our children and new granddaughter and our wonderful church family, I sit at the start of this New Year thinking about rest and how much I need it.  A sermon I heard recently left me exhausted just listening to the preacher as he exhorted his congregation to be more, do more and give more. 

I have in the past been a part of a large church where the act of serving (and giving) was seen as of the highest importance. The 80 –20 rule unfortunately still applies in church where 20% do most of the work. This leads to many exhausted folks who eventually give up on church and opt for the quieter life and to be honest I cannot say that I blame them, life with work and family is busy enough. 

We read in Genesis 2 v 1-3 ‘Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

This Rest associated with Restoring is important; we need to see that after a busy period we all need to catch our breath. 
Exodus 34:20 “Six days you shall labour, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the ploughing season and harvest you must rest – even during our busiest periods our body needs a break. 

The sleep pattern consists of a series of distinct cycle and stages that restore and refresh our body and mind. It is known that even minimal sleep loss takes a toll on our mood, energy, efficiency, and ability to handle stress. If we want to feel our best, stay healthy, and fulfil our potential, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury. The rest of sleep brings restoration to our world it’s an essential part of our natural rhythm. We have time to look back to what we have accomplished but from a place of restorative rest.


This rest associated with Remembering 
Exodus 20:8 tells us to, Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy
And again in Deuteronomy 5 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

The Sabbath to the Jewish community represented a joyful celebration and well-deserved rest; it is holy, because on this day God rested. It was a rest for all which included the servants and even the animals. It was not only to be a physical rest but a time of remembering there past as slaves in Egypt. 

Unfortunately in the Talmud, the Hebrew commentaries on Scripture, there are 39 categories of work that should not be done on Sabbath. 
These included basic tasks such as cooking, construction, repairing, writing, and making fires, cutting wood and any other things considered as general labour. There are even restrictions on certain activities that would lead one to inadvertently doing these types of work. For example, an individual is not allowed to climb a tree during Sabbath in order to avoid accidentally snapping a twig, which would technically be defined as cutting wood. Another adjustment of the labours prohibited to modern times is driving. One is not allowed to move one object to another during the Sabbath, thus driving a vehicle falls under this category. 

As we can see many rules were added by the Jews to this rest. A documentary shown recently on channel 4 showed the life in the Jewish community, a wife and mother portrayed adhering to these rules revealed how exhausting execution of them was and it certainly was not the rest that the command implies. 

Is this what we are now seeing replicated in our modern churches, do we have a 'evangelical Talmud' full of rules and regulations used to measure how committed we are to the church? As a church leader I take this seriously, I want to make sure that I live my life with a pattern of balance and a rhythm of rest.

Wherever you are feeling stressed and exhausted from working/serving I want to encourage you today to take a rest of remembering. 
God rested and saw that it was good let us take time to remember, review and hopefully say, ‘it is good’ and then press on into this New Year filled with possibility. 

This could also be a good time to make changes in this new season, especially from this place of remembering rest.

Rest associated with Renewal
Jesus said to his followers in Matthew 11:28-29
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. In the Old Testament we see that it prescribes rest for the body but here, Jesus describes a rest for our SOULS. 

In Mark 6:30-32 we read ‘the apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place, I love this thought after my week of so many people coming and going (all truly wonderful) but today I needed sometime to get away to that quiet place. I have found that place writing this today, reminding myself of what I want to see in 2013, and the plans and thoughts I have for this New Year. 

We need to find space to refuel and recharge our batteries, getting away to find this rest of renewal helps us to not grow weary during the busy seasons of our lives. We can then be ready to share with others from this place of rest. 

This New Year holds the challenge for us to find this place of rest, we should resist letting anyone steal it, we also cannot and should not if in a place of leadership knowingly take it from others by demanding they exhaust themselves in doing too much of what we prescribe as service. 

I pray that you will find on this new day at the start of this New Year a time to remember, and a rest that restores and renews.

Isaiah 40 v 31 But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
And I say a huge AMEN to that, 2013 here we come 

Complementarians - are they on the run?

I first came into contact with Rachel Held Evans and her blog when I joined twitter a couple of years ago. I instantly felt like I had found a fellow pilgrim. I have personally rallied behind the call of woman making their way in Christian ministry and being all they can be in what can be seen to be a predominately male environment.
I read her first book ‘Evolving in Monkey town’, where she writes honestly about her faith and her struggle with doubt. The title of the book is in reference to where she was raised in Dayton ‘Ohio, the infamous town where the ‘Scope monkey trials’ were held.

