Carolyn's Reflections

Sarah—Life in the Margins

2009-07-04T08:00:00.002-05:00

"God's silence is one of the most disconcerting experiences any of his children endure. We can persevere through just about anything so long as we sense the warmth of his presence and the reassuring comfort of his love. But courage melts and we are taken hostage by fear and hopelessness when God seems far away. . . . Sarah suffered God's stony silence . . . Silence in response to her tears and pleadings for a child. Silence in the beautiful promises that never included her. Silence that only reinforced Sarah's fears that God remembered Abraham, but had forgotten her."

—Lost Women of the Bible

Listen online to SESSION 3 of Midday Connection's rebroadcast of Sarah's story—a desperate struggle for a place in God's purposes.

SESSION 4: Friday, July 10
Hagar—The Invisible Woman

Locate your local station and time here.

Twitter

2009-06-29T09:22:00.005-05:00

Sunday morning I experienced the power of technology in ministry when the ping of my cell phone woke me up. Twitter, FaceBook,and other social networking technologies have a surprising variety of uses, from exposing and fueling political crises, as we have witnessed in the Iranian election protests, to mindless chit-chat with friends. These technologies are also power tools for community and ministry to others.

For example, a friend emailed me recently to ask if I knew of a simple self-study on the book of Romans for his son who is in prison and newly turned to the Lord. Now there's a tall order! A few words on Twitter (which traveled from there to FaceBook) and within minutes I had three solid recommendations to pass on to him.

Then there was that ping on Sunday morning. It was a text message—a tweet from Max Lucado. I have him and a couple of others I follow linked to my cell phone, so their Twitter messages come to me direct. Evidently, he was up early and sending encouragement to others. It was a timely word for me—a welcome first thought of the day.

May God calm your soul on this day.
May the Voice that soothed Galilee's storm, still yours.
"It's all right. I am here." Mt. 14.27
Amen

Follow me on Twitter @carolynezer

Mrs. Noah—The Unknown Soldier

2009-06-28T16:50:00.001-05:00

"Mrs. Noah got lost in her marriage. Among the lost women of the Bible, she has all but vanished from sight. Her story (which may have been a good one) died with her and remains buried to this day because the story that got told was her husband's. . . . In an odd way, Mrs. Noah is ideal for our discussion of lost women precisely because we know so little about her. She helps us see . . . God's purposes aren't just for those who stand in the spotlight. They apply equally to those of us who remain hidden in the shadows."

—Lost Women of the Bible

Listen online to SESSION 2 of Midday Connection's rebroadcast of Mrs. Noah's story—to see how the significance of our kingdom efforts is not measured by our visability, fame, or press coverage.

SESSION 3: Friday, July 3
Sarah—Life in the Margins

Locate your local station and time here.

Eve—A Forgotten Legacy

2009-06-23T00:00:00.003-05:00

"The trouble with Eve is that in the rush to evacuate Eden, we picked up the wrong pieces of her to tell us who we are. . . If we want to recover Eve's true legacy, we must begin where the Bible does—with her creation. We must retrace our steps to the Garden of Eden to retrieve the truth God revealed about Eve before the serpent showed up. God's definition of the woman and her significant place in his purposes came out in the planning phase of creation when his blueprint for women was spread out on the table in heaven's holy conference room."

—Lost Women of the Bible

Listen online to SESSION 1 of Midday Connection's rebroadcast of Eve's story—a discussion with earthshaking implications for both women and men!

SESSION 2: Friday, June 26
Mrs. Noah—The Unknown Soldier

Locate your local station and time here.

Something to ponder . . .

2009-06-21T17:00:00.003-05:00

“Christianity is a doctrine not of the tongue, but of the life, and is not apprehended merely by the intellect and memory like other sciences, but it is revealed only when it possesses the whole soul and finds its seat and habitation in the innermost recesses of the heart.”

—John Calvin

21st Century Deborahs

2009-06-18T06:30:00.010-05:00

This week I heard an inspiring presentation about Hope International—a microfinance ministry that through small loans is empowering people (the majority are women) to work their way out of the depths of poverty. The stories of transformation are remarkable.

One mother of five children from Congo said, "Before, on a 'good' day, I could usually feed my family once a day. Now I feed them three times a day, pay for my children to go to school, and am feeding my pastor's family and a widowed neighbor too."

