Jacob and Esa...errr...Edward?

“So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.” Genesis 25:27

I could not help but think of these apparent opposite brothers while watching the recent hit movies, The Twilight Saga: Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. It has taken me a while to completely analyze and understand the frenzy surrounding the extremes of Jacob and Edward, Bella’s two love interests in the series. But after careful thought and speculation I think I am finally able to comprehend what the allure is to women of all ages and walks of life.

Those who are unequivocally baffled by this craze are men, and rightly so; they sure didn’t see this coming. What could these two boys, not even yet men, possibly have to offer that so captivates young, middle aged, and old women alike? I would daresay, had I not done such extensive work on studying femininity, her image, and her patterns I may not have seen it either and been completely drawn into the debate of Team Edward vs. Team Jacob, mooning and fawning over the fantasy of my pick. But I’m not…at least not without understanding. So how did we arrive at the extreme of Jacob, the ferocious werewolf hunter, and Edward, the mild vegetarian vampire “tent dweller”?

Well, men… this may come as a shock, but they are beasts of your own making. You created them. How so you may ask? They are the extremes of masculinity demanded by the characteristics affirmed by men in women: the hot and heavy sensuous sex object and the unapproachable, untouchable ice princess. These extremes of femininity affirmed by men and not the image God created which is precariously balanced on His character and does not delve into these extremes, is what has demanded the imbalance in masculinity. In the beginning when God created male and female He made them dependent on one another for physical wholeness, definition, and fruitfulness as mankind. Because of the mystical interconnectivity between man and woman, what happens to woman inevitably affects what happens to man. Because of the unique role of men as initiators of the creative process, women cannot bring life to what you have not initiated or firstly given to her. And so it is for this reason that I lay the responsibility at your feet.

The ice princess filled with shame and loathing of her own femininity and sexuality, craves the raw and animalistic heat offered by Jacob. The sensuous sex object, reveling in and exploiting her own sexuality, desires the affirmation of her virtue and the cold emotionless and suppressed passion of Edward.

I define my view of femininity as created in God’s image from the characteristics of God’s Wisdom. While Wisdom is pure and submissive, she is also a mother. But the role of mother is impossible without the characteristics of sexuality somewhere along the line. An appropriate balance between the sexuality we possess and the modesty of purity is essential to purposefully creating life. In order to mar and upset this divinely reflected entity, the enemy must convince us to operate in extremes. The personification of these extremes is named, Folly. Quoting from my work, Made in Their Image (2008):

“Women have suffered an immense amount of shame associated with our sexuality. Throughout the Bible shame is always a degradation of glory or honor. “The wise inherit honor, but fools he holds up to shame” (Proverbs 3:35). We suffer shame when we lose sight of our glory. In today’s society we have reached a different attitude. We have thrown off our shame associated with our sexuality and embraced that sexuality. But because we did not perform this function with the image of God in mind we also threw off all respect, glory, and honor associated with our sexuality – the purity of it. Our faith does not allow us to embrace sexuality as the world has defined it for us and so we find ourselves pulled between the extremes of cessation in shame and sensation in vulgarity of our sexuality. This is how Folly functions. She works in the extremes of Wisdom, prowling around her character and looking for ways to distort her image. She does not care in which extreme she functions; she only cares that we do not realize the true intent, power, and divine reflection of our femininity.”

The greater the affirmations of women’s extremes become, the greater the demand for Edwards and Jacobs will also be. If a man’s intent is to affirm a woman’s sexuality with no regard for her holiness, he will need to become the unfeeling, undead Edward to combat the imbalance he has created. If a man desires the cold, emotionless and rigid stereotype of purity without affirmation of femininity’s need to bring forth life through her sexuality and the purity of that role, he must become Jacob to balance the extreme he has affirmed.

So to all my many male friends who have expressed their complete befuddlement of this trend, I say this: If you wish not to see the distortion and manipulation of your masculinity into these boys you simply do not want to be, then be cautious of how and what you affirm in women. If you choose to affirm the negative extremes of femininity around you, your divinely inspired confidence and humility will be warped into the grotesque disfigurement of Jacob’s arrogance and Edward’s cowardice, your divinely placed authority into the dominant viciousness of the alpha male and your command to serve femininity into the indecisive weakness of the impartial undead.

To all my dear female friends who are captivated by the idea of Edward or Jacob, use this knowledge to analyze your own femininity, what has or has not been affirmed, and what you are lacking to become uniquely balanced in God’s image.

And now, finally, the answer to the question you have all been awaiting: Which team am I supporting? Well… that is my own demon (no pun intended) to deal with.

Kindness in Action

This Sunday was our Church’s introductory Sunday into the Fruit of the Spirit, Kindness. Niqui, my fellow teacher, and I put together a definitional teaching on the fruit and in the process I learned a good deal about kindness that was all new to me. One of the things I learned is that kindness is not a passive response to others; it is a very active and intentional effort to extend service and respond appropriately to others. While studying some of the aspects of ‘response to others’, I encountered one of my weaknesses, listening.

Listening is a difficult skill to cultivate for me. I oftentimes find myself thinking ahead and formulating my answer to others instead of honing in and hanging on every word they say. So this week I am actively seeking out ways in which to practice my listening skills, my kindness, towards others.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to observe a forum of discussion offered to my particular age group (20’s – 30’s) by our elders. I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for the manner in which the forum was conducted. We were actively being listened to and not debated on what our dreams, visions, aspirations, hopes, and even gripes were in the area of ministry. I felt this was an incredible demonstration and powerful example given to us by our elders in the area of kindness and I want to thank you so much for teaching me by example, the art of listening.

As is usually the case with all effective teaching, I am motivated to act on and reciprocate the kindness. And so I would like to take this opportunity to offer up this particular blog to actively listen to my elders express the dreams, hopes, expectations and even gripes they have for my generation, uninterrupted. You exercised incredible kindness and self control in listening to us and now I want to sit at your feet and listen to you. What kinds of things motivate you in your ministry? How can we best help you, serve you, and empower you? In our desire for increased leadership and responsibility how can we best incorporate you into that pursuit and not run over or push you aside in the process? The only rules to this discussion are you must be 40+ to comment and no fighting. Simply express. I want to know, experience, and understand where you are coming from.

I See You

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:3

I finally watched the movie, Avatar, this week. At first I thought it was going to be a cheesy plot, brought solely to life by cool graphics, but about halfway through the movie I began to recognize some profound spiritual truths worked into the storyline. This always makes a movie worth watching for me because I am then able to use what I have learned to convey the gospel and God’s truths to others through a common interest or venue.

Throughout the course of the movie there was an underlying idea that all life is connected. In the past I have avoided this mentality in a pantheistic sense that the divine is in and through all things. While I do not believe that the divine is in everything I do believe that in the physical world, all life is connected. And likewise, in the spiritual realm, all divine life is connected. Our interconnectivity is not taken seriously when we fail to realize that every decision we make is going to impact others around us in some manner.

In Avatar, the earthly deity, Eywa (eerily close in pronunciation to Yahweh) can feel every disturbance in the life force of the planet she supports and she groans over and grieves these disturbances. Life of any kind is extremely important to the natives, the Na’vi. The Na’vi people have a phrase they use to honor and respect the life in every living being. (This phrase is also used as a greeting amongst some native American tribes.)

I see you.

I see you as a living being, as part of the ecosystem, as a life that affects me, and I respect that life even when we may be in conflict with each other. When I heard this phrase it struck a chord in my spirit. I thought of Christ who lives in those of us that are believers in Him. In Christ we live, and move and have our being. - Acts 17:28. As believers in Christ we are all interconnected in the Spirit and are bonded together.