I have watched her write in defence of women and speak out against those who write or preach in a misogynistic way. She is clear that she is not a theologian and yet her thought through answers given carefully and kindly to those who oppose what she has said or spoke against makes me feel proud to be a woman she truly is ‘Eshet Chayil, a woman of valour'.

 I feel that her writing has managed to stir up the reformed patriachalists and they are running scared of her influence which I know must come at a cost for Rachel.

I was privileged to get an advance copy of  her new book and asked to write a review 
Rachel states that ‘I've long been frustrated by the inconsistencies with which “biblical womanhood” is taught and applied in my evangelical Christian community. So I set out to follow all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible for a year to show that no woman, no matter how devout, is actually practising biblical womanhood all the way. My hope is that the book will generate some laughs, as well as a fresh, honest dialogue about biblical interpretation.’

I personally found that she delivered in what the book was intended to achieve, I for one found it thoroughly enjoyable and informative and challenging.  It was my first attempt at writing a review and I after reading all the others feel that I did not do it justice. One of these great blogs was in response to a negative review found on The Gospel Coalition website. Kathy Keller writer of said blog is the wife of Pastor Tim Keller who in my mind is the friendly face of Calvinism.

Morgan writes, ‘Kathy Keller runs in the direction of supposing she understands what motivates RHE when she says, however, that is not the book you wrote. Instead, you began your project by ignoring (actually, by pretending you did not know about) the most basic rules of hermeneutics and biblical interpretation that have been agreed upon for centuries’.

How does Kathy know Rachel ‘pretends’ anything? We all bring our personal interpretations and views to reading the Bible.
Rachel sets out to create a narrative that through story and ideas she introduces us to women of the Bible, women she meets in various communities. She practices a characteristic each month highlighting the difficulties of maintaining the life of a so called ‘biblical woman’ at all times. She clearly shows that she is setting out on this journey to highlight rules and regulations that were laid out for women in the Old Testament that she undertakes with a ‘tongue in cheek’ humour that made me laugh out loud.

She again takes Rachel to task over this by rushing headlong into questioning her biblical interpretation; ‘making the decision to ignore the tectonic shift that occurred when Jesus came, you have led your readers not into a better understanding of biblical interpretation, but into a worse one. Christians don’t arbitrarily ignore the Levitical code—they see it as wonderfully fulfilled in Jesus’. This to me is a lesson in missing the point, the gospel coalition with their patriarchal views espouse biblical womanhood. Rachel is asking when we hear this term what do we hear and understand by it?

Rachel undertakes these laws for a small period of time, she only perches on the roof for just over one hour and she states that only a few people saw her sat there, one very disinterested postal worker who maybe is used to seeing strange things. Of course she knows that the city gate would have had elders sat there and not just a huge sign saying welcome to Dayton. To me these things were meant to read and be understood in the context of the whole book.

Then Kathy shares that; yet you cite accounts of historical events such as Genesis 16, 30, and 35 and remark, “If you were a slave or concubine, you were expected to be sexually available to your master,” as if the Bible condones this behaviour p48. The passages that Rachel sites are very difficult to read and clearly give rise to questions. She says ‘none of this information is easy to swallow. In light of passages like these I have come to regard with some suspicion those that claim that the Bible never troubles them. I can only assume that they haven’t actually read it’. p 51 

A disingenuous statement like this saddens me when Rachel clearly says that we cannot look to interpret present day marriage and relationships within a biblical understanding and context.
She lists on this page bible verses that clearly lay out these practices. We clearly know that was not what God would want of his creation to treat each other that way, but unfortunately for women that was more often than not their lot in life.

My biggest surprise was when Kathy says, ‘Rachel, I can and do agree with much of what you say in your book regarding the ways in which either poor biblical interpretation or patriarchal customs have sinfully oppressed women’. Really you agree that poor biblical interpretation is used to oppress women, we could make an egalitarian out of you yet.

She goes on to say ‘I would join you in exposing churches, books, teachers, and leaders who have imposed a human agenda on the Bible. However, you have become what you claim to despise; you have imposed your own agenda on Scripture in order to advance your own goals. In doing so, you have further muddied the waters of biblical interpretation instead of bringing any clarity to the task.’ Here is where I need to land my absolute frustration with this review.

I hope that Kathy will look to her own reformed group to start exposing some of the nonsense that I have seen written and spoken about. Doug Wilson and his group ‘Vision forum’ p51 of book shows that they have prescribed this biblical view of ‘26 principles ‘The tenets of Biblical patriarchy’, that control what the life of a woman looks like from child to when they marry and pass from being under their fathers control to their husbands. I think this clearly smacks of imposing a human agenda on the bible. Then we have Wayne Grudem with his list of 83 ministry things that women can do, if that’s not imposing a human agenda on the Bible I really don’t know what is, just gobsmacked!!