"So what are their husband's doing?" someone wanted to know.

Well, let's see . . . the unemployment rate in Congo is 90%. They're out of work, most of them, and have been for months. Probably they're depressed. Maybe hitting the bottle. Some (not all) have abandoned their families.

So their wives turn inventive, entrepreneurial, resourceful. They shift into ezer-mode and with a small business loan begin to battle their way out of hunger, poverty and despair.

I was deeply moved by their stories. At the same time I wondered how wide of the mark the church's message for women is for them. Does our message fuel them with courage or cause them to think they're operating outside proper boundaries. Are they "exceptions" to the rule or are they hitting the bullseye of what God calls his ezers to do? It's difficult to place these women in our well-developed grid and our intense debates over what God created women to do and what is off limits.

Deborah is another woman who simply doesn't fit. I'm always perplexed that Deborah seems to be such an anomaly in Christian circles. She's a perpetual topic of debate. Her position of authority and leadership—unquestioned by the Bible—is questioned by us. She is routinely downsized and redefined as "a punishment" on men who were shirking their responsibility for leadership.

In other words, Deborah is a "substitute" judge, an emergency measure, who if things were working properly, wouldn't be a judge at all. In the process, her story and her significance as a role model for women today get pushed to the sidelines.

Deborah may have been a great woman, but "please don' t try this at home."

The Bible doesn't talk about her like that. Strangely, there's no hint in the Bible to justify the kind of treatment Deborah receives at our hands.

The book of Judges gives Deborah top billing. She comes in the early phase, where according to some Old Testament scholars the judges are strongest. We have more of her words than any other judge. And there are no negative editorial comments embedded in the text about Deborah being out of line in God's eyes, hiding out in a winepress, or cavorting with the Philistines.

To the contrary, she is spotlighted as a person of great leadership and character, courageous faith, and remarkable gifting. People flock to her for advice, judgment, and wisdom. She calls Barak into battle and is so full of faith herself, believing God will do what he says against terrible odds, that she boldly joins Barak, bolsters his faith in the battle, and spurs him on to greatness (Hebrews 11:32). When all is said and done, she stands shoulder to shoulder with any other psalmist in the Bible. Her theologically rich lyrics have instructed God's people for generations.

Wouldn't the world be a better place with more strong women like that?

If we include Deborah in our pantheon of female role models, where she rightfully belongs, suddenly the parameters expand for what every woman should be doing to engage the kingdom battles before her. Just think how it would fuel the efforts of the women of Congo to identify with a woman like Deborah. How it would fuel our efforts? How could this change our daughters’ lives?

Until and unless we factor in Deborah to our discussions of what God calls his daughters to be and do, we remain very much in danger of believing and exporting an irrelevant and unbiblical message to women in the global church and of endangering women everywhere of being the steward in Jesus’ Parable of the Talents who must explain to the Lord why she buried his talents in the ground.

Lost Women of the Bible

2009-06-17T17:48:00.004-05:00

Starting this Friday, June 19, Moody Radio's Midday Connection is re-airing a 10-week series, where host Anita Lustrea, Nancy Kane (Associate Professor of Educational Ministries at Moody Bible Institute), and I go chapter by chapter through Lost Women of the Bible.

You can locate your local station and time here.

If you haven't yet read the book yet, it's time you did! This way you can read along with the disussion.

I should mention, this isn't the same old "stories of women in the Bible" that we've heard all our lives. Readers tell me it's like meeting these well-known women for the very first time. There's a lot more to their stories than we realize. And when we dig deeper, we discover their stories have a surprising 21st Century relevance and a message for women that will preach in any era, circumstance, or culture.

This is also where you'll learn about the ezer and the Blessed Alliance and why both concepts are so important to all of us—men as well as women.

Here comes the bride?

2009-06-03T11:00:00.003-05:00

In a video message posted online, Pastor Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church Seattle) defends himself against his critics who find some of his remarks in the pulpit inappropriate. In defending himself, among other things, Driscoll talks about something he finds inappropriate—namely, associating the word "bride" to himself personally in relation to Jesus.

You can watch his full defense here.

The comments I'm referring to start about 2:45 minutes into the recording and relate to a sermon he preached on the Song of Songs.