All too often we forget our interconnectivity and we attempt to sever our bonds and ties. But if the impact of those severed ties avidly seen in the physical realm is so great then it stands to reason that the spiritual realm would function much the same way and the ties I sever with one brother or sister will ultimately have a cataclysmic effect on our spiritual ecosystem and is going to hurt the “body of Christ”. We may think that putting distance between us and those we have difficulty with will somehow lessen our discomfort and unpleasantness in the body but in all actuality even the slightest whisper of movement in one part of our world can have a tremendous effect on another part of the world. And so what we must do is strive (make every effort) with great love to hold together the bond of peace that the Spirit offers us through Christ.

When we sever these ties do we really, truly see Christ in our fellow believers? Does Jesus Christ in me, look at and recognize Jesus Christ in you? He should. Do I see others through the eyes of Christ? Christ in me, should look around at others and say…

I see you.

Even when we are at odds with one another, that is alright. I heard a sermon recently on the growth opportunities one may find in and through conflict. What I took away from that was this: There is going to be conflict; we are going to disagree. I may not agree with you but I see you, and honor, respect the life of Christ that is in you.

I see you.

When we refuse to see each other and honor the divine life that exists in each and every one of us who believe in Christ then we grieve and disturb the Holy Spirit who is attempting to bond us all in peace. My brothers and sisters, no matter what our differences are or where we experience conflict, I wish you to know that I see you. Christ that is in me recognizes Christ that is in you. You are an influential and important part of my spiritual ecosystem and I appreciate, respect and honor the life that is in you.

If we cannot look at one another and truly see through the eyes of Christ then there may be something wrong with our perspective. We ought to seek earnestly the ability to see others as Christ sees them. And so when I find myself devaluing or looking past others I will diligently pray for them and for the eyes of Christ until...

I see you.

Proprietary in the Kingdom?

“…and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship…” Exodus 35:31

Repeatedly throughout the book of Exodus we see God endowing the children of Israel with wisdom, knowledge and understanding for all manner of craftsmanship, workmanship, and leadership. I do not imagine that following their grasp of situations they sat amongst themselves and debated patents or copyrights. The people fully understood that the knowledge they so recently found themselves privy to was entirely from God. We seem to have lost this ability over the last few thousand years.

I have wondered often if this pattern existed in the early church. Can you imagine Matthew, Mark, Luke and John suing each other over coming up with the same story? Well… no. We understand today that there was a purpose and reason for having the same story told from four different viewpoints. Is the same God that orchestrated those circumstances still in control of His Church? As I look over the history of the Church I see the same thing occurring over and over. Every time there is a great surge forward in the Church, it is a result of several contributors all moving in the Spirit and approaching the topic from different vantage points. The reformation was a prime example of this happening in history. We attribute much of the reformation to Martin Luther but there were many other emerging leaders of that time that were preaching a similar message independent of each other. Johannes Hus, John Wycliffe, and John Calvin among a few were all influencing voices of their time. They all condemned the practices of the existing Church and ushered in a message of grace. Although they all seemed to come from a different viewpoint you can clearly see in retrospect that the Spirit of God was moving in and through these men to reform the Church and bring her closer to God.

A more contemporary example is the movement in teaching and expounding on spiritual gifts and how they are to be used in the body of Christ. Some names that pop out at us from this movement are Charles Stanley, Brian Carraway, Bill Gothard, and many other names that are denomination specific. I am not condemning or espousing any particular view, just suggesting that perhaps there is something greater than just one man that God is trying to teach His Church so that we may learn and grow.

In a more personal example, I wrote a book in 2008 that I was a bit nervous about as I had not heard anyone else teach on this particular topic or viewpoint. I slowly and cautiously sought counsel and input on the information presented. One year later a friend forwarded me an audio clip of a woman teaching on the same topic. Not only was it the same topic but it seemed as if she had followed the same exact course of research that I had followed. I experienced several emotions at that time. One emotion was panic as the prideful side of me wanted to cling to what I thought was mine. But another was tremendous relief that I was not crazy or far-fetched in my conclusions. I realized at that point that I had no right to feel envy over her platform and that I should be praising God that truth was prevailing and coming forward to provide insight and healing to others.

In another personal example a few years ago my sister had been praying long and hard about the direction of women’s ministry in her church and district and had come up with what she felt was a truly Spirit-led model to follow. Not long after that someone else was recognized and praised for the exact model she had come with and I recall she was devastated over this development. I knew exactly how she felt but I also knew how to encourage her. There were two possible options for why this occurred. The first is that perhaps God was moving in a major way amongst the women of her denomination and had given the same plan to several different people to assure that it would be implemented. After all, do we not see that God has done this over and over throughout history? The second option is that the person knew she it was a model she had proposed and failed to give credit where credit was due. It happens… it is rude… but it happens and is usually just a result of professional ignorance and underdevelopment. Time and maturity usually cure this.

*On a side note, it really is important to recognize others for their contributions no matter what. It is a tremendously powerful way to exhort, encourage, and confirm to an individual the validity of their own spiritual maturity and development. We empower one another when we appropriately attribute credit to one another; we tear the body down when we do not.

And now we arrive at the motivation behind why I felt the need to write this particular blog. It had to do with a particular status update on my “not-so-healthy” pastime, Facebook. One man was giving an update on the exciting new and transformational things happening in his church. One of the readers commented that he was simply copying another man’s ministry model. Now I am not going to deduce anyone’s motives I am merely interpreting this in the manner with which it came across to me. I know both of these men and have seen them “do” ministry over the last 30 years. Both are fully capable of hearing from God and allowing His Spirit to work and move through them. Both men are also extremely mature in spiritual matters and courtesy and would never take credit for the others’ work without giving proper credit. So knowing both these men the way that I do, I must conclude that both are hearing the same message from God on what He desires for the next step of growth in His Church. Its application and implementation will take on many different forms because the men’s ministries and gifts are different. My assessment is that no one is copying anyone else’s ministry model; they are simply listening to the SAME God and following His direction. It is the role of the Spirit to bind and unite us together to serve as one body and we may have faith that He is indeed doing this. Ministry models do not belong to man... they belong to God. We are only conduits of His greater plan.

And so I end this post with some suggestions. 1) Give credit to one another, building each other up, when we discover and recognize truths. 2) Ask God what He is attempting to teach the Church on a grander scale when you notice a pattern in teaching and ministry. 3) Acknowledge that the true reward for listening to God and following His direction will ultimately be rewarded when we stand before His throne and He says to us, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” 4) And finally, we are a Church that is built on love and as such there is no place for pride and envy in a healthy Church. Let go of your personal proprietary concerns and celebrate the purposes of God expanding, growing and coming into fullness.

Priorities...

Well folks... sorry I haven't been blogging lately. I have some pressing deadlines that are forcing me to place blogging on the back burner. I'm in the middle of a medical transcription course that I need to finish up in the next 2 or so months. As soon as I have finished the course I will be back at it with studying and blogging on the Word! I have also taken on more responsibilities with my church and am teaching again which is also a priority over my personal love of blogging. I do plan on posting some of the teaching eventually... when I find the time. Declan is keeping me busy too. He is almost mobile and I'm looking forward to spending my summer chasing him around.

