Speaking of Speaking...

I have actually begun the next section of "Be Fruity", but I thought I would add some video of my recent speaking engagements. On March 23 I was the chapel speaker at my alma mater Judson College in Marion, AL. The night before I was able to speak at the CORE (the weekly student-led worship service) about modern-day slavery. Neither one did I feel I was at my best.

However, before and during chapel, I knew the Holy Spirit was there answering all the prayers I and others have prayed. I know He gave me words to say, and used the ones I chose to speak that probably weren't the best ones to begin with, to His glory. Praise be to Jehovah, the Most High God!!

Then on March 25, I spoke at an event hosted by the Fellowship of Black Seminarians where we watched At The End Of Slavery - a documentary filmed by the International Justice Mission (an evangelical Christian-based political group). We were few in number, but my presentation was 1000x better in many ways than the one at Judson's CORE gathering. There weren't as many questions at the Seminary presentation, but that could be because of the documentary. I do have a more secular version of this presentation in case anybody would like for me to come speak on this topic outside the church setting.

I definitely have a long way to go before becoming a "good" and more spiritually mature speaker, but I am glad to at least get started. I have video from Judson's chapel and the Seminary presentation on my facebook page. If you have time, I would love for you to watch (well, mostly listen) and give me some feedback! God bless, and may the Harvest be plentiful as we serve Him!!

A new friend and a New Perspective

I have been so excited recently about a new friend and mentor, Diane. She is one of the most Godly women I know, and I am so glad that I get to know her. She's been a minister's wife for over 20 years, and she and her husband have been through it all. I won't tell her testimony for her; if you'd like to listen to it, go to her site - http://www.dianenix.com/.

She and I talked last week about some things going on in the church and how to face them as a minister's wife. If any of you know me, you've definitely heard me complain about the congregation. After I explained my frustration with the sheep, she very lovingly said, "You don't have a lot of grace for the body of Christ, do you?"

Ouch. She picks up quick. But I needed to hear it, and what's more, I needed to admit it. I am so gracious and loving to people who don't know the Lord, but for the church, I'm ready to point out where they are lacking spiritually. Well, I admitted that she was right, and we went on to talk about what it means to love. We also spoke about how I, as a young woman, can be a positive role model and spiritual leader for women more than twice my age.

She went on to remind me that God loves His bride, and He will protect His bride, giving her 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 500th chances! Another friend pointed out that this congregation, like the Israelites, may be getting towards the end of a 40 year stint in the desert. They're weary, and they're human.

After hearing Diane's testimony, I realized how much I have to be thankful for. Through the trials we face at this church, God is continually refining us to be like Him. He loves us that much. My assignments for this week (yep, she gave me homework) was to pray earnestly for the congregation and that God would give me His eyes and His heart for these people, and then I was to pray that God would reveal any sin in my heart that might be keeping me from loving God's people. Would you join me as I pray for these things? I could use the help!!

There's Something About Mary

Not the movie - Jesus' mom.

On the way home from school tonight, I have no idea why or how I began thinking about this, but I thought about women in the Bible. I suddenly realized that Mary, the woman who gave birth to our Lord and Savior, does not have her own book in the Bible.

There are not that many books in the Bible devoted to women. I think that Mary does not have her own book because God knew that humans might look to her with the same sort of reverence and worship that we look to God with. When I was serving as a missionary in Southeast Asia, a statue of Mary in front of the Catholic church began "crying". The people gathered around it with flowers, candles, singing, and fruit. They offered prayers to the statue of Jesus' mom instead of Him.

I think it would have been awesome (and horrible) to have been the woman chosen to be the Messiah's mother. However, I think it took a very humble and God-fearing woman to give birth and rear God. I don't know how Mary ever looked at herself - except from when Gabriel speaks to her about her being the one chosen as the virgin mother of God. When Gabriel speaks to her, she's like, "really? me? I haven't slept with anyone. But let it be done to me as you have said." She's totally willing to be in God's will, probably knowing what it would cost her in reputation and everything else.

Yet, being this great, wonderful woman did not set her apart as having her own book in the Bible! Why?

Because it was never, is not now, nor will it ever be about her.

History, as I always say, is His Story - not ours. Mary was an important part of the plan in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled, but she is not the focal point. Jesus the Christ is. And when Christ taught His disciples to pray, he never mentions praying to anyone but Him.

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) The Lord's Prayer:

"Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."

John Piper Book Club

I've discovered a new blog in my blogger wanders, and this one is truly a blessing. It is http://thepreachers-wife.blogspot.com/. There are so many fabulous things I could say about this lady's blog, but there is one aspect that I like the most. The encouragement of deep, meaningful theological discussion. One way she is accomplishing this right now, is the John Piper Spectacular Sins Book Club.