We are left with no doubt that Kathy feels and she states that, 'There is a third rule of interpretation that is widely agreed upon: look for the author’s intended meaning within a text’s historical context. Again, in order to inject the book with humour, you ignore this principle.'
Morgan points out in her blog 'she must have come to this book with arms folded.'  I absolutely agree Kathy did not want to find the beauty and narrative in this book she only wanted to make sure the constituency she serves would not be reading this book.

Mark Driscoll’s a firm favourite of the complemetarian camps recent teaching on the book of Esther another furore that Rachel wonderfully highlighted and answered with her wonderful teaching on Esther. Now if you listen to Mark you will see that Mark has no thought about teaching and imposing another narrative over this story. He likens Esther and her story to be on the set of ‘The Bachelor’ waiting for her night with the King Xerxes by spending a year in the beauty parlour and in his world Esther was not taken by force, she chose to be there.
Mark plays his teaching for laughs explaining about Xerxes 6mth long party and his ‘listening to young men’, who he says should never be listened too. If anyone could be accused of breaking this rule of interpretation then I would like to give that to Mark Driscoll with bells on!

My final thoughts for Kathy Keller and the gospel coalition is a view that I am beginning to think is the reason they have come out strongly (some it seems without even reading the book) against this book and sadly it seems to me against Rachel personally.
For all those women who express complementarian views there are many who if presented with clear thought through views (I feel clearly shown in this book and in the many great blogs including Rachel’s) what will happen to their comfortable worlds where women live submissively, stay at home, bring up the children and know their place in church leadership thanks to Wayne Grudem.
Has Rachel and those women with a voice got them on the run?

A year of Biblical womanhood - A Review

I was privileged to be able to read an advance copy of Rachel Held Evans book ‘A year of Biblical womanhood’ and asked to bring a review. I have to say that I have loved the book and my only sadness was when I finished it.
I am thankful for this work on so many levels as a Pastor of a church I feel Rachel has given me enough to teach on for a year or more.
This is an important book. Well researched, with a wealth of information. I would recommend that it is a valuable resource of information and challenge for both men and women, young and old.
Rachel’s writing is refreshingly honest she lets us have a glimpse of her life and insecurities and how she meets these head on when faced with tasks that are not part of her make-up.

I found myself smiling and laughing and moved whilst reading in November when Rachel’s task was Domesticity,

‘The elevation of homemaking as woman’s highest calling is such a critical centrepiece to the modern biblical womanhood movement, I figured no one less than the domestic diva herself would do’.

Armed with a home making book by Martha Stewart the domestic diva who it seems spent 5 months in prison only to return to her empire built on said domesticity (who knew all things home-making could be so lucrative) Rachel sets to cooking and cleaning their home with increasing hilarity.
Rachel found a love for cooking but cleaning was another matter my laugh out loud moment was when she realised that Martha Stewarts cleaning jobs on the monthly ‘to do’ list, she did only once a year, and the every season, possibly never, I so resonated with her at that moment! Her story of mum cleaning whilst singing out loud to Carole King about ‘the sky tumbling down a tumbling down’ telling her daughters ‘it has to get messy before it gets clean’ summing up most things in life from home-making to friendships to faith, how true.

I was moved when Rachel speaks about her husband Dan on one fraught occasion when the preparations for a meal were not going to plan
“He let bury me bury my head in his chest and cry, leaving 2 distinct mascara marks on his white T shirt, sometimes after a tough week when doing the laundry I find I the same marks and I am reminded why I married this man”

I found myself provoked 
'She must neither begin, nor complete anything without man: she must be, and bend before him as before a master, whom she shall fear and to whom she shall be subject and obedient.' 

'Wives or prostitutes that's what women are.'
Quotes Martin Luther P- 178-179

Rachel tell the story of Jackie Roese who when she delivered her first sermon at Irving Bible college church Dallas in 2008 to the whole congregation (she had taught in ladies bible lessons) she had to have a bodyguard for protection.
Before she gave her first sermon she told her daughter 'sweetie, I'm doing this for Jesus, but I'm also doing it for you'.