In book news I have decided not to pursue publishing for now but would love to make it available to anyone who would like to read it. All input is welcome. I wrote it with women in mind and think it would be a fabulous tool for anyone counseling adult women or raising young women. It is also beneficial to men and in particular men in ministry as I believe it clarifies some important feminine characteristics of God and how those aspects of His character are not to be misused, abused, taken advantage of, or exploited. I believe it also fine tunes some perspectives on women in leadership and ministry. Email me or drop me an FB note and I will send it to you. I would love to bless you with it! By the way, if you have already read it feel free to comment or blurb on this post if you think it would benefit others.

I miss interacting with everyone via blogging and will be back soon!!

Forever Young

This year I will be 33. I remember when I turned 30, it was a year full of reflection and introspection. That year was pivotal for me, as it is for so many others as well, in that I realized God was calling me to a new phase in life. One of the questions I asked God at the time was whether or not I was supposed to be doing this all along and had I missed a turn somewhere in life only to be redirected this way ten years later. His answer was twofold. Yes, this had been His plan for me all along. And no, I was to be doing this in His timing. That timing was not ten years ago nor would it be ten years from now. His timing was now. I thought that was odd as I’ve always been under the impression that a person’s ministry is something they’re called to in High School or College and then you plan your career accordingly. I never expected to actually be doing something in the area of ministry because my career started off differently and took me different places in life. Six years in the Air Force, followed by several years working for government contractors and I just assumed I would be doing that my entire life and that was God’s only plan for me.

As I came to an understanding of what I was to be doing, at least in the present, I encountered some confusion about God’s timing. You see, I qualify as part of a group known as “the emerging generation”. This group consists of adults ages 25-35. Everywhere I turn I see this term and the excitement that surrounds these people as they are poured into and molded into leaders and disciples. Where the confusion came was in the recognition of how long it would take for God to bring about what He was doing in me. What I saw Him doing in and through me would take several years to bring to fruition. I began to question God. “God, are you sure about this? Can you work any faster? I’m going to miss my window.” Wait… what? What window? Did I just tell God that I was unusable for His purposes outside of some worldly definition wrapped up in this term “emerging”?

Where on earth would I get such a ridiculous notion? That really began to irk me as I realized I had been thinking in immature terms as being part of some elite clique or sorority. How’s that for maturing and growing up? But I did succeed in tracking down my destructive train of thought. These thoughts had all flooded in when I faced the reality of turning 33 this year and in an almost panicked urgency felt the need to point out to God that He only had 2 years left to get me where He wanted me. Yikes! How foolish. But I do not think I am alone. There is a particular anticipation that accompanies the approach of an individuals 30’s. And rightly so. It is at this age that certain mental and physiological changes take place that bring a person into the fullness of adulthood. I believe this is the reason God always called people into positions of active ministry at the age of 30. Physically our brains are mature enough to take on the challenge. Sure we can receive a calling or anointing early on in life but the 30’s seemed to be the age of plans put into action. In fact, Jesus was also 30 when he “emerged” and visibly began his outreach and ministry. He was 33 when he died. But that was not the end of his life… nor was it technically the beginning. The Word of the ages who was with God in the beginning may have been physically 33 but it was just an age. The physical death and aging that permeates this world could not hold him and force him to do its bidding. While he may appear to be 33 yet to this day… he is older than all. Is this not the same Christ that lives in me and brings my spirit to life? It stands to reason then that the age of my spirit were one to see it in a physical sense would be 33. When I am 80, the spirit of Christ that is in me will still look 33. What then was I so worried about? Here is where the problem entered.

A few years ago a friend told me about a conference most of her younger ministry friends were invited to. When I asked her if she would be attending she told me that sadly she and her husband were not invited because they were over the 35 yr old age limit. I was shocked. Here they were at the same place in ministry as others, being cultivated and mentored for leadership but because they had initially followed other career paths, they were at a different stage physically than their peers. Yet the overall message was clear, “Sorry, you are too old to be in our clique.” And so a few years later I find myself trapped in the same box only this one I locked myself into. What I had failed to realize is that there are phases in every persons walk with God and as we prepare to enter each new stage we must “emerge” from the old. “Emerging” is about new beginnings.

Over the last two years I have watched my parents go from thinking they would retire soon to becoming reactivated as missionaries. The transformation was more than just employers. There was an actual physical impact I saw in and through them. The realization that God was not finished with them had a distinct rejuvenating effect on them. At one point I looked at my mother when she laughed and saw decades melt away. She was once again 30 something, filled with anticipation and hope as she prepared to transition to life in Brazil. I learned something new that day about what it meant to be “emerging”. I watched my mother “emerge” from a shell of resigned ending to a life of new beginnings. My mother and father, now in their 60’s were the definition of “emerging leaders”.

This year I have also watched my sister and brother-in-law, after 20+ years of service to their country as Navy Chaplains approach a new phase in life as they prepare to become civilians and begin pastoring. I saw the transformation happen in them as well. They went from a mental state of military retirement to one of new beginnings. I watched them “emerge” from their past careers into the dawning of a new day and new career.

And so today as I sit here and write, I am rejuvenated and encouraged as I realize that whatever age or phase of life you are in, it is always God’s plan that just around the corner is a brand new opportunity for you to “emerge”. My tasks right now may consist of caring for my house and feeding my children but the day will come when I will “emerge” to care for His house and feed His children. To confine the term of “emerging leaders” to a physical age group is just plain immature and elitist. Feel free to gore me for my views but if it is the task of the elderly to pour into the young then perhaps we should be asking in what manner we can reciprocate. I encourage you today, if you feel that you are past the age of usefulness to God and to His people, then snap out of it! You are destined to emerge! It is the nature of Christ and it is now your nature. God calls to us, “Come out, my people”. Emerge, live, and help others to live.

Why Forgive?

2 Cor 2:7 “…you ought rather to forgive and comfort him lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.”

I have been thinking a lot over the last year about the concept of forgiveness. The more I thought on it and compared my understanding against scripture the more I realized I was not properly grasping the motivation and intent behind forgiveness. I had always assumed that forgiveness on my part was for myself; that I had to forgive so that I would feel better and be able to move past the offense. While this may be a byproduct of forgiveness it is not the proper intent behind the act of forgiveness. I would never say that God forgives me so that He can feel better about His situation and move on. Why does God forgive me and shouldn’t his reasons for forgiving also be my reasons for forgiving? We are told in Matthew that God’s forgiveness to us is proportional in some degree to our forgiveness of others. And so I must assume from that, that my forgiveness should bear similarities to the forgiveness of God. Why then does God forgive?

God forgives, not for Himself but so that I may be freed of my debt. I am never under the impression that I do not owe God the debt of my very life for what sin I have committed and that even that payment is not sufficient. But God does not hold that over my head. I do not deserve forgiveness and yet He gives it so that I can be free from the consequences of death. If God did not offer forgiveness through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ then I would be trapped in a state of sin and guilt. And so God’s intent in forgiveness is to free me, whether I ever come to realize it or not.

I was plagued recently with the idea that perhaps forgiveness was not necessary on my part if the offending party did not know they had wronged me or would even admit to it. It sounded good to me and offered a level of comfort and justice. But as I analyzed God’s forgiveness I could not reconcile my thought with His actions. Whether or not a person chooses to accept God’s forgiveness does not change the fact that He has given it. God has given it in the hope that someday I will recognize my pathetic state and accept His offer to cancel my debt. So how does that impact my decision to forgive? I must forgive no matter what. It does not hinge on the acknowledgement of the offending party…at least for my part. Nor should I forgive out of some sense of self righteousness – “I forgave you, therefore I am the better person.” What kind of gross nonsense is that anyway?