By now you should know of my affinity for the teachings of John Piper. I've been wanting the read this book for some time now (ever since the True Woman conference to be exact), but I haven't picked it up due to my present student circumstances. After finding this "book club" I realized that God is sovereign even over graduate school, and I want to share all my extra time with Him. If you would like to join this book club, click on the banner and join in! I was a few weeks late, but that's totally okay. To give you an idea of what this book is about, I figured I would insert a couple of paragraphs from the Introduction, full citatation listed below. I hope you are blessed with God's grace today, and I hope to see you as a member of the club soon!

Piper wrote:

"Jesus Christ, who was in the beginning with God, and was God (John 1:1), created the universe. He did this as God the Father's equal and as his agent. 'All things were made through him' (John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Heb.1:2). And he did it to display his glory. 'By him all things were created ...and for him' (Col.1:16). By him and for him. All things were created by Christ and for Christ. The Son of God, who has become a human being - the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth - in perfect concert with his Father, created the universe for the display of his all-satisfying glory.

Not only that, he holds it all together with total authority. 'He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power' (Heb. 1:3). How this massive power - to create and uphold the universe - is weilded to display the glory of Christ is the great issue of our time, and of all time.

THE GREATEST DISPLAY OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST

The apex of the glory of Christ is the glory of his grace - treating people infinitely better than they deserve - giving himself for the everlasting joy of the worst of sinners who will have him as their highest Treasure. And the apex of this grace is the murder of the God-man outside Jerusalem around A.D. 33. The death of Jesus Christ was murder. It was the most spectacular sin ever committed.

At the all-important pivot of human history, the worst sin ever committed served to show the greatest glory of Christ and obtain the sin-conquering gift of God's grace. God did not just overcome evil at the cross. He made evil serve the overcoming of evil. He made evil commit suicide in doing its worst evil.

Evil is anything and everything opposed to the fullest display of the glory of Christ. That's the meaning of evil. In the death of Christ, the powers of darkness did their best to destroy the glory of the Son of God. This is the apex of evil. But instead they found themselves quoting the script of ancient prophecy and acting the part assigned by God. Precisely in putting Christ to death, they put his glory on display - the very glory that they aimed to destroy. The apex of evil achieved the apex of the glory of Christ. The glory of grace."



John Piper, Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008), 11-12.

Who Do We Listen To?

You know I recently discovered that I've had an issue for a while now with women publically teaching the Word. I was driving down the road listening to a Christian radio station, and a woman came on with "an inspiring word." I immediately turned the station. Why did I do that, I thought to myself. I began to analyze my background and found that I am probably one of the biggest hypocrites known to man on this subject. Without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say that culturally I was taught that women speaking on theological issues in a public sphere was wrong. Then I went to a Christian, all-women's college that showed me my value in Christ. Soon a constant conflict raged within my very being as I realized that God has called me to speak and teach women, but yet I didn't see women as having enough valuable things to say.

Back to the other night. I wanted to figure out for myself once and for all what my problem was with women speaking publically about theological issues and how to overcome it. The following is a conclusion to my thoughts. One reason I felt I didn't like listening to some women is because some of them seem so wimpy. (See my earlier post on wimpy women for a full background on why this annoys me.) The second reason is that for whatever reason, as I explained earlier, I sometimes catch myself thinking that they can't possibly be teaching the right things.

WHAT?!! How could I come to that conclusion?! Where did this thought ever come from? The historian in me wanted to find out the origin, but the student in me said "just think about it for a little while and get on with writing your thesis." So here are my thoughts.: )


One thought is that in our teaching, we sometimes harken too much to the verse in which Paul writes about women not being allowed to teach men - not taking the historical context into account. The other thought is that our cultural and societal trends move us towards thinking that a man absolutely has to be the full authority.


Okay, don't spaz out on me. My husband is the head of my household, and he has the final say here. I don't agree with women being ordained as pastors. The fall of man messed up the equality we had in Eden, thus women are under the authority of their husbands, and in the church, under the authority of a male shepherd. However, there is nothing in Scripture that tells us that women are not capable of teaching the Word. So my conclusion to my thoughts - who do we listen to?


We can't listen to someone just because that person is a man or woman. We must always go back to God's Word. He is the ultimate authority in Heaven and earth; no one and nothing surpasses Him. If someone has been gifted to teach His Word, they defy and rebel against God when they do not use that gift in His service, man or woman. Recognize the folks in the photos? Our beloved American preacher Billy Graham and his daughter Anne - both some of the finest teachers of the Word I've ever heard.

