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Women in theDenominationhttp://womeninthechurch.co.uk Restoring order and releasing into ministry Thu, 29 Mar 2018 11:36:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8 “For I am not ashamed…..” http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2015/08/14/ashamed/ http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2015/08/14/ashamed/#respond Fri, 14 Aug 2015 18:09:16 +0000 http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/?p=722 Recently, I heard the passage in 1 Timothy 2 v 11-12 stuff referred to as an ‘embarrassing passage’ by a Christian and I started to think increasingly well-nigh this and if this was the reason why many people are either waffly the meaning of it or ignoring it altogether. I started reflecting on the dread…The post “For I am not ashamed…..” appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> Recently, I heard the passage in 1 Timothy 2 v 11-12 stuff referred to as an ‘embarrassing passage’ by a Christian and I started to think increasingly well-nigh this and if this was the reason why many people are either waffly the meaning of it or ignoring it altogether. I started reflecting on the dread that I sometimes have in speaking well-nigh it myself. Was I embarrassed by God’s word too? Why is it embarrassing? Is the embarrassment we finger over unrepealable passages of scripture showing us that we somehow need to override them with something increasingly palatable, something that seems to fit increasingly comfortably with our stuff and with the surrounding culture, or is the embarrassment misplaced/unnecessary? Embarrassment over God’s word is not something new, I think, although it does seem that variegated things in it can wilt ‘difficult’ at variegated points throughout history. Embarrassment is something that brings shame or humiliation: the wordlist defines it as a ‘feeling of self-consciousness, shame or awkwardness’. God’s word can be awkward. Declaring something which is undisciplined or doesn’t fit hands into what we see happening virtually us. How easy it is, in unstipulated to say something that we know will get a crowd-pleasing response. But is this ineligibility regarding portions of scripture valid or is it considering we are not yet fully surrendering ourselves to God and His ways, trusting in them and counting ourselves sufferer to the world? Things in the bible can wilt embarrassing or worrisome when up versus a shifting and waffly culture.Planethe wonderful message of the gospel, can finger worrisome when we are surrounded by unbelievers who have no concept of sin or their need of a saviour. A man dying over 2,000 years ago on a navigate for the sins of the world can seem like foolish talk surrounded a group of colleagues in the work place. It can finger so far removed from the daily grind of what we are ‘really up against’ or immersed in.PlanePaul had to make a declaration that he was ‘not red-faced of the gospel’ despite it stuff a stumbling woodcut to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, considering he knew that ‘through the foolishness of the message preached’ it was ‘to save those who believe.’ (1 Corinthians 1:21) Acknowledging the second coming of Christ might moreover finger embarrassing when we are with people who are planning out the next 30 years of their life with no expectation or thought that Jesus could return at any time. In fact, in unrepealable situations it might plane finger laughable to mention what the bible says on this subject. What will be the squint on faces when we tell them we believe Jesus is returning to this earth? Or what well-nigh when we waif in a bit well-nigh the rapture? Will they think we’ve lost our marbles? One minute it might towards a sensible conversation is taking place, the next it might seem we’ve gone completely weird talking well-nigh an historical icon coming when to rule and to reign or believers stuff unprotected up to heaven. But the list doesn’t end there. The ineligibility goes on. The mention of sexual purity surrounded friends at higher who have no qualms well-nigh enjoying sex with their current boyfriend or girlfriend. The weighing of homosexuality stuff an villainy in God’s vision when laws in the country are stuff passed in favour of ‘gay’ marriage and the majority says with passionate and sincere hearts that everyone has the right to ‘marry’ whom they want. The message of forgiveness when someone tells you well-nigh the terrible way someone has treated them, relying on you to support and repletion them. The reality of hell stuff the place people go to if they reject Jesus, in a culture which lovingly declares, R.I.P to all that die, whether they have believed in God or not. The practice of a woman tent her throne in prayer out of obedience to 1 Corinthians 11, in a climate where women have stopped tent considering the denomination has decided it is no longer relevant without 100’s of years of practise considering headship has