Forgiveness is then for the benefit of others first and that should always be my motivation. If God forgives for the benefit of mankind and not His own then my motivation should be out of a greater love for my fellow man. Do I truly love others enough to set them free through the act of my forgiveness? Or do I begrudge them that freedom in hopes of elevating myself and enslaving them in a prison of guilt? At the end of all this there is indeed a benefit to myself but it should not be my primary motivation. The benefit to myself is a truly genuine and sincere relationship with others, free from the condemnation of sin and guilt... which by the way is exactly the same benefit God receives through the act of forgiveness to me. His primary objective however has always been His love for me and desire for my freedom. Out of that offering of forgiveness and my freedom, I am then able to enjoy a truly sincere relationship with my Creator.

We must then ask ourselves why are we forgiving or not forgiving others? Is our motivation self serving? “I am now the better person.” Or is it focused on the freedom of others? “Through my actions I will make him a better person”. I think this has been the hardest question for me this year as it has forced me to examine my heart and motives. Do I forgive so that others will look at me and think how great or merciful I am or do I forgive to free others? May we be true instruments of Christ; aiding in the setting free of our fellow man that we may not prolong his sorrow and that through the act of forgiveness we may enter into genuine relationships with one another.

The Straw That Broke The Tiger's Back

When I initially began to draft up this blog I was rather irate. I have since calmed down and modified/toned down my upset a bit. But the governing issue remains the same: The status and treatment of women in this world greatly saddens me.

What angered me at first was the fact that Tiger Woods was issuing an apology to the public that consisted of a five page letter expressing apparent remorse. The first thought that came to mind was, “Did he bother to offer the same courtesy to his wife?” I do not know the answer to that question but something made me doubt it. During the course of the apology I was expecting to hear him not only apologize to the public but also to his wife AND the women he hurt throughout this entire ordeal. I assume most people do not have compassion for the “other” women but I do feel sadness for them. Regardless of the lifestyles that they lead, they are also victims of a society that even to this day places the majority of affirmation for women on their sexuality and little else. We find ourselves victim to this mentality and then aid in perpetuating the mistreatment of women in this manner because we cannot find validity by any other means. That saddens me.

Tiger did not wrong the public. He wronged first off, God. He wronged his wife. He wronged the other women. And he wronged himself. We did not need his remorse… they did. The element that incited most of my animosity was the reason Tiger gave for having strayed. He said it was due to his lack of devotion to his religion – Buddhism. I thought long and hard about that and have come to a conclusion that I am still processing in its entirety. The conclusion is this: you can tell a lot about a religion based on its underlying respect and treatment of women. So let’s have a look, shall we, at the treatment of women across the lines of religiosity.

The sex trade running rampant throughout the world is contributed to mostly by countries that pride themselves in Buddhist principles. Young girls and women of all ages are exploited and treated as objects to be used, abused, and discarded.
In countries that cling to the Hindu faith women are placed at the bottom of a caste system and treated as slaves and personal property.

In countries that are predominantly Islamic, women are treated worse than property and are allowed to be raped or killed by men who are displeased with them without consequences.

In countries that are Catholic, family is highly valued at the appearance level but women are instruments of status and pleasure. Men have their wives to give them the much coveted image of a family well in order but they keep their mistresses on the side as instruments of use and pleasure.

In mainstream evangelical Christianity women are treated slightly better but given no equality or voice. And while the practice of taking a mistress is not condoned at times the wife is treated as nothing but a means to sexual gratification which in all actuality makes us no better than a prostitute.

In many denominations of Christianity that have accepted, at least in appearance, the equality of women go too far in stripping the essential elements of femininity from women and transform them into an oddly deformed replica of masculinity. I believe the mentality is somewhere along the lines that gender must be erased to experience true equality.

In the United States where we pride ourselves on freedom of expression in areas of religion, our freedom of expression in our sexuality runs rampant. When I analyze these patterns I ask myself… does our treatment of women reflect on some level our view of spirituality? It would for all appearances sake seem so. If this is true then it would stand to reason that the true value of women as genuinely expressed by Christ, were it to truly be grasped and exemplified in its fullness would be earth shattering to our faith, expression and grasp of the Church and her true image as seen by God.

I have been accused of many things, one of them being a feminist. I say this honestly when I tell you I do not ever wish to rule over man… I wish to stand by his side and rule with him as God intended in the beginning without having to erase or hide my femininity in the process. But until the world’s objectification of women ceases, this will never transition from fantasy into reality. I love my fellow woman dearly. But I also love my fellow man dearly and I wish he could see me with the wonderment that exists in God’s perspective – not as a means to an end or merely an object or instrument of pleasure but as a beautiful reflection of the image of God. The transformation however, must begin with women. If we cannot respect ourselves and see ourselves as God sees us then men definitely never will. They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Let us then focus on the strengthening of each other instead of the weakening that characterizes and plagues our past. The monstrosity of objectification in its weakening of women inadvertently weakens men and the entirety of humanity.

All of this to say the following to Mr. Woods: I'm afraid that a return to your faith of Buddhism will not improve your view of women or your treatment of them... but God can. Of course Mr. Woods will probably never read this so what I have to say instead to my readers is this: Do you view femininity as a genuine reflection of part of the character of God? Is a negative view of women/femininity affecting your faith and relationship with God? What if we are missing something exquisitely beautiful and glorious about Him because of a dysfunction in our view of ourselves?

The Lost Symbol

I recently finished reading Dan Brown’s book The Lost Symbol and thoroughly enjoyed the captivatingly woven tale. From a fictional perspective it was very intriguing. From a Christian perspective it was slightly off kilter but not too far gone so as to blatantly offend. Before I begin my evaluation of the book I would like to explain my view of the author. I find that in all themes Dan Brown chooses there is a legitimate issue being identified and a subsequent fictional tale surrounding this issue. I suppose, were Dan Brown to function in a spiritual gifting setting he would readily be identified as either a Teacher or Prophet. That’s how dead on his sensing of needs is. I do not, however, feel that Mr. Brown functions in this arena and so the solutions he arrives at fall short of biblical accuracy and encompass much broader solutions than simply those that align with Scripture. In my book, Made In Their Image, I go into much greater detail concerning the accuracy of his concept in The DaVinci Code. (Notice I say concept not factual or fabricated data presented…but you’ll have to read the book to understand *wink wink nudge nudge*.) With that being said I will begin.

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by man, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion, A Chief Cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ …’The Stone which the builders rejected…a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’” I Peter 2:4-8.

The setting in The Lost Symbol is amidst the world of Freemasons. The underlying philosophy behind Freemasonry and its building concepts is not evil and can in fact be aligned with much of Scripture. The problem I have with Freemasonry as a belief system is its understanding of truth. Truth takes on many different forms in Freemasonry because it means something different to each man. This dabbles far too much into the area of “but every man did that which was right in his own eyes”. Judges 17:6 But the core beliefs of Freemasonry are not all that different from those of Christianity: brotherly love, salvation, morality, charity, faith, and relationship. But they lack a unifying element: the bond of the Spirit which is only available through Christ. So in essence what you have is many different faiths attempting to reconcile with one another and arrive at truth. As wonderful and peaceful as that sounds… it’s not possible. According to Scripture the only way, light, and truth is Christ and all else is darkness. Based on that one must question what kind of bond or yoke is created by aligning with other faiths. Paul says it best in II Corinthians 6:14 “…for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” The bond of brotherly love is not wrong… which is what Freemasons are striving for. But if you are attempting to bond with another outside of Christ then it won’t work as God intended. If I am living for Christ and trying to excel in life but others are attempting to bond with me out of darkness and have no light in them then they become parasitic leeches who will ultimately drain the light out of me.