Wimpy Women

Okay, back to being semi-serious. What is up with all these "wimpy women" of the faith I've met? My hubby and I lived at the seminary for about 6 months before moving off-campus to the parsonage the church provides for us. While at seminary, it seemed like very few of the women I met wanted to have deep, meaningful conversations about our Lord and Creator, and from what I've heard, it's sort of that way all over.

Today in a conversation with a friend, I found that she too is frustrated at not having girl friends to talk to about things beyond fashion and kids (which are totally fun subjects). Of course, this does not mean every Christian woman is this way. But there does seem to be an overwhelming amount of Christian wives who let their husbands do all the theological talking.

Good grief. We don't have to be Biblical scholars to praise and honor our God in our speech to one another! We need to stop being wimpy women and start spreading His glorious good news! I was so blessed to be a part of the True Woman '08 Conference in Chicago, IL. One of the first words out of Nancy DeMoss's mouth, and I'm paraphrasing here, was that our world had no need for "wimpy women." The theme of the conference was basically that being a wimpy woman was not Biblical and unacceptable to our Creator, and I could not agree more. (I have a link to the web site if you would like to know more about the True Woman movement.) John Piper was the first speaker, and he said that wimpy women was wimpy theology. If you want to hear his whole speech from the conference, you can hear it on his web site www.desiringgod.org.

If you are a Christian woman reading this, and you consistently praise and honor our Lord through your speech, actions, and convictions, I thank you and ask that you give me some pointers. If you are reading this trying to rationalize why you don't live a radical life for Christ [believe me I am totally guilty of this], stop and pick up your cross. It's time for us to stand up and say, "I am woman! Hear me pray!"

Lydia, A Good Example

Acts 16:13-15 (HCSB)

"On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sate down and spoke to the women gathered there. A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul. After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, 'If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.' And she persuaded us."

This scripture was part of our Sunday School lesson yesterday, and there were many things that hit me as I read it. Some were pointed out to me in our study guide, but others are my own thoughts. I'll share both!

First, Paul and his companions were looking for a "place of prayer" by the river. Upon approaching the river, they came upon a group of women, of whom Lydia was a part. This passage does not say, but I wonder if the women were at the specified "place of prayer?" Luke (believed to be the author of Acts) wrote that Lydia "worshiped God", which meant that she was a Gentile woman who believed in the same God as the Hebrew people. So if it were the Sabbath day, and Paul was looking for a place to pray and found a "God-fearer" down by the river, it could be that this group of women were at the "place of prayer." Again, the Bible does not give the answer to this question, this was just a thought I had.

Second, Lydia was a "dealer in purple cloth" which meant she was a woman of means. (Purple cloth signified royalty or nobility, so she must have made some good money selling this color cloth to those who could wear it.) After believing in Christ and being baptized, she insisted on Paul and his companions to stay with her family. Talk about hospitality. She barely knew these men, but opened her home to them. Now I'm paranoid about taking strangers into my home, just like some of you might be. However, what happened to taking in the poor/orphaned/widowed and feeding/clothing/sheltering them? I'll write another post about this subject, but for now it is important to see that a woman, who could have gone about her merry way knowing Jesus as Lord, opened her home to complete strangers in order to give back a little to them.

Third, Vs 14b says that "the Lord opened her heart..." This is so important. We can not by any means of our own force someone to believe in God. God is the omnipotent; He is the one who opens the hearts of those to hear and believe the message presented to them. Our responsibility and joy is to share His message with all those around us. (We get the easy part.)

And finally, where are all the men?! The passage says that Paul and friends meet a group of women gathered there. I am no Biblical scholar, so if someone has the answer to this question I would love to hear it. It seems that all the husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, nephews, etc, are no where around. The women hear the wonderful message of the gospel without their male relatives. I have two thoughts about this. One, this may have been the "woman's" gathering place and the men were just around the riverbend. My other thought is, how like many of our churches today does this scenario sound like?

My husband is a wonderful man of God. I look to him as the authority in our home, and it is my joy and pleasure to do so. Yet there are so many men in our society that are not being the strong, spiritual leaders God set them to be. Again this will be another post, but my main point is this - women have the responsibility to set a good example for their husbands, fathers, sons, etc. We must pray for them, and we must show them how loving God is the most fabulous experience on earth. Men have a great burden placed on them as the leaders of their families; we as women must do what we can to help them carry that burden. Lydia "worshiped God"; we should follow her example, for our sake, our family's sake, our world's sake.