“. . . we do love Jesus, but we don’t love Jesus as if we were his bride. . . . the bride imagery of the church doesn’t work real well for an individual application, especially for a man. . . . But taking that metaphor, for example, and applying it to an individual would mean that I am Jesus' bride. That I am Jesus' wife. To say the least, that conjures up very bizarre imagery that creates a very strange relationship with Jesus who is God become a man, but is now a man nonetheless, the God-man to be sure, but a man. . . . It’s false, it doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t work. . . . because that’s not the kind of relationship that a heterosexual man should have with Jesus.

I would agree that the bride metaphor is corporate and also that there's always a danger of taking a metaphor too far. At the same time, aren't we skating on thin ice theologically and hermeneutically, not to mention falling into the "picking and choosing" habit, when we stiff-arm a biblical metaphor at the personal level just because it makes us uncomfortable? Isn't Scripture supposed to make us uncomfortable?

More to the point, does Driscoll's resistance expose a flawed view of male/female relationships, if it is off-putting at best and demeaning at worst for a man to think of himself as a bride or a wife, even though Scripture attaches those labels to him?

Doesn't the "heterosexual man" need to know at the personal level he is beloved, pursued, embraced, and called out. Are there no low moments in his life when he needs to hear Jesus exclaiming "You are bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!" or be reminded that the love bond between God and himself is "as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave"?

Is there something important for all of us to gain—including Pastor Driscoll—in contemplating what it means for us individually to be called the Bride of Christ?

What do you think?

Blessed Alliance: Making Music Together

2009-05-27T14:00:00.004-05:00

Fran & Marlo Cowan (married 62 years!) playing an impromptu recital together and having fun in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic shortly before his 90th birthday.

When men and women forge a Blessed Alliance—in marriage or any other realm—the result is mutual flourishing! This Blessed Alliance will make you smile.

Ezer Story: Irena Sendler

2009-05-24T21:10:00.006-05:00

Frank and I just got around to watching The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, a Hallmark Hall of Fame production of the life of Irena Sendler (1910-2008) that aired in April.

Sendler was a heroic member of the Polish Underground during WWII. She worked for the Social Welfare Department, and her profession gained her access to the Warsaw Ghetto where, at enormous risk to herself, she conducted a covert operation to smuggle Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto to safety. Through her courage and inventiveness she saved the lives of 2500 children.

In 1943, the Gestapo arrested and tortured her. But she refused to divulge any information. The beatings broke her feet and legs, and she barely escaped execution. By her own account, she never forgot the sound of the cries of children as they were separated from their parents and she grieved to her dying day that she was unable to save more.

We may think of Irena as an exception to the rule, but her actions are well within the scope of an ezer's calling and ought to expand our ideas of God's calling on women's lives. As image bearers, we have responsibility for what goes on in our world. As ezer's we don't have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines while our brothers are fighting kingdom battles without us.

Below is one of several video tributes to Irena.

New Resource!

2009-05-23T16:09:00.005-05:00

Christianity Today International just released a new resource in The Mentoring Series titled, What It Means to Be a Woman in Ministry. This downloadable resource contains several articles I wrote for Gifted for Leadership that focus on the Blessed Alliance.

Mother Pratt and Cheering Men

2009-05-16T21:00:00.003-05:00

Several years ago, Frank and I, with a group of thirty mostly Presbyterian pastors and their spouses, were privileged to meet The Honorable Cynthia Pratt, Deputy Prime Minister of The Bahamas. That meeting left the entire group in no doubt that we had just encountered a truly extraordinary person.

Known affectionately to Bahamians as “Mother Pratt,” this impressive woman didn’t come by the title “Mother” because of her five children, although that seems the most obvious explanation. She earned the title “Mother” through her wisdom when, as an athlete on Bahamas’ National Softball team, she wisely and skillfully diffused a volatile situation that threatened to turn ugly and embarrassing for her country.

During our meeting with her, we stood like a church choir on the steps of the capitol building in Nassau listening respectfully as she spoke with pride of her people, her country, and the privilege of serving in government. Suddenly, she shifted into high gear, boldly identifying herself as a follower of Jesus Christ and voicing openly her passion for His Kingdom.

I mean, this woman was preaching the gospel!