The second main theme in the book is that of Noetic Science. Noetic Science deals with the study of the mind and its relationship with the divine intellect. The form it takes in the book is that of changing physical matter or circumstances with ones mind – “the power of focused conviction and intention.” Theoretically then, the more minds, the more power, and the more that can be accomplished. It sounds far fetched but it’s not really. Based on Jesus words in Matthew, “Where one or two are gathered together in My Name, I am in their midst” (Matthew 18:20) this is a very real concept. Christianity has been relying on the concept of Noetic Science for nearly 2000 years now (longer if you factor in the similar elements of Judaism). Jesus also said that “faith can move mountains” supporting the theory that one’s mind can change physical matter. One of my favorite quotes from the book concerning this concept is the following: “If thoughts affect the world, then we must be careful how we think.” Very profound… guard your thoughts, submitting each one to Christ.

Dan Brown uses several Scriptures throughout the book but unfortunately they are used out of context, which was annoying to the teacher in me. (ie: our bodies being the temple was twisted into an understanding that we are gods versus its true meaning that God lives in and through us.)

The most profound concept of all in the book was concerning the Word. Unfortunately this was misunderstood as well yet still accurately noted if you place it into the right context. The author failed to grasp the idea of Word become Flesh and attributed Word to spoken words of wisdom given by all famous prophets and further attributes the Word to the Bible, Koran, Torah, and Vedas. I rather like my own picture of what the Word made Flesh looks like. You remember in the movie Wizard of Oz when the good witch materializes out of particles of glitter? All these tiny little particles coalesce and come together to form the image of Glenda. Now try and apply that picture to the Word of God as Christ. The very words of God throughout the ages all travel through time gathering together until one day they simply burst forth as does all conception into the product of the Incarnation transforming what God thought and spoke into physical matter – Jesus Christ. The Word is not some conglomeration of letters on a page… but a very real person who always existed and was the very fruit and essence of God and became manifest here on earth in the person of Jesus.. The Lost Symbol or Word is not then just any book containing wisdom; it is Christ Himself. But what the author did get right was the fact that the Word is lost to us.

I have heard many complaints over the past decade or so concerning the ever evolving teaching of the Word. It never fails regardless of the age lived in that the Word begins to gradually transform into a twisted, manipulated understanding to fit whatever is “good in our own eyes”. With increasing frequency the Word tends to support whatever we wish instead of being what it was truly intended to be towards sin – “a stumbling block and a rock of offense.” Instead it begins to reconcile sin with itself which is impossible for Truth to do. We have lost the Word. It’s about time we start looking for Him again with a fresh and renewed vigor and passion. Now THAT would truly change our world.

The last thing I will mention as an important point was the statement of the author that the Ancient Mysteries are synonymous with the Word. While perhaps he may not have grasped what he wrote, since his understanding of the Word was confined to written sacred texts, that is the absolute truth right there. The Word is Christ. And as Paul so adequately penned in Ephesians chapter 3, the mystery is Christ. So the Ancient Mysteries are indeed the Word, who is Christ… not Buddha, or Mohammed, or Shiva… but Jesus Christ.

So all in all, I would definitely recommend The Lost Symbol due to its level of interest and captivating plot but knowing your Scripture is essential to avoid any deception that may lead you into error. If the author quotes a Scripture, make sure you research it and know its true intended meaning. Far too often these days I see teachers play on the ignorance of the masses. News Flash: We no longer live in the dark ages… work it out yourself. If you have a personal relationship with God then you have the capacity. I hope you can enjoy the book as much as I did. But if I catch wind of you taking on Masonic vows I will be sorely disappointed.

Mother Nature

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; replenish the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 1:28

Over the past decade I have watched with increasing interest the debate over the state of the earth and whether or not man is or is not to blame. I have finally decided to attempt to put into writing my thoughts on the earth and what mankind’s relationship with her entails.

First off there is the title, “Mother Nature” which I will address. I find the term in theory to be accurate biblically based on the following verse: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 Technically, while not giving the earth credit for creating us, we do issue from her substance and as such we hold a somewhat mystical tie to her. But this is the extent of what should have been her rule over us. In Genesis 1:28 we are told what is to be the order of relationship between mankind and earth. She is our domain and we are to replenish her. In close observance, the relationship between man and earth which God instituted is extremely sacred and intimate.

Let me put it into a different perspective. Think of the earth as our wife. We are to care for her, replenish her, love her, and bring her happiness. Any gardener can tell you that the more you attempt to beat your land into submission the less return you will get from it. There is much delicacy and tenderness in the art of gardening and harvesting from the earth. We cannot run around punching holes in her and stealing her resources without replacing what we have taken. It’s rather like a love bank. You cannot empty someone’s bank without attempting to refill it and expect to maintain the relationship. Such actions are selfish abuse. There is a saying, “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned”. I am afraid the earth fits very well into this stereotype. When we misuse her, she reacts. She is angry and she is hurt. Now I do not attribute personality to the earth to in some way deify her but merely to emphasize the point that she is alive.

Over the last century science has served us well in discovering and proving some of the previously disregarded truths surrounding nature. We discovered that animals have emotions, feelings; that they experience pain. When we discovered and grasped this concept we fell into accountability to no longer mistreat the animal kingdom but to care for and nurture it. Today we are coming into an even starker realization that the earth too experiences pain and suffering. The question then comes into play of who is causing this pain. Now it would seem that some within the scientific community have, as of late, abused the trust of the public and propagated the issue of global warming. It is my opinion that there is no such thing as global warming but that there is such thing as the earth reacting to her mistreatment. I think (until science proves otherwise) that the extremes of “climate change” will continue with greater intensity until we cease to misuse the earth and her resources. But I do not think this is merely a matter confined to climate but is inclusive of all nature’s unleashed wrath: earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, etc. The more selfish our ambitions become, the greater our sin, the greater her anger.

God did not create the earth to die. When man fell in the Garden of Eden and died spiritually, he forever sealed the fate of the earth in his destiny to die. So at its source, man is indeed responsible for the death of the earth. But what does that mean for us? Do we continue to let the earth die? Did God continue on His course and simply allow man to die? No. He developed a plan to restore to us that which was lost. God’s entire pattern throughout Scripture appears to be one of bringing wholeness and restoration to that which is broken and lost; to mend broken relationships with Him and with others. If we are attempting to follow in His footsteps then should we also be finding ways to provide healing and restoration to the earth; to mend the relationship between man and earth? Based on the charge in Genesis to care for and replenish the earth it would seem that such actions would fall under our responsibility.

