Jubilee Luncheon

Yesterday (Saturday, April 27) we had a special luncheon for women who are 50 and over. We call this group the Jubilee Ladies, which we take from Leviticus 25, where God directs Moses to declare every 50th year to a year when all debts are forgiven, slaves are set free, property is returned to original owners, the land was to set idle, with no planting.

"This fiftieth year is sacred—it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and slaves will return home to their families. "

—Leviticus 25:10

Saturday, Belinda Koestle invited this group of ladies to her home for lunch. It was a wonderful time together. For once, I remembered to take pictures. The first picture is Belinda's husband, Rusty, who cooked brisket for us, and helped Belinda prepare. My husband Les says that he is the hardest working man in women's ministry, which is very true. We declared Rusty to be second, right behind Les.

 
Belinda had several helpers besides Rusty. Karen got to help her buy all the decorations, which included celebratory glasses for the two of them.

Belinda and her helpers put in a lot of thought and work to make this day special,

 beginning with home made invitations. 

Decorations, food, fellowship, discussion of what Jubilee means, a few prizes, and singing a special "Jubilee" song, complete with motions...

 

 

And, just a few of the motions to our theme song...

"Behold He comes, riding on the clouds, shining like the son, at the trumpet call...

 So, lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee

And out of Zion's hill Salvation Comes!  

Front Row Seat

This week, I attended the annual Gateway Church Women's Conference, Pink Impact. I always enjoy this so much...a few days away with some of my daughters and a couple of friends...wonderful, amazing worship...inspiring and igniting speakers...all things I get really pumped about. After hearing from a total of 8 speakers, plus some interesting conversation, and my personal Bible study, plus the things that have been tumbling around in my mind lately,  my brain is about to explode, it is so full. I can't even begin to process everything. I will share just one little tidbit, some of my thoughts that came from some things that Charlotte Gambill shared.

When you decide to attend a big event, you may purchase tickets on the internet, and you have the opportunity to choose your seat. The diagram looks something like this.

Let's see, which seat do you want???  You can sit anywhere. You want  the purple of course. And, you find out you CAN sit in the purple seats. You do not have to be a special VIP to sit there so that's what you decide on.  But, wait, the purple seats cost more, a LOT more. A lot more than you can or want to pay. You want to pay the cost for the teal green seats, but you want to sit in the purple seats, and you deserve to sit in the purple seats. Are you willing to pay the cost for the front row, center of the arena, best view in the house seats? Or, will you settle for the green seats with no view. Forget about seeing the expression on the faces of the performers. You can't even see the actual performers, just little figures moving around on the ground (I know this is true because I have been there).

The Christian life is much like that arena. We can be "front row" Christians, be a part of the things that God is doing, experience Him in fresh ways, hear Him speak...if we will pay the price.

One example of someone who paid the price was Mary Magdalene, in John 19-20. When Jesus was crucified, only one of the twelve remained, Mary stayed, in a front row seat at the cross. That would not have been easy. His devoted disciples fled in fear. The scene was brutal and heartwrenching, but Mary stayed.

She waited through the Sabbath, as the law commanded, but, early the next morning, while it was still dark, she went to the tomb. She did not know what to expect. She did not plan a big resurrection party, because that was not why she was going. She went to be near Jesus, to serve Him, even in His death. She didn't try to organize anything, gather everyone together. She just went. It didn't matter what everyone else was doing, she was determined to go to Jesus. She positioned herself to be a part of whatever God was doing.

When she got to the tomb, she found the stone rolled away ad the body gone, so she ran to get Peter and John, who checked out the situation, saw the tomb was empty, and went home!

In verse 11, Mary is still standing at the empty tomb, but she is confused and weeping, as she speaks to two angels, and then as she is addressed by Jesus Himself, who she assumed to be the gardener.

Then, the resurrected Jesus spoke her name, "Mary"! She had heard Him speak her name many times before, and she knew it was the Lord. Mary had a front row seat to the resurrection of Jesus. She saw Him before anyone else. She experienced what no one else had experienced.

Mary may have been afraid. The other disciples were afraid. She may have had to walk a distance to get to the tomb. She may not have been a "morning person" and not wanted to get up before dawn to walk to the tomb. Whatever obstacle she may have faced, she did it. She went to the tomb, positioned herself to be the first eyewitness to the greatest event in history.

Ii want to be a front row Christian, willing to pay the price, whatever that is; fear, embarrassment, inconvenience, money, resources, time, energy, rejection...I want to follow Jesus, go where He goes, stay close to Him to experience all that He has.

Are Husbands Called to be the Spiritual Leader of the Family?

I have heard this so much that I have just taken for granted that this is true.
I have heard this phrase used mostly by women, usually either frustrated that their husbands were not the spiritual leader in their home, or praying that God would raise men up to be the spiritual leaders. I wondered if our thinking about this was really causing some women to be frustrated and some men to be pressured to be something that they feel unequipped for.

I began to study about this and am continuing to ask questions.
First, the term "spiritual leader" is not in the Bible, not in a dozen translations that I checked. In every discussion about marriage, the husband is never instructed to be the spiritual leader, or described as the spiritual leader. So, where do we get this idea?

I am sure we get this from the passages that do talk about marriage.

1 Cor 11:3
3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

Eph 5:22-28

22  Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.   28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

In these verses, Paul says that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church.
The word translated "head" is the Greek word kephale, which means, literally, head, as in head