been devalued by radical feminism. And withal with all of these the message of women not teaching in the denomination – worrisome – when the culture virtually you strongly advocates ‘equality’ where men are women are the same and there are no distinctions or differing roles anymore. Yes, so much of scripture, though lovingly taught and wisely used, can just simply feel…..well, out of place in our culture now. The rubber hits the road for the parishioner when faced with shifting cultural values, considering the vital problem is, the world is not seeking to please God or be obedient to His ways but to establish values that it thinks are important and which please humankind. Values in culture twist and turn this way and that, creating all kinds of newfangled ways of doing things; patterns that sometimes towards loving and sincere, pearly and balanced, and plane having a form of godliness, but usually the reality is, if we study increasingly carefully, are in uncontrived opposition to the word of God. The hair-trigger point is well-nigh lordship. Who is in tuition and who are we pursuit and honouring? For the sake of clarity, I am not talking well-nigh the pursuit of rules and regulations in a religious and heartless kind of way but unsuspicious God’s ways as perfect whilst reaching out lovingly and sincerely to believers and unbelievers alike. The bible says that the world is at enmity with God and the devil is seeking in a myriad of ways, to overthrow or switch virtually God’s perfect ways; as he has been doing from the whence of time: ‘did God really say?’. Spiritually, not much has really reverted throughout history and culture except the standing need to take valiance as a follower of Christ; protract in faith, hope and love; love not your life unto death; and not be swayed by the overly waffly patterns of the world. Hebrews installment 11 v 32-40 reminds us of the tumultuous, hazardous and often harsh path that heroes of the faith have trodden before. However unfashionable God’s word might seem and however untrendy raising up His holy standard might appear, we pray for strength to do it considering despite all we see happening virtually us we believe that God in His wisdom and knowledge has designed things in a way that He saw fit from the whence of time. It most probably will unpeace throne on with the standards society pushes, in its rebellion versus God and His word. Praise God that by His Spirit, He can help us overcome our embarrassment and weakness towards His word which is ‘living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing plane to the semester of soul and spirit’. We can trust His divine wisdom and unclose that His ways are higher than ours in what he has set withal in His word. This will midpoint not overriding passages of scripture considering of embarrassment and considering they mismatch with overly waffly cultural standards, but pondering them in our heads and hearts and praying for understanding as to why God has set things the way He has in His word. As we wait upon God, He will bring revelation to His word and we will uncork to see and understand the why. It will uncork to make sense to us. God is not a follower without culture or trends, He is the leader, throne over all creation; all knowing, all loving, all mysterious and all powerful, ruler of the unshortened universe, who acts with purpose and wisdom and who sets withal the way his creatures are to walk in for he has created them to walk thus. Therefore, let us follow in His wake without shame or fear, lest He be red-faced of us when we meet Him squatter to face. Let us not be blinkered by misleading connotations that society is seeking to enforce, but in prayer seek revelation as to why these biblical truths exist and live equal to the revealed Word with valiance to find the uniqueness of the higher paths. Perhaps it is time for us to make a standing declaration of true-heartedness to God and His word, to speak into any zone of our life where we have felt weak, embarrassed or worrisome in the past, and say, in the strength of the Lord, ‘I am not ashamed………!’ Alison Joy The post “For I am not ashamed…..” appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2015/08/14/ashamed/feed/ 0 Origen on 1 Corinthians 14.33-35 (part 1: the Montanists) http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2015/03/16/origen-on-1-corinthians-14-re-montanists/ http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2015/03/16/origen-on-1-corinthians-14-re-montanists/#respond Mon, 16 Mar 2015 15:35:35 +0000 http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/?p=228 In a paper presented to the Evangelical Theological Society in 1986, and entitled ‘οὐδέ in 1 Timothy 2:12’, Philip Payne argued for a novel understanding of the meaning and gravity of οὐδέ in that text of scripture. A revised version of the paper was published in the Journal of New Testament Studies in 2008. As…The post Philip Payne, οὐδέ, and Galatians 1 vv 16-17 appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> In a paper presented to the Evangelical Theological Society in 1986, and entitled ‘οὐδέ in 1 Timothy 2:12’, Philip Payne argued for a novel understanding of the meaning and gravity of οὐδέ in that text of scripture. A revised version of the paper was published in the Journal of New Testament Studies in 2008. As its title, ‘1 Tim 2.12 and the Use of οὐδέ to Combine Two Elements to Express a Single Idea’, indicates, he argues that there is only one prohibition in view, not two. As I showed in my previous post on the subject, οὐδέ serves, when employed without a previous negative, to add flipside one.Equalto the lexicons it ways ‘and not, nor’. So in 1 Timothy 2:12, we have: διδάσκειν δὲ γυναικὶ οὐκ ἐπιτρέπω (I do not permit a woman to teach) οὐδέ (nor) αὐθεντεῖν ἀνδρός (to exercise validity over a man).. and all the translations have a similar structure. Philip Payne argues for a completely variegated understanding of the meaning and gravity of οὐδέ, unknown to previous generations of scholars of both classical and New Testament Greek. He claims that the upholder Paul used it to combine two elements into one in a strong way, so that all that is prohibited in 1 Timothy 2:12 is the combination of the two elements, and not the elements considered separately and individually. It is like putting up a sign saying: NO RUNNING OR JUMPING IN THE COURTYARD and somebody running through, and when stopped saying ‘Oh, I thought the word ‘or’ combines two elements into one, and it was only running and jumping at the same time that is not allowed.’ Payne moreover claims that the verb αὐθεντεῖν ways ‘to seem authority’ (for oneself). This seems to be within the range of the meaning of the word, but he is wrong not to consider other options such as simply ‘to exercise authority’. Here is the utopian (short summary) of Payne’s paper, as it appeared in published form: The zillion of the paper consists of an struggle to prove that  Paul used οὐδέ in this previously unknown way in passages other than 1 Timothy 2 v 12. In some cases, Payne changes the plain meaning of the text to suit his purposes. In this post, I examine his treatment of Galatians 1 vv 16-17: He claims that it is not true that Paul did not consult with mankind and blood, since he consulted with Ananias!! And the scripture should really read something withal the lines of: ..I did not immediately consult with mankind and thoroughbred by going up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles surpassing me; or .. I did not immediately consult with mankind and blood, that is, by going up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles surpassing me; Thus Payne: This, quite frankly, is dangerous. Paul wrote: ‘I did not consult with mankind and blood’; and Philip Payne says that unquestionably he did consult with mankind and blood, denying the veracity of the scriptures, and waffly the meaning of words. In specimen the reader may be left wondering whether in fact Paul did consult with Ananias, the word used, προσανατίθημι, was used of consultation for the purpose of instruction, as with a soothsayer or interpreter of dreams. Here is Ernest Burton [‘The Epistle to the Galatians’, ICC, 1920], p.54: and here is the entry from the BAGD Lexicon: Προσανεθέμην is taking the dative in verse 16 here (σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματι), as in meaning 2. above, so Paul is saying that he did not go to anyone to seek advice. There is no record in Acts 9 of Paul seeking translating from anyone in Damascus, so there is no difficulty in translating οὐδέ in the normal way: nor did I go up [NASB]; nor did I go up [NKJV]; nor did I go up [RSV]; nor did I go up [ESV]; neither went I up [ASV]; and so on. Payne cites in his support the New English Bible translation: ‘without consulting any human being, without going up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles surpassing me, I went off at once to Arabia . . .’ but this is not support for his position that Paul did consult a human being. On the contrary, it says that he did not. Ronald Fung, in the New International Commentary on the New Testament [Galatians, 1988], p.68 gives what appears to be the same translation: ‘When that happened, without consulting any human being, without going up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles surpassing me..’ and then comments, on the pursuit page: ‘.. vv. 16b-17 emphasize the fact that immediately without his conversion Paul did not consult anyone, least of all the apostles in Jerusalem..’ We can see that existing translations take one of two views. The most worldwide is: I did not consult with mankind and thoroughbred (in Damascus), nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles. But a few may be reading it as: I did not consult with mankind and thoroughbred (at all); and (in particular), I did not go up to Jerusalem to the apostles. I think both of these are possible, and do not transgress the boundaries of possible meanings of οὐδέ. The second possibility is not at all the same as Payne’s reading, which is: I did not [consult with mankind and thoroughbred COMBINED WITH go up to Jerusalem to the apostles]; (but I did consult with mankind and thoroughbred in Damascus). If he could prove that this reading is correct, then he would have support for his reading of 1 Timothy 2:12, which is: I do not permit a woman [to teach COMBINED WITH to seem validity over a man]; (but I do permit a woman to teach, so long as it doesn’t involve her thesping validity over a man). But it is not correct. It invents a new previously unknown meaning for οὐδέ, and there is no justification for it. Andrew The post Philip Payne, οὐδέ, and Galatians 1 vv 16-17 appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/18/philip-payne-%ce%bf%e1%bd%90%ce%b4%ce%ad-galatians-1-vv-16-17/feed/ 0 Stopping the rot http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/13/stopping-rot/ http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/13/stopping-rot/#respond Thu, 13 Feb 2014 20:24:10 +0000 http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/?p=225 For over a year now, since moving into our apartment, I have wilt a pipe surveyor, regularly checking out the unattended leaking pipe in the roofing over our allotted parking space in the parking lot underneath our housing block. I have visions of the whole towers caving in over night, though my husband, who trained…The post Stopping the rot appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> For over a year now, since moving into our apartment, I have wilt a pipe surveyor, regularly checking out the unattended leaking pipe in the roofing over our allotted parking space in the parking lot underneath our housing block. I have visions of the whole towers caving in over night, though my husband, who trained as an engineer, reassures me well-nigh the reliable, solid steel structure holding it all together. Just a continual drip, drip, lard over the months has created a lot of damage. Not that long ago a large piece of wateriness ceiling collapsed, and finally the repair visitor came and patched it up with a rectangle of strong cardboard-like tiling….but a week or so later the leaking pipe unfurled to expend water until flipside huge wateriness spot encircled the wafer-thin patching. It now threatens once increasingly to requite way whilst rust advances and thrives in a salmagundi way withal the dysfunctional pipe. I’m no expert regarding the loss of wool truth in the world but the way it has permeated the denomination is like a slowly spreading gangrene, corroding yonder the centrality of the gospel message with the drip, drip, lard of political lawfulness and ‘open-minded’ thinking, intravenously feeding denomination life and placing upon us the expectation or pressure to unshut ourselves up to volitional ideas, suggestions, imaginary exploration and changing-with-the-times doctrinal thinking. Leading us yonder with a tentacle-like grip from taking the bible too seriously or literally. Increasingly there is a need and visa to express our rights and explore our individuality like the world does, with no right or wrong answer, so that plane our sin is reverted into an volitional way of being, or a medical problem or a personality disorder rather than an act of mutiny versus God and His word. We might plane uncork to lose the need for a Saviour altogether. It all takes place so subtly at first and then begins to tingle out like a slime infecting the whole batch. In one dark, wateriness corner there is increasingly and increasingly accent on how superstitious and wonderful we are as women, congratulating, complimenting and encouraging each other in our worldliness, achievements and yearing rather than seeking to spur one flipside on to reflect the meekness and lowliness of Jesus Christ who, in His servanthood, took up His navigate and gave up His rights. Instructions to women in the bible are classed as outdated or unmentionable in our culture today and sadly ignored maybe considering they don’t fit just as we want them to. In flipside syrupy corner feminist theologians are plane developing and expanding the idea of an volitional Jesus tabbed ‘Christa’, the sexuality messiah who can be seen as the new, risen saviour. It all sounds so much increasingly positive and reasonable and loving than the need to ‘stick to the word rigidly’ or to ‘interfere with flipside woman’s creative relationship with God’ by warning a sister of her sin and encouraging her when to biblical thinking. I do understand in part how this infection begins and then gets underway, causing us to skid remoter out from shore, like a wend without an anchor, towards well-appointed sounding ideas that help us to discover ‘more well-nigh ourselves’ and shape theology to suit where we are at. It can take place in our woundedness, or through simple, sincere exploration, or lack of submission to God, or considering our “natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him…..