Another question I asked myself was whether or not the earth could feel. After studying a passage from Hosea I came to the conclusion that, at least based on Scripture, yes the earth can feel and express in some manner and that God hears and validates those expressions. “’It shall come to pass in that day, That I will answer,’ says the Lord; ‘I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; They shall answer Jezreel (God sows).’” Hosea 2:21-22 Logically, one cannot answer or respond to something inanimate therefore the earth and the heavens are animate and God hears them and answers and responds to them. This is a very profound relationship we see here and we have scientific evidence that such a relationship exists between heaven and earth. The more we pollute our air the greater impact we see on the earth. And to make matters even scarier… God sees it all and cares enough to respond about it! If you still doubt God’s degree of concern over the earth then examine the purpose behind the Sabbath. Jesus is pretty emphatic about the idea that the Sabbath was created for man. Well guess what… God gave the earth a Sabbath too. So He must care about the earth and her use/abuse. If you care to see the repercussions of using the earth without sabbatical provisions then all you have to do is look at the dustbowl phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I must say, I am slightly embarrassed that the Church has not been on the forefront of the environmental movement. But I think I am beginning to understand how that happened and where we erred in judgment. The Church wasn’t always so indifferent to matters of nature. We took seriously our task to cultivate the land and be fruitful and multiply. But something began to happen in the world that closely accompanied a complimentary movement in the Church. It was the industrial age. The industrial age was one of the fastest growing surges in history but brought along with it severe damage to the earth and her resources. What accompanied this age was the inception of an internal Church movement known as fundamentalism. Now when I speak of fundamentalism I am not talking about the basis of our faith but of the fundamentals we began to embrace in matters of eschatology. Fundamentalism in this sense dictated that the earth would eventually see its end but that we, Christians, would not be here to see it; that we would escape all of that. Whether or not the outlook is correct is not the issue, it is the mindset the view plants in the believer. When environmental issues arise we think to ourselves, “Who cares… we’re outta here anyway when the end arrives. Why waste my time on saving the earth? God doesn’t care about the earth, He only cares about souls.” Well, according to Hosea that’s not true. God cares about the earth and He hears her plight. Taking that view into account I have another proposal which also comes from Scripture.

“There fore He said: ‘A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come’… And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’…” Luke 19:12-27

The story continues on. I am sure most of us have read it. My point in citing this parable in particular is this: I see the earth as being a “talent” God gave to mankind. Whether or not we leave it before whatever destruction occurs is not the issue. The issue is, if you believe that God will in some manner provide, create, restore… whatever, a new earth, then will the measure of that new earth be determined by how faithful we were with the first “talent” God gave to us to care for? I’m not convinced He’s simply going to create a new world, look at what we did to the old one and say, “Here you go, guys. Have at this one”. But if we are intent on loving God and obeying His commands, we will take the very first command He gave to us much more sincerely, and attempt to do just that instead of adopting this attitude of escapism. I challenge you today to think about what part you can play in making this earth a better and safer place. Imagine the witness we could have to world if they saw how much we cared for others and their future by caring for the environment.

Dying to Self

“But He said, ‘You cannot see My face: for no man shall see Me, and live.’” Exodus 33:20

In my previous blog I wrote about coming face to face with Christ and eliminating those things which prohibit us from seeing Him. I stumbled upon some interesting thoughts following that blog as I thought more deeply about what it means to be face to face with Christ.

Some of the misconceptions about God that I have come to embrace have to do with what it means to come face to face with God and what would happen to me if I did. I based my understanding of God’s face on the occurrence in Exodus where God tells Moses that he may not see the face of God or he will die. But then another passage came to mind from the New Testament that challenged my traditional understanding of this.

“If you had known Me; you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:7-9

So let me get this right: to come in contact with the face of Christ is to come in contact with the face of the Father. And yet I am not dead… or am I? And if I am not dead… then have I truly come into contact with the face of Christ? Will this death be physical or spiritual? What difference was there between the time of Moses and the time of Christ? Aha! There is the key. The difference is Christ. At the time of Moses there was no incarnate Christ yet and as such there could be no true life and no true redemption from sin. So to come into contact with God who can behold no sin would in essence snuff us out of existence. There was nothing to keep us alive. But after Christ there was life and something that could indeed survive coming face to face with God. Following this train of thought I am now able to come face to face with God through Christ. But does something still die? You bet! Again we turn to scripture.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:1-4

In light of that passage, everything has changed… but nothing has changed. When we come face to face with God, we die. We must! We must die to self and live in Christ. Prior to the New Testament there was no life in Christ so to see God would demand the dying to self but offer no life in Christ. You would die if you came face to face with God.

Today, when there is sin in our lives we are faced with a choice. We may bring it before God, coming face to face with him, in which case we must then die to that sin and to ourselves and allow God to replace what has died with the life offered through the resurrection of Christ. If we attempt to come before God without Christ then we will truly die with no hope of life to follow.

The astounding and wonderful realization of this for me was that I may see the face of God. The terrifying, frightening aspect of this is that in order to do so, I must die to myself. Are you seeing God face to face? What have you died to today?

Saint Peter and This Life We Live

For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world - Coldplay


A few weeks ago as I drove along, heading to Sam’s Club, the Coldplay song, Viva la Vida came on the radio. I have heard this song many times and knew most the lyrics so I sang along. When the stanza citing Saint Peter came along I belted it out and suddenly it gave me great pause. Thoughts rushed in and I found myself quite perturbed over this idea of Saint Peter calling my name at heaven’s gate. Now don’t get me wrong. I love Peter to death; he has always been my favorite apostle but when I get to heaven he is not the first person I want to see. How on earth did Peter end up in Christian tradition as heaven’s bouncer anyway? Well, in all fairness, Peter did not receive that role through legitimate tradition but assumed that role more for the sake of making good jokes. But needless to say throughout Church History there was indeed a strange affinity for Peter and his supreme pontific role, and so I must analyze why this was.

Let me begin by working backwards… I could work forwards but I always prefer to take you along the thought process I used and in this particular instance I traveled backwards.

When I arrive in heaven at the end of this life the first person I want to see is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to see his face at the gate. I want him to speak my name in love and say to me, “I know you.” I want him to take my hand, lead me inside those pearly gates, and show me all the wonderful things he has prepared for me. I don’t want to see Peter (sorry Peter, no offense). But what would it take for Jesus to truly “know” me?

Jesus’ character is quite complex. That’s the greatest understatement of all time. We’re talking about the character of God here. Jesus embodies the characteristics we love to dote on – the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. When we think of those characteristics then of course it is easy to love Christ. But what happens when we do not have those characteristics in our own lives and the nature of Christ comes into conflict with our very own flesh nature? What then? I believe that when Christ comes into contact with our flesh there is a battle waged. He is all of the sudden transformed into the Christ of Matthew 21:12 and God forces us to witness the “Cleansing of the Temple”. We literally see the very essence of Christ enter in and overturn the selfish ambitions we cling to, the idols we have erected, and the thrones we have set up. Have you met this Christ? I dare say you cannot meet one without meeting first the other. The fruits of the Spirit cannot be cultivated if the temple is not first cleansed. It is a conflict of interest.

Early Gnostics fell into the trap of thinking that somehow the God of the New Testament differed from that of the Old Testament. They never made the connection between the God who hates sin and the God who loves humanity. Well, they are one and the same but come to fullness within the person who is Christ. As you study Christ throughout the New Testament you will realize that his tolerance of sin remains the same as that of the God of the Old Testament. The only difference is that his presence here on earth finally made it possible for God to confront and remove the sin that plagues us. Christ does not ever ignore or tolerate sin but instead cleanses us and removes it.

In the final judgment when the entire world comes face to face with the reality of sin, the image of Christ that appears is one that sparks a great amount of fear. Regardless of what your “end-times” views are, if there is sin in your life, that sin will experience God’s wrath.

All of this to say, there are many facets to the character of Christ and if we are to follow him we must truly know him and all that is him and not just take the parts that are pleasing to us. If we take only those parts of his character that make us feel good but fail to recognize the part of Christ that confronts our selfish sin nature then he can never truly transform us.

So what does that all have to do with Saint Peter? It’s not just Peter but all forms of intermediaries and buffers we attempt to place between us and Christ. We act like the Israelites of old. “God, don’t speak directly to us! Speak to someone else and he’ll pass it along to me. Coming face to face with you is too terrifying!”