What caught me completely off guard (more than hearing a government official testify publicly and fearlessly to her faith in Christ) was the thunderous chorus of heartfelt amen’s that erupted from the men in our group. It isn’t every day that a woman is cheered on by her Christian brothers like that. It'll be a long time before I ever forget it. I can only imagine how much it must have meant to her.

This week, I attended the Florida Conference for Women, a gathering of several hundred women leaders in the Central Florida region, and I thought again of Mother Pratt. These women are remarkable, accomplished, high flyers in business, medicine, politics, finance, and education. Among those addressing the group were: Tory Johnson, Founder and CEO of Women for Hire and Good Morning America’s Career Guru, Kelly Corrigan, NY Times Bestselling author of The Middle Place, Florida’s CFO, Alex Sink (who subsequently announced her candidacy for Governor of Florida), and two local news anchors, Barbara West and Martie Salt. These strong, smart, gifted women have a lot in common with Mother Pratt.

By virtue of their obvious leadership skills and achievements, these women raise some important questions.

What happens when the Mother Pratt’s of this world show up on the church’s doorstep with their proven leadership skills and passion for the gospel, desiring to become part of the local body? Do we know what to do with them? Do they hear the cheering voices of their brothers, or does the cheering stop? And for that matter, what kind of cheering do the other women hear? Does the Bible’s message for women include today’s professional women? Does the church embrace these women or regard them with unease? Do we welcome, need, and make the most of the rich gifts these ezers bring, or should they check their gifts at the door of the church?

What do you think? And what do you see actually happening?

The Great Debate

2009-05-11T11:00:00.008-05:00

Are you a complementarian or an egalitarian?

I cringe every time I hear that question. It feels like I am passing through an airport security checkpoint, and security guards are trying to determine if I pose a risk to the safety of the church.

Since the late 20th Century these two polarized groups have defined the evangelical landscape for women, and we are often pressured to declare where our loyalties lie. Taking a stand can be costly. Joining one side can cause estrangement from the other and friends to become foes.

Complementarians believe the Bible establishes male authority over women, making male leadership the biblical standard. Accordingly, God calls women to submit to male leadership and take up supportive roles to their husbands and to male leaders in the church. Egalitarians believe leadership is not determined by gender, but by the gifting of the Holy Spirit, and that God calls believers to submit to one another. At the heart of the debate is whether or not God has placed limits on what women can or cannot do in the home and in the church, although the discussion bleeds into other spheres of life.

What gives me heartburn about this debate is the fact that after years of careful study, highly respected evangelical scholars can’t agree. These are godly men and women who hold firmly to orthodox Christianity and staunchly defend the authority of Scripture. This stalemate alone ought to inject a strong measure of humility into the discussion. For many women it creates a boatload of uncertainty and anxiety: Are we over-using or under-using our gifts? Are we too independent, too competent, too strong?

Add to this the fact that personal circumstances often make it impossible to live consistently within one view or the other. What’s a woman to do if she doesn’t have a husband? What if a husband is unwilling or unable to lead? What about the single mom? Is she forced into a man’s role? Does a woman’s giftedness doom her to a perpetual state of frustration? Is she biblically obligated to challenge the local status quo or leave?

From a global perspective, Western women occupy a rather privileged social status. In many parts of the world, women are human property to be bought and sold in the sex trade. Islamic fundamentalists beat women in public when a gust of wind lifts the hem of their burka to expose ankles. They throw acid in the faces of young girls who dare to be educated. At the opposite extreme, radical feminists want to reorder society by redefining the concepts of femininity and masculinity. Males are viewed as oppressors, and abortion is a matter of civil rights.

Is the gospel message Christians are proclaiming nothing better than a “kinder, gentler” version of the way the world does things?

Not according to Jesus. His gospel takes men and women beyond these old debates to a radically new way of relating. He calls all of us away from grasping equality or authority to follow Him by pouring ourselves out for one another. He calls all of us to expend ourselves and our gifts in the global rescue effort He has launched. Our mission dwarfs our resources and demands a caliber of unity unlike anything the world has ever seen.

From the beginning, men and women have been God’s A-Team—a Blessed Alliance to advance His kingdom throughout the world. When He created male and female, Genesis says, “He blessed them.” Jesus’ deepest desire was for His followers to enjoy unparalleled oneness. Paul followed-up with the language of anatomy, describing us as one Body. What binds Jesus’ followers together is not our sameness, but our firm allegiance to Him and to His cause in the world.