[and] are spiritually discerned”. During my 30s I yearned for increasingly of God’s presence and to know Him in a deeper way and began regularly peekaboo group and individual retreats, which happy me in many ways. I then became involved in training to wilt a spiritual director and whilst learning a lot and stuff extremely grateful to those who trained me, I later saw in retrospect the danger of the journey rhadamanthine increasingly well-nigh myself and others virtually me. As time went on and I met with variegated people, mainly women, I found myself opening up increasingly and increasingly to spiritually variegated ideas and causes and shifting yonder overly so gradually from biblical doctrine, which somehow became less important. So gradual was it that I didn’t plane notice at first until later God stopped me in my tracks and showed me the meandering path I was on and the spiritual wrestle that was raging not just in the world but in my life, seeking to yo-yo my thinking and loosen me from His truth, by nullifying His word through my newly formulating ideas and spiritual ‘openness’. There is one thing I believe many women love and like to live for and that is a good rationalization to fight for. There are many causes out in the world to take hold of, but we have to be so very shielding in our desire for justice and truth that we do not end up fighting a rationalization that is ultimately anti-God. We need to pray to discern all things by looking first at the word of God to see if our thinking and ideas are in structuring with scripture and not the other way around, trying to make scripture fit our ideas or mystical thinking, otherwise we risk losing the truth which sets us self-ruling and we might not find our way when home again. Sadly there is much worldliness in our lives as Christian women both inside and outside the denomination building. It truly is a wrestle but not an impossibility to meet quietly with God in that secret place where He is unseen. And not only that but to read His word and feed on it, yoyo in it and submitting joyfully to it with trust in our hearts that He is good and His word is life. What words He has for us! Stuffed with wondrous promises of hope and meaning! He cannot goof to meet our godly expectations or let us lanugo if we follow His word. It reaches into our lives, in mysterious and wonderful ways as only the Creator’s wisdom can, revealing the measure of His love and ours. And if we indulge Him to be Him instead of trying to transpiration Him or His words then we can wilt us, women of God, with the immeasurable eyeful that reflects our reigning and living Saviour – Jesus. Alison Joy The post Stopping the rot appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/13/stopping-rot/feed/ 0 The unpalatable truth http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/10/unpalatable-truth/ http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/10/unpalatable-truth/#respond Mon, 10 Feb 2014 17:31:59 +0000 http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/?p=202 This is, I know, a contentious topic we are discussing on this website and at the moment, in our current climate, when the subject matter arises of ‘women in the church’ in the midst of a friendly discussion with someone, I sometimes find myself trying to stave or hedge virtually it because, quite frankly, I’m…The post The unpalatable truth appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> This is, I know, a contentious topic we are discussing on this website and at the moment, in our current climate, when the subject matter arises of ‘women in the church’ in the midst of a friendly discussion with someone, I sometimes find myself trying to stave or hedge virtually it because, quite frankly, I’m scared to express a variegated point of view from the prevailing crowd. In unstipulated I see myself increasingly as a sympathiser and confidant than one who diverges from the mainstream. I know that often what follows if my beliefs are expressed – are equally strong beliefs from the other side of the fence. I don’t enjoy having variegated opinions, and this topic in particular seems increasingly difficult to discuss phlegmatically than many, many others in the bible. Having once stood on the opposing side, I know some of the convictions and considerations which can be found there and what can be perceived or thought when hearing the words, no matter how benevolently spoken, ‘no, I don’t believe a woman should be teaching in the church’. It makes me think that a ‘Men-in-the-church’ website would somehow have been a much increasingly tranquil topic, a lighter discussion point; less controversial and less intimidating than the women debate. But here we are, feeling led by God to share on the less palatable option. Just today it came up in a conversation with a couple of precious women and I felt the sudden shift as, having been asked where I stand on the subject, I shared as simply as