If you follow Church History closely you can see that in the presence of saints and earthly intermediaries we begin to look very much like that unclean temple; full of all sorts of practices and purchases guaranteed to grant us access to heaven. Once we remove these obstacles we gain a much clearer view of Christ. But beware of the opposite extreme that accepts only the pleasurable, intimate characteristics of Christ and ignores his Lordship and confrontational aspects making him instead a God who tolerates all manner of sin. The result is that when we take on the command to become “Christ-like” we also become tolerant of all manner of sin in our own lives and in the lives of others and we never truly encourage each other to grow and change. Loving God and loving others should never translate to loving sin.

The true nature of Christ in addition to loving humanity is also confrontational, terrifying, angry, and saddened in the presence of sin. The mentality of having an intermediary other than Christ is this: if we can place enough space between the hard to accept characteristics of Christ then perhaps we can rub shoulders with him without having to look him in the face or ever truly giving up those selfish ambitions that rule our lives. If I muddle through life in this mindset then when I finally arrive at that gate I may very well run into Saint Peter. Christ sure isn’t going to know who I am or come out to greet me. As difficult as the experience will be, I want to look my savior in the face, allow him to root out sin and cultivate his fruit in my life. Peter, my brother, out of the way… I want to see Christ. Who or what stands between you and Christ?

Happy New Year!

And so a new year begins. Welcome to 2010! It has been five months since I last updated my blog. I wrote on the "Fullness of Time" and then, quite literally the fullness of time arrived the following month and I have been slammed ever since. Here is a brief update of the last five months.


Labor and delivery went surprisingly smooth. I felt contractions begin early afternoon on September 28th. They were very mild so at first I wasn't sure whether or not we were really in labor. They continued, narrowing down to ten minutes apart until about 8pm and then stopped for an hour. I fell asleep for that hour and then woke up again at 9pm with slightly stronger contractions. I called the midwife to inform her and she also said it sounded like false labor. She told me to take a Tylenol and hop in the bath to see if the contractions either increased or decreased. So I followed the instructions and almost immediately we were down to 5 minute contractions. I called her back when they began to feel noticeably painful and she, somewhat skeptically, said I could come in and they'd measure to see where we were but that I would probably end up back home. I agreed and off we went to the hospital at 4am on September 29th. Upon arriving they took my measurement and found out I was at 8 cm! We rushed into the delivery room and they hooked me up to vitals and then allowed me to walk around (thank God!) until it was time to push. Declan Rhys Basehore was born at 6:38 am September 29th and weighed in at 7lbs. 4oz.


Declan took off very well in the eating department, which I suppose is typical for boys and has been growing ever since. I put him on the Babywise eating schedule, which worked very well for his sister when she was born. He fell easily into the schedule and was pulling all nighters by week 10. He has his trouble periods as does any infant. If he gets a cold or congested then of course he doesn't sleep well at all but I take it all in stride. For the most part he sleeps from 8-10 hours straight each night.


My favorite time of day with him is early morning. He wakes up and eats and then is as cheerful as ever and we just sit and chat and giggle together until he falls asleep again.


Naomi will go back to school on Monday, January 4th. At that time I foresee having much more time to get back to blogging and am looking forward to being able to express all the thoughts I have been accumulating over the last several months. I miss writing!


In book news, my manuscript still remains at that stage. I have many new readers who are evaluating and providing input on the subject matter. If you would like to be one of those readers please let me know and I can get a copy of it out to you. The book is currently titled "Made In Their Image" and is a work I put together on my interpretation of the Trinity and more specifically the feminine roles of the Holy Spirit and how those dynamics function within the Trinity and are in turn a beautiful example to model ones own femininity after. I am sure at first glance that may seem like a reach but trust me when I say I have put much effort into presenting a solid case.


Well that is all the updates for now. God Bless!

The Fullness of Time

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

One day, a couple of months ago I was out walking, trying to squeeze in my daily exercise necessary to keep me well balanced in body, mind, and spirit. I was approximately 26 weeks pregnant at the time and acutely aware of anything that might be amiss with the young life I was forming. About half way through my walk I began to experience extreme discomfort and cramping. Naturally the first thing that raced to mind was that something was wrong with the baby. Everything in me screamed out, “NO! IT’S NOT TIME!” Shortly thereafter I ruled that idea out as I realized the source of pain came from elsewhere and eventually subsided. But in that brief moment of panic a phrase jumped to the forefront of my mind, “the fullness of time.” I was not sure why that phrase in particular came to mind and so I pondered it in my heart for several weeks, allowing the phrase to form into a fully developed thought.

Several years ago my precious niece was born at 25 weeks gestation and I recall the extreme measures and challenges my sister faced as they struggled to bring this young life into viability and maturity. The thoughts of that experience ran through my mind as I faced the reality of giving birth prematurely. Numerous months in the NICU, accompanied by various surgeries, and the unforgiving element of time finally led to a healthy and flourishing young girl. I thought of all the grief that could have been avoided had she only been able to wait a few additional weeks in utero to reach full development.

As I mulled over this following my small 26 week scare, I gradually realized the similarities between God’s desire to birth within us and man’s frequent attempts to prioritize his own timing before God’s timing. All too often we fail to realize that God knows exactly when “the fullness of time” is to be reached and we surge ahead unawares of the dangers presented by our impatience and recklessness to birth before it is time. (I am not speaking here of “birthing” in a salvation sense but of all projects, ministries, and works God attempts to bring to fruition within us.) We think to ourselves, “I am ready. I am viable. I can do this on my own.” We know that God has a plan in mind but we lack the patience to allow Him to bring it to “full term”. In our inability to be sensitive to His Spirit’s timing we birth prematurely and immaturely into existence a work that God must then mend into a state of survivability. We then question God and His plans when all along He is saying to us, “But you did not wait for MY timing.” You see, it is possible to be in tune with WHAT God has in store for us but far too often we lose sight of the WHEN of God’s plan.

We must remember that within God’s plan “the fullness of time” is always His desire and we must wait for that most perfect time. It is easy to mistake the signs of labor as they will often phase in and out as a warning of the approaching event, but I exhort you to wait through those times. There will arrive an unmistakable moment when the Spirit of God will overwhelm you with the undeniable urge to “push” forward with all your might. It is at that moment that you will know: THIS is the fullness of HIS time. May we be people who birth maturely for God; trusting in His omniscience, and waiting on His timing.

The Virtuous Woman

(For all those women who have read the description of the Proverbs 31 woman and been incredibly frustrated... this is for you.)
Last year as I was working on my book about the feminine side of God I encountered the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 in an all new light. As I delved into this woman’s character I realized she was not who I had traditionally understood her to be, but was so much more. Since I was writing a book about femininity using the entirety of Scripture I did not have as much time as I would have liked to expound on the virtuous woman directly. The last several months the women of my church have been going through a study on the women of the Bible and one of the chapters is dedicated entirely to the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. This week we finally arrived at her chapter and I must admit the emptiness of her presentation greatly annoyed me. And so I am compelled to write more about her since I believe we have sorely misunderstood who this woman is and who her image impacts.