Differences will always exist among Christians. But those very differences demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel—that Jesus is making a difference in our lives. How else can anyone explain how hopelessly diverse individuals can become one united Body?

So don’t expect a security checkpoint at Synergy conferences. We are not playing the debate game. Complementarians, egalitarians, and the undecided are all welcome. We have kingdom work to do, and we are forging strong relationships with each other and our brothers as we answer Jesus’ call on our lives.

Reprinted with permission. This article was originally published in the Synergy column for FullFill Magazine (Winter 2009). This edgy magazine takes women seriously with thoughtful articles by women leaders for "women of all seasons of life and leadership," but men too will benefit from reading it. There's even a "Male Box" column with contributors such as Dan Allender and Rob Bell. If you don't already subscribe, you should check it out.

Happy Ezer Day!

2009-05-10T19:30:00.010-05:00

My earliest Mother’s Day memories were of my father purchasing flowers for the whole family. The tradition he taught us was that on Mother’s Day you wear a flower to honor your mother: red if she is living, white if you’ve lost her. So my three brothers and I, along with our mother, wore red. My dad wore a white boutonniere.

Over time Mother’s Day changed for me. My inability to conceive a child (which I felt every day) was annually highlighted on that one special Sunday. Mother’s Day was the one Sunday in the year I was tempted (and have been known) to play hooky from church.
I recall feeling it acutely one year, as mothers rose to be honored, and I remained seated alongside an incredible young wife who couldn’t have stood even if she had a child, which she didn’t and never would simply because a debilitating disease had overrun her body. That’s when I began to look beyond my own discomfort to realize how, for so many women Mother’s Day is one date on the calendar they’d just as soon skip.

Jesus had the opportunity to memorialize Mother’s Day. Twice He had golden opportunities to celebrate His own mother in public. Instead, He redefined our reasons to honor women and changed everything for all of us.

On one of those occasions, Jesus was preaching, when a woman in the crowed blurted out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Instead of celebrating motherhood, Jesus pointed to another reason to celebrate women.

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28).

In God’s gracious providence, He gave me a little girl and made me a mother. Looking into her blinking eyes the first day I met her, was the first of many glorious moments. But as much as I love being a mom, I cannot forget the women who share the heartache I felt for so many years.

Maybe instead of celebrating biology—and leaving out so many women—we should take Jesus’ advice on the subject (now there’s an interesting idea!) and celebrate ezers who follow Him and are fulfilling His mandate to be fruitful and multiply by advancing His kingdom in the lives of others. Maybe then, instead of giving young women examples to follow that may be physically beyond their reach or easily lost in this broken world, we’d be showcasing role models every woman can and should follow.

A Blessed Ezers Day to ALL my sisters!

Something to ponder . . .

2009-03-31T22:00:00.004-05:00

"I do not want to die... until I have faithfully made the most of my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown."

—Kathe Kollwitz, 1867-1945

Kathe Kollwitz is regarded as one of the most important 20th century German artists. As one biographer notes, she created "timeless art works against the backdrop of a life of great sorrow, hardship and heartache." I think her quote is an appropriate response to Jesus' Parable of the Talents.

Orlando Earthquakes

2009-03-09T14:00:00.003-05:00

Although as far as I know, we aren't sitting on a fault line in Orlando, the ground moved underneath us anyway last week.

Of course, the much-anticipated moving experience was the Synergy2009 conference which delivered on its promise to be earthshaking. As seems to be the case at each conference, Synergy ramped things up another notch this year. It's Monday, and I'm still feeling the aftershocks of an incredible gathering of women and men. Despite the sagging economy, we had more attendees this year than last (from 31 different states!). The synergy among us was alive and well as we tackled the Blessed Alliance and worked to understand better God's vision for male/female relationships in His kingdom.

More about Synergy later.

Right now, you may be asking yourself, "Why in the world am I looking at a photo of "hunky" Frank James?"

Well, there was a second earthquake in Orlando resulting in seizmic changes for our family that I didn't expect.

The Richter Scale recorded a big one when Frank traveled to Boston early in the week for meetings at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Wednesday, he accepted their enthusiastic invitation to be their Provost. Needless to say, we are excited about opening a new chapter in our lives.

You can read their announcement here.