‘Because I am a woman I must make peculiar effort to succeed. If I fail no one will say, she doesn’t have what it takes, they will say, women don’t have what it takes.’ 
Clare Boothe Luce

More girls have been killed in last 50 years because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the 20th century ' Half the sky 

‘Right now 30,000 children die every day from preventable diseases
Right now a woman dies in childbirth every minute
Right now women ages 15-44 are more likely to be maimed or to die from male violence than from cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.’ P280

I found myself Inspired
Rachel introduces us to a wonderful lady Ahava a Jewish lady who helps her understand the traditional part of the project she had to undertake. Proverbs 31 ‘the valorous woman’. Eshet-chayil pronounced- E-shet-hi-yil, means, ‘woman of valour.
At its core this is a blessing, one that was never meant to be earned, but to be given unconditionally. A ‘you go girl’ of our present day. I too am now challenged to look for all the women in my world to greet with these words, my dear friends who each deal with so much, my colleague a nurse who works full time and looks after her elderly mother. Also to my daughter a new mum who is doing a wonderful job being a great mummy to her little baby.
My heart responded with shouts of joy over the women of valour that Rachel met on her trip to Bolivia with World Vision. All these women are, ‘Eshet-chayil’.
I also found myself inspired by this beautiful prayer

Let nothing upset you
Let nothing startle you
All things pass
God does not change
Patience will win all it seeks
Whoever has God lacks nothing
God alone is enough
Theresa of Avila 

I found myself Challenged
I learned that Judaism has no word for charity instead they speak of tzedakah justice or righteousness.
A charitable act can be a single response of giving but justice speaks to ‘right living’ of ‘aligning oneself with the world in a way that sustains rather than exploits the rest of creation’.
It's a commitment to the Jewish concept of 'tikkun olam'  ‘repairing the world'. 
Once we accept the challenge that we are connected to the rest of humanity we should not look back and we need to realise we have a part to play in tzedakah,for all.

Post by Beverley Molineaux

Sometimes I just want to sit down

I have great admiration for Rosa Parks; I first heard her story several years ago and was immediately impressed by her bravery.

Rosa Parks an African American woman refused On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat in the coloured section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled.

Her act of defiance and the Montgomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Sometimes I just want to sit down, on reading yet another blog, or piece written by a man who wants to tell me why I am confined by my gender to not holding a leadership position in a church.

http://adrianwarnock.com/category/doctrine/complementarianism/

I love to hear the stories of women that have made a difference in every area of life. Women who against all odds pursued the vision and dream to see other lives changed often times with the cost being their own lives. These women have had to combat at times overwhelming injustice and bigotry. 

Women who against all the odds pursued the dreams that God had given them, amazing women like Gladys Aylward a missionary to China, who was born into a working class family in 1902, she came to faith at aged 14, initially she was passed by deemed unfit to go. Undeterred she saved from her small income for a one way fare to China and at the age of 28 arrived to see this dream become reality. She became a Chinese citizen in 1936 and was a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot and advocating prison reform, risking her life many times to help those in need.

Jackie Pullinger at 15 graduated from the Royal College of Music, she also wanted to be a missionary, so she wrote to various missionary organizations. At first she wanted to go to Africa, but then she had a dream that impressed upon her the idea of going to Hong Kong. Unable to find support from missionary organizations, she sought advice from Richard Thompson, a minister in Shoreditch, who told her that she should buy a ticket for a boat going as far as she could get and to pray to know when to get off the boat. She followed his advice and went to Hong Kong by boat in 1966.

She found work as a primary school teacher in the Kowloon Walled City, which in the 1960's was not policed and consequently had become one of the world's largest opium producing centres ran by Chinese criminal Triad gangs. She established a youth club to help drug addicts and street sleepers. Her story like that of Gladys is full of drama and courage.

Courageous, awe inspiring women who make me feel proud to be a woman. The opposite sentiment of the prayer a male Jew would have prayed,

‘God, thank you that I am a Jew and not a Gentile.

God, thank you that I am free and not a slave.

And lastly…God, thank you that I am a man and NOT a woman.’

Consider this statistic from UNICEF and UN:

Women do 66% of world’s work, produce 50% of world’s food, but earn 10% of world’s income & only own 1% of world’s property.

I honestly feel weary and fed up at times and also immensely frustrated by the many blogs, the debating and various interpretations of the oft quoted passages that for the complementarian teaching limit the role of women to that of the submissive wife and mother, unable to lead in church alongside their male counterparts.

I look to these women of courage today who instead of letting these verses limit their ministry decided to just get on with it. They decided to just sit down. I feel that at times I have nothing else to add the discussion and it all makes me feel so weary when I see that there is so much to still be done. 
So for me and how I feel today, I think I will just sit down!