My first question, which was not adequately answered was, “Why include this description at all?” The study explained it as a means for women to understand what is desirable to God in a woman and secondly what a man should look for in finding a wife. Both those reasons I happen to agree with but they do not go deep enough and do not answer the most important question – Why? Why does God desire for woman to carry these characteristics? The answer was simple for me in light of the writings I felt inspired to write last year but I have never heard anyone else say them. I will start answering the question by asking a question. In all the history of mankind have you ever seen or known God to exalt or honor characteristics that are not first and foremost His own? The answer is – no! So we must conclude firstly that these are characteristics of God and secondly that they were the motivation behind His design of Eve when He created her in His image in the beginning. With this understanding we must now define these characteristics and search Scripture for their direct application to God. Fortunately we do not have very far to go since King Solomon wrote extensively about the feminine side of God and we find most of it in Proverbs. What I have put together in the following chart is a list of the verses concerning the virtuous woman and then compared them to the correlating verses that speak of the same characteristics in God.





The most clarifying component of this chart is the understanding of why this woman is so difficult to attain or become. If God took all of His feminine goodness and invested it into a physical form, this is what she would look like. I believe this was God’s intent when creating Eve but because of our now fallen nature we look a lot more like Folly than we do this woman Wisdom. And that’s the down and dirty truth of it. We sinned and personified Folly. When God scolded Adam for listening to Eve it was not because men should never listen to women. Adam was scolded because he listened to Folly and not Wisdom. Eve spoke out of a fallen nature and therefore spoke Folly. This carries support throughout Proverbs as Wisdom says over and over, “Listen to my words.” Naturally if you listen to the words of Wisdom it is not wrong, and if a woman is properly personifying Wisdom then she is worthy to be listened to. Where the wrong enters the picture is when you lack the discernment to recognize Wisdom from Folly. If you are not aware of whom Folly is you may find her also in Proverbs. Her name in Hebrew is Ivveleth; I call her “Poison Ivy” for short… how appropriate. She mocks and mimics Chokmah, or Wisdom, twisting and corrupting her character.

The question remains: why include these virtues if they are unattainable? Well… at the time this was written, that was the simple truth; these characteristics, although they were God’s standard, were unattainable. But now we have Christ who is born within us and cultivates godly characteristics and virtues in our lives every day. This woman is no longer beyond our reach but she still takes a lot of time and effort to arrive at and one may only find her through Christ. How many times do you read through the various fruits of the Spirit and not stop and think, “Hey, I could definitely use some more ___________”? The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 is the same concept. We will always be lacking but through Christ we can attain more and more of her character.

Now we come to the question of who her image impacts. The virtuous woman, being a physical reflection of the femininity God possesses, impacts all things feminine. That means she defines me as a physical woman. She defines the emotions (feminine in relation to the masculine mind) of all mankind. She defines the souls (feminine in relation to the masculine heart) of mankind. She defines even the bride – the Church. And so we must look upon this virtuous woman of Proverbs in a slightly different light now. We must analyze how we as a Church are reflecting upon our groom, Jesus Christ. Can we as a Church say we embody all of these characteristics? Do we clothe our family? Do we open our arms to the needy and poor? Are we good stewards and diligent with our resources? Do our actions cause Christ to be well known and respected at the city gates? If we do not, should we not then be focusing with great intent on being a virtuous bride? Is our goal not for the Spirit to look on us and proclaim, “She is ready. It is time for the groom to approach.” and then take our hand and in one voice make that most precious request, “Come, Lord Jesus.”? It bears some thought. The parting question I ask of anyone who would read this is how can you better incorporate these characteristics into not only the femininity you possess whether it is woman, emotion, or soul but also into the femininity of the bride of Christ – His Church?

The Affirmer and The Accuser

Dedicated to my father on this Father's Day 2009.

Disclaimer: If you have any delusions regarding my perfection, read no further... this could shatter that pedestal, otherwise keep reading.

As most people can relate to in their own lives, my past consists of many adventures both good and bad, feats great and small, and tales murky and clear. All these elements add up to one main pursuit in life - my search for identity.

I recall vividly the year when my life assumed purpose in Christ and oddly enough it was well after conversion and many years into adulthood. The initial struggle I fought with narrowed down to this question, "How much of my past must dictate my present identity and overshadow my future?" Obviously one cannot discount the importance of the past in being a schoolteacher to us. After all, the past is the ONLY element of time that carries in it perfect clarity (ie: hindsight is 20/20). And so the purpose of the past must be to teach, so that with the knowledge accumulated from the past we may consummate that knowledge with the wisdom of the present and give birth to understanding in the future.

Taking into account the significance of the past, I was unsure of what to do with the negative elements. Obviously i can learn from them, but must they identify who I am? The answer is, apart from God, yes the past becomes who I am. But a miraculous transformation takes place when one adds God to the equation of life. As the divine nature is born within us and begins to mature and grow in us, God gives to us a most precious gift - His identity and His past. While my physical past continues to teach me, my identity is no longer defined by it but is defined by the Heavenly Father Himself, as He cultivates Christ within me.

And now we enter into the struggle all mankind faces in realizing identity - the age old battle between the Affirmer and the Accuser. This battle recently played itself out in a very real way for me, much to both my joy and dismay.

During a recent trip to visit my family, my father assumed a blessed and divine role bestowed on all fathers - the affirmer. When this role is exercised in the image of God it affirms those around it. Apart from the image of God it takes on a corrupt nature and turns into the role of the accuser - both roles struggle to identify us.

My father offered me words of affirmation; words that praised my role as a wife and how he had seen me change into a woman who honors and respects her husband even in difficult times and circumstances. He praised my role as a mother and my diligence in simultaneously caring for my children and my own health. He praised my maturity as a daughter of God and exhorted me in continuing to offer to others out of that growth. As he spoke these words I heard the words of the Heavenly Father echoing out of them, "This is my daughter, whom I love. In her I am well pleased." (Matt 3:17). At the time, an element of that relationship escaped me. I forgot the nature of the accuser and his habitual appearance following moments of affirmation, to attempt to incapacitate us through whatever means he can grasp onto to attack our divine identity. (Matt 4:1-11).

But come, he did. The accuser (not my father just for clarification) appeared and began his assault in every aspect recently affirmed. He attacked my role as wife, wielding my past at me, pummeling me again and again with it. He attacked my role as a mother and in the final blows attempted to strip even my identity in Christ from me. And then he was gone. As I lay broken, striped, and ashamed on the proverbial floor, I cried out to God, not understanding what I was to do in light of this clear assault on every fiber of my being. Did the accuser have the right to hurl my past at me in an attempt to undo what good work God was doing in me?

A most miraculous encounter ensued at this point. The Ancient of Days reached down through the ages, weaving His way through my past and came to stand over me. His voice echoed from His Word unfolding an all too familiar conversation to me.

"Daughter, where are your accusers?"

I know this conversation...

"They have gone."

"Then neither do I condemn you."

He called me daughter... relief washed over me as I realized my identity in Him was still intact; that the Great Affirmer's words continued to define who I was. My own father's words again rang clearly in my ears, "You are a good wife, a good mother, and a good daughter." The words of the accuser fell dead to the ground, impotent and puny next to the Giver of all that is good.

I do not resent or hate the vessel of the accuser's choosing. My heart feels compassion and sorrow for the hatred harbored that allows the accuser to manipulate him to his purposes. But discernment allows me to separate the two - to hate the accuser but to love the man. If I cannot forgive the man, then do I not perpetuate a cycle of hatred and sin? And so I forgive.

My words are formed to speak to fathers during this week that commemorates the magnificence of fatherhood; to bring awareness to the divine nature within you that reflects the image of God - the role you carry as fathers to offer identity and affirmation. But my words also carry warning to those who would corrupt this precious gift of God in an attempt to identify through accusation. Choose wisely. Whose nature will you reflect? The Affirmer or the Accuser?