So much for all my gloating about warm Florida weather. Like the rest of you up North, this time next year I'll be shivering from the cold outside, feeling overheated indoors, and longing for the first sign of Spring.

Thawing out in Orlando

2009-02-28T11:00:00.001-05:00

This time next week, Synergy2009 will be in full swing, and I can hardly wait! Women (and men) will be gathering in Orlando from 29 states so far, representing a variety of Christian ministries and theological seminaries.

I've just returned from the wintry Chicago area, where I thoroughly enjoyed (from indoors) the first snow storm I've witnessed in years. Outdoors, I felt the bitter cold of single-digit temperatures. Best of all, I spent the weekend with the women of Wheaton Bible Church—a group that really knows how to have a good time (consider that an understatement!), but where there is great hunger to dig deeper into God's Word.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've also interacted with the women of Asbury Theological Seminary here in Orlando and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois—all fresh reminders of why I do what I do and why Synergy is so important.

Seminary training is vital. Landing a job in ministry is a significant accomplishment. The job search is often a major challenge and the point at which a lot of women hit a wall that eventually causes them to choose another line of work.

Synergy is building a support system for women training and searching for ministry jobs and women already in ministry positions. We focus on continuing education, networking with others who are in the same line of ministry, and tackling issues and problems that come up on different ministry fronts. Eventually, our goal (at least one of them) is to do more to help connect gifted women with fulltime ministry opportunities.

If you're among those migrating south for this year's Synergy conference, you can look forward to warmer temperatures and to refueling for the challenges and opportunities ahead. If you're not coming, please keep us in your prayers, and start making plans to join us at Synergy2010.

Something to ponder . . .

2009-02-18T07:00:00.003-05:00

"Preach the gospel
at all times,
if necessary, use words."

—St. Francis of Assisi

Feeling Warm Up North

2009-02-14T16:15:00.006-05:00

I live in Florida . . . where it is always summer never winter. So it's a shock to my system whenever I head north to colder climates. It feels like tumbling out of the back of a wardrobe, suddenly finding myself in the bitter cold world of Narnia.

This week I traveled with my friend and fellow Synergy promoter, Susan Nash, to the snow-covered campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. On our arrival, Dr. Alice Mathews, GCTS's Academic Dean, delivered on her promise of a "a very warm welcome in frigid, icy, snowy New England."

Her greeting wasn't the only reason I felt warm in wintry Massachusetts.

Chilly outside temperatures can't beat off the warmth I feel when I hear the passion of women to study and learn, to pursue a deeper relationship with God, and to follow His call to minister to others. I feel even warmer when I see theological seminaries putting out the welcome mat for women and hear of professors valuing the presence and contributions of women in the seminary classroom.

I feel a different kind of heat (more like fire!) inside when I hear stories of respected Christian leaders and even beloved mentors attempting to dissuade women from pursuing a seminary education. Or when I hear, as I did this past week, of studies that focused on female graduates from two leading evangelical seminaries over the past decade indicating only 13% of them have been able to find jobs in ministry organizations.

What is wrong with this picture?! Are the challenges the Christian church faces so small, that we can do without these ezer-warriors? I think not.

My hat goes off to the many women who, without the benefit of seminary training, have studied and done their best to teach God's Word. What some have accomplished with one hand tied behind their backs is extraordinary to say the least. At the same time, I have to wonder what more they could have done with the tools and training available at evangelical seminaries. Or how the church might have been strengthened and seminary communities themselves been enriched by involving, better yet recruiting, women at the seminary level in the study of theology and Scripture.

What possible advantage can there be to the church in making sure women know less or are less well-equipped for ministry? Where is the verse that says a woman should only know so much about God and no more? And what can we do to make the most of this growing resource of trained women God has called into Christian ministry?

Both kinds of heat fuel my commitment to Synergy. This is at least one place where we believe in women and are getting behind them as they train for, seek and engage in ministry opportunities.

Next weekend I'll be digging out my winter coat, gloves, and scarf again and heading for the bitter cold Chicago area where I'll be meeting with the women of Wheaton Bible Church and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. And where, I'm pretty sure, instead of shivering, I'll be feeling a lot of warmth inside as I interact with women who have a passion for learning and who are moving forward with their seminary training.