Thanks to Eugene Cho for these great blogs check them out.

http://eugenecho.com/2011/03/08/supporting-women-in-ministry/

http://eugenecho.com/2008/11/29/the-oldest-injustice-in-human-history/

http://eugenecho.com/2012/09/05/the-amazing-speeches-of-women-in-the-conventions-makes-the-silence-of-women-in-the-church-that-much-more-deafening/

Marmite Driscoll

I have had a few weeks of listening to the teaching of Mark Driscoll, not my favourite thing to do at all. I have mitigating circumstances for this it all started with my last blog post, ‘Why Mark Driscoll is not good for our daughters’? I don’t often get caught up writing or thinking about his teaching it all leaves me feeling too cross and frustrated and sleeping very badly.
I usually leave my lovely husband Alan to debate (here, here, & here) with others who both love or hate his teaching (he really is the marmite of the Christian world).
Mark has recently turned his attention to teaching his church Mars Hill through the book of Esther, and even before it started his preview created a furore in twitterworld. I admit to having bitten, I was so upset with his view of Esther and the implication that she had choice about being taken into the harem of king Xerxes.
I was then asked the question why I felt so strongly about Mark, in response, I started to listen to his teaching in order to make sure I was not being unfair.
I have 3 reasons that I struggle with his ministry.

Mark's Meta -narrative, the big story behind all he teaches at Mars Hill, is Complemetarian: a view I have opposed for many years.
For me, whatever Mark teaches about women in the church is viewed through this lens.

I have started to listen to his teaching on Esther and in his second session he asks the question did Queen Vashti make the right decision not to parade in front of the crowds of drunken partygoers possibly naked as commanded by Xerxes? He thankfully states that she did make the right choice, although he does leave it open to his audience to debate this in their bible groups. But then he proceeds to use his meta-narrative although God is ultimately in charge, power and authourity has been given to men over their wives.

I have just commented on a blog written by an articulate complementarian young woman. I have to ask honestly if these women are writing are they not teaching?
Wayne Grudem another of Marks favourite teachers when speaking at an NFI conference in the 1990’s spoke so disingenuously about women writing books (for example Wendy Virgo) likened it to having a chat over coffee. The theological gymnastics done to make sure this was not mistaken for teaching was almost laughable if it didn’t break my heart. I remember listening to the teaching on my cassette (it was that long ago) almost breaking it when I turned it off in exasperation; he said so much that was nonsensical.

Women through history have always had to battle inequality and much abuse often at the hands of men closest to them Husbands/fathers. I know those who love Mark will say he does not do this: he loves women, he berates men about the way they treat women. He SHOUTS at men strongly to behave well. None of this changes how I feel about how his Meta narrative is not good for women.

This teaching limits women only aspiring to the role of a good wife and mum in a way that wouldn’t be said to a man to only fulfil equivalent roles. I love being a wife, thrilled by my new role as a Nana and my girls are my world, but I have never wanted limitations placed on them due to their gender. To never be able to dream beyond being a wife/mum if you feel God has chosen and equipped you to lead.

Mark teaches on marriage and women on You Tube from 26/4/10 he ends patronisingly speaks about Grace not teaching 'it is just a conversation' I think he has been listening to Wayne Grudem teaching here.

Mark's meta-narrative is Calvinist. I feel this is crucial to his view of those he speaks to. After all irresistible grace means if God never chose you in the first place, you are going to hell. This answers I feel why he can make such sweeping un-thought through statements. For Mark if you are predestined you will make the choice no matter how difficult it seems.

Marks Meta-narrative has aggressive overtones, I know this again is a personal understanding, a lady I respect greatly this week told me she loves this teaching from Mark, and has found it beneficial. Mark says that he is trying to redress the balance that Jesus is not a ‘hippy, effeminate, sandal wearer’ who preached only about loving one another and nothing else. I am not sure how to word this and do it justice but honestly I see Jesus not as a wimp in anyway to say turn the other cheek, give your tunic as well as your coat, love your neighbour as yourself, forgive others 70x7 (meaning again and again and again) He was a revolutionary, he was saying turn away anger with peace, blessed are the peacemakers, the meek, those who have humility, the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the merciful, the persecuted. He said give a cup of cold water; visit the prisoners and the sick. He said give and not take, bless others and love, love, love. I don’t see it in shouting and aggression and honestly if that makes me wimpy and wishy-washy and a woman well there you go that’s just who I am.

A woman and proud of it.

A Post by Beverley Molineaux