I could what I believed. It was hard, as I knew they were of a variegated opinion. The conversation all but finished at that point and I tried to search for a way ‘to make things alright’ again. I have often told God that I am not made for controversial situations. I certainly do not have a thick skin. Generally, I have been a woman that has wanted to tousle in with the prod and be in try-on with everyone. I have wanted to dress the same, squint the same and be the same. I am not one of those people who wants to express my individuality. But it would seem that throughout my life at every turn, God has been wanting something different, someone different. Perhaps plane preparing me for this current stand, which is viewed with disfavour by many. As a child it was not easy just to tousle in as I would have liked and as the world urged me to do. I grew up in a missionary family on a small, tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Returning to England at the age of 9, I often felt that difference; I was used to climbing fruit trees, eating mangos and stuff barefoot in tropical downpours while English children were used to eating apples from the shops and putting on wellies to go outside in the rain. There were cultural differences. When I reached the age of 30 and felt God calling me to live in Oxford, UK, a place of learning, I was near to terrified, I didn’t finger I would fit, in the slightest; I had been longing to go overseas to somewhere like Africa. I had never gone to university, and was of stereotype intelligence and I felt it keenly as I stumbled through conversations with educated Oxford people. I cried nearly every week for the first year until I felt God saying, He didn’t just want flipside PhD student in Oxford, valuable though they were, it was me He wanted, and all that He had made me to be. As Christians we have to be prepared to be VERY variegated from the world and perhaps over the last 30 years or so, as the church, we have sought too nonflexible to underpass the gap in our attempts to evangelise the lost and have given up the distinctive difference that we have as children of God and members of His kingdom. And now I believe there is something increasingly migratory here than the strong, differing opinions virtually this topic of women in the church. Something overdue it which causes complications, not considering there are bible passages that are particularly difficult to understand but simply considering spiritual forces are versus us obeying God’s word and are seeking to realign us to the spirit of the age. Satan is doing his utmost to hinder us from that very narrow path that God intends we should walk, to intimidate and misplace our thinking and tangle us up with a whole host of other issues that put us off obeying the simple truth. The very verse in question, 1 Timothy 2 v 12-14, well-nigh women not teaching, Paul, the apostle, links to Adam and Eve and to the woman stuff deceived. The troublemaking wares written today, which transpiration this verse to suit their thinking, seem to end up as Eve did, coming into try-on with the words of the devil, ‘Has God indeed said…?’ It’s worth remembering that the enemy from the whence of time has been undermining God’s words and will protract to use every possible way to waterworks and misshape our mindsets through the wiles of feminism and influences of a humanistic world. ‘Did God really say….is it really written?’ In response the bible tells us in Romans installment 12, not to conform to the patterns of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we will be worldly-wise to test and legitimatize the will of God, which is perfect. It surely must not be palatable for us as Christians to override God’s sacred word and seek to tousle in, when God has brought us out of darkness, by sacrificing His own life, washing us wipe by His precious thoroughbred and bringing us into His holy, unique and extraordinarily wonderful kingdom to be His spotless bride. Alison Joy The post The unpalatable truth appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/10/unpalatable-truth/feed/ 0 The meaning of οὐδέ in 1 Timothy 2:12 http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/02/07/meaning-%ce%bf%e1%bd%90%ce%b4%ce%ad-1-timothy-212-2/ Fri, 07 Feb 2014 16:07:16 +0000 http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/?p=140 I have gotten myself into some very sticky and tricky situations in life simply considering of my inability to say ‘no’ straight off. The stickier the situation has wilt the increasingly it has required of me to speak out from that uneasy and inevitable corner, the word I least want to say, ‘no’. I think…The postStufftold ‘No’ appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> I have gotten myself into some very sticky and tricky situations in life simply considering of my inability to say ‘no’ straight off. The stickier the situation has wilt the increasingly it has required of me to speak out from that uneasy and inevitable