Texas Women

2009-02-06T10:00:00.004-05:00

Women are doing theology in Texas!

I just returned from the Lone Star State where I was part of a panel discussion for Irving Bible Church's women's Bible study, along with Sandi Glahn, Dallas Theological Seminary faculty, Jonalyn Grace Fincher, author of Ruby Slippers, and Jackie Roese, IBC's teaching pastor to women. Other women's groups would do well to check out what these Texas women are doing (click here).

This wasn't your typical "women's" gathering. There were no doilies in sight. And the handshakes, I have to say, were noticeably firmer than I usually encounter in women's groups across the country. The sprawling church facility was also appropriately Texas-sized. My Texan friend, Judy Douglass, would have felt right at home.

What is more, there was no side-stepping hard questions or refusing to come clean with the kinds of real issues that touch down in everyone's lives. These Texas women were dead serious and fearless when it came to asking honest, probing questions about God, Jesus, truth, faith and doubt, and why bad things happen in this world and in their private lives.

I can tell you, it's scary to be looking down the barrel of the kinds of questions they were asking. On the other hand, I was also heartened to find the discussion both mentally stretching and utterly down-to-earth. With deeply personal concerns driving the questions, this was a great example of what it means to "do" theology.

They opened the discussion by showing the YouTube below, which shows how even children can't help doing theology.

Something to ponder . . .

2009-02-04T12:00:00.003-05:00

"We live in a time when everyone's goal is to be perpetually healthy and constantly happy. . . . If any one of us fails to live up to the standards that are advertised as normative, we are labeled as a problem to be solved, and a host of well-intentioned people rush to try out various cures on us. . . . The gospel offers a different view of suffering: in suffering we enter the depths; we are at the heart of things; we are near to where Christ was on the cross."

—Eugene Peterson
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

The Blessed Alliance

2009-01-31T22:00:00.001-05:00

A conservative pastor of a denomination that does not believe in ordaining women once asked me point blank: “What do you think of women pastors?”

I thought I knew where this was heading. Groaning silently, I was sure his question was probably another attempt to locate me on the map of opinions on the role of women in ministry. So I dodged his question by answering with a question of my own. “Why do you ask?”

His answer couldn’t have surprised me more. “Because I want to hire one!”

What came out in the conversation that followed was neither a plot to subvert his denomination nor a private confession that he had switched camps in the debate over women. Instead, he expressed his heart for the pastoral needs of his congregation and his growing conviction that he needed a woman to help him address the diverse pastoral concerns within his congregation.

The issue he raised transcends the question of women’s ordination and goes to the heart of the foundational statement God made when He created the first woman: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). This pastor was experiencing first-hand the problem God diagnosed when Eden was male-only territory and offering his hearty “Amen!” to God’s solution.

This year's Synergy Conference focuses on what I call the Blessed Alliance. At creation, God created his image bearers—male and female—to serve Him together in every sphere of life. The scope of their mission encompassed “all the earth” (Genesis 1:26). Therefore God’s special blessing rests uniquely on this male/female partnership both in marriage and everywhere else (Genesis 1:28).

This divine mission is much deeper than deciding which view we hold on the role of women in ministry. It goes beyond logistical issues or efforts to figure out better ways of dividing the workload and getting along. The mission is bound up in how well we represent God to our fractured world.

According to God’s design, male/female relationships are focal points of His plan to reveal Himself in this world. A lot is riding on the quality of these relationships and on how well we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, band together in common cause. This Blessed Alliance between men and women is a crucial kingdom strategy, then and now.

God’s original vision—a vision He has never abandoned but revives in the work of His Son—was for relationships between men and women to be dazzling points of light on this spinning globe. Dynamics between men and women were never intended to be a battle of the sexes or a heated debate within Christian circles. Male/female relationships in Christ are to be a glowing testament to the fact that we are followers of Jesus. This is where God means to put on display a gospel-powered love. This is where the world is supposed to see men and women laying down their lives for others, offering strength and wisdom to each other, and investing ourselves fully for God’s kingdom.

The whiplash I got from that conservative pastor’s comment has stayed with me as a reminder that kingdom work is handicapped when men or women move forward alone. Neither males nor females can do the job God has called us to do or be the people He created us to be if we divide up kingdom work by gender. God has called us to be a Blessed Alliance!

This Blessed Alliance is the subject of Synergy2009, March 6-8, in Orlando, Florida. We’ve assembled a team of men and women leaders to explore together this vital calling we all share. Like no other conference, we will address this topic with brutal honesty tempered with grace and a lot of humor. And our workshops are cutting edge—come see for yourself!

If you are active in, preparing for, or contemplating a career in ministry, this conference is for you! Both women and men are invited. And anyone can get behind this growing effort by contributing to scholarships and supporting the Synergy Women’s Network.

The Blue Parakeet

2009-01-31T10:25:00.004-05:00

When I first heard the title of Professor Scot McKnight's latest book—The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible—I must admit I was both baffled and intrigued. What on earth does a blue parakeet have to do with reading the Bible?

The professor who (along with his wife) is an avid birdwatcher, found an illustration for some of our worst Bible reading habits in his own back yard when a blue parakeet suddenly appeared in the midst of his sparrow-dominated property.

At first, the strange little flat-beaked blue newcomer terrified the flock of sparrows. Bird psychologists would have been taking notes as they observed the sparrows' nervous behavior. In time, however, the sparrows adjusted. Even though the blue parakeet remained—blue as ever—the sparrows carried on as though nothing odd or unusual was among them.

The Bible, according to Dr. McKnight, is full of blue parakeet passages—texts that disturb a first-time reader, but to which we grow accustomed over time, learn to ignore, and eventually don't even see. Instead of allowing these blue parakeets to fly as they were meant to do, we domesticate them with methods that relieve our discomfort and put these awkward, disturbing, and seemingly disjointed passages to sleep. Instead of wrestling with what we’re reading, we grow comfortable with portions of Scripture that should jar us into asking hard questions and so we forfeit important opportunities intended to challenge our thinking and help us learn. In the process we're muting the message God means for His Word to speak into our lives.

Dr. McKnight exposes the rampant tendency among believers to “pick and choose” verses they embrace and those they push aside. Everyone is doing this. He identifies five widely-accepted parakeet taming methods that keep us from digging deeply into God’s word and points us to reading the Bible as story—the grand story God is weaving, composed of “wiki-stories” told by the writers and characters of the biblical narrative.

He takes for a case study verses relating to the role of women. Given the fact that leading evangelical scholars can’t agree on how to interpret these passages, it is difficult to argue with the professor’s assertion that the subject of women in the Bible is classic parakeet territory. I must say it warmed my heart to read his sincere apology to the women of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for not standing up for them when he was a professor at that seminary. You may or may not agree with his conclusions about these texts, but don’t let that stand in your way of reading this excellent book. He’ll make you think about how you read the Bible and guide you into a richer reading of God's word.

A Pain in the Neck

2009-01-26T17:10:00.001-05:00

A child once asked Queen Elizabeth II if her crown was heavy. With the wisdom of a sage the Queen replied, "It's supposed to be heavy."

In the late 1800's, Queen Victoria commissioned the design of a smaller crown to spare her aching neck. Among other reasons for her request, she found the Imperial Crown heavy and uncomfortable. According to Queen Elizabeth, her royal predecessor was removing a important reminder of the burdens that come with leadership, burdens capable of bringing leaders to their knees with a profound awareness of their need for God's help and wisdom.

Sometimes a pain in the neck can be a healthy thing.

No crown comes with the office of U.S. president. But the one who takes the oath of office is bearing a heavy load nonetheless. Before and after photos of former presidents reveal how the aging process accelerates under the pressures that weigh on the occupant of the Oval Office. Those burdens now rest on President Obama's shoulders. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn he's already feeling an ache in his neck . According to the Queen, the responsibilities of leadership are "supposed to be heavy."

Now that the celebrating is over and our new president is already hard at work on a staggering list of problems and crises, maybe our own burdens and aching necks will remind us to pray for President Obama and for the ezer at his side. As we pray for our president and for others in government, we are, as one pastor put it, "seeking to be prayerful partners of God's shalom that comes, at least in part, through governments, civic leaders, and even presidents."

Something to ponder . . .

2009-01-17T17:12:00.003-05:00

"The narrative mode is neither incidental nor accidental to Christian belief. There is no more fundamental way to talk about God than in a story. . . . We know who we are only when we can place our selves—locate our stories—within God's story."

-Stanley Hauerwas