corner, the word I least want to say, ‘no’. I think it probably comes from my snooping of hurting flipside person’’s feelings, possibly making them finger rejected, worrying how they will react and cope or wondering how I will be worldly-wise to handle the mismatch or thwarting that may follow. Or perhaps it is me, feeling that I am lightweight somehow to meet a need.Stuffterribly sensitive towards flipside person’s feelings and ‘positive’ all the time does not necessarily work for another’s good. ‘Yes’ does not unchangingly midpoint love and ‘no’ the reverse. We speak the truth in love and true-blue are the wounds of a friend. As children we tend to grow up hearing the word ‘no’ on a fairly regular understructure from our parents or adults in general, usually for our protection and guidance and to alimony us within unscratched boundaries. Sometimes, in younger lives, the word is overused and can wilt a source of negativity or unhelpful wits which can later trigger strong reactions or emotions, such as feelings of oppression, withholding of freedom, lack of hope or unstipulated discouragement. In childhood, it can seem like the thing most longed for is the one we are denied. The one vetoed item becomes the most lulu and dazzling with qualities outshining and outstripping all the rest. We hold on tightly to it as if our lives depend upon it, refusing to loosen our grip! As we proceeds independence and grow older it becomes a little increasingly difficult to receive the word ‘no’ from someone. We may be denied the right to operate as we would like to, or decide what appears best, logical, or plane ‘godly’ in our own eyes. It can seem frustrating and perhaps later, humbling or disappointing. Often pride can rise up in protest somewhere withal the line, with all kinds of excuses. We have the capabilities, we have the knowhow, we have everything that it takes to do that thing in our sights, we are completely right for that job or position, why then should we be denied it? Or why should we not just ‘go for it’? When I first heard a talk by a speaker that women were not to teach in the church, I felt a big ‘NO’ slapped lanugo on the table surpassing me and was mortally offended. Why should I not? I had been unliable to teach in denomination on a few occasions and I felt that it had impacted lives. I did OK. Why should I not do this one thing that appeared to have been blessed? It seemed a little unreasonable to say the least, particularly, as from the age of 17 I had been out in the workplace operating at a very equal level with both men and women. That was the norm. That was the way things were done. Preaching in denomination was just flipside door of wits that had opened up to me. At least that was what it felt like at the time. The sting of someone saying ‘no’ was a severe wrack-up to my pride…and sense of fairness…. And yet as my indignation began to cool, I realised I had never paused for one moment to considered the effect it was truly having on the soul of Christ. I had never thought for one moment that God may perfectly be within His rights to say ‘no’ and divide giftings and callings to His soul as He sees fit. God is not of this world, He is the creator of man and woman and has designed us to flourish in the way that He ordained and foreknew equal to His divine order. This is not something just well-expressed the physical but the spiritual too, in ways unseen. I had never stopped to consider the men in the denomination and the potentially detrimental effect it could have on them as men by a) not encouraging them in their God-given roles as leaders and b) by presuming it would be of no magnitude that they were coming under women teachers and women’s authority, no matter how okay it appeared at first. I had moreover been veiling to the effects on women, who, operating in roles they were not designed to operate in, were rhadamanthine in nature something undisciplined to what God had intended. In a nutshell, turning God’s order upside lanugo and denying the truth. Was I willing for just one moment to examine my own concepts of right and wrong, in the light of God’s word and let the bible be my rule of thumb? Was I willing to embrace as a woman those areas of giftings which God was saying were good for me, be content in my calling and seek to bring to the soul of Christ that which was lacking? Was I willing to let go of that which God had designated for a man? We are all a part of His precious body, partakers of His mankind and bone, not looking to our own interests but to the interests of others and ultimately to Him alone. Let us unshut to Him our hands and hearts in freedom, loosening our grips on the things we think will bring us happiness and fulfilment, considering our lives do not necessarily depend upon them nor do the lives of others, we all depend upon God and His perfect plan for us. Alison Joy The postStufftold ‘No’ appeared first on Women in the Church.]]> http://womeninthechurch.co.uk/2014/01/29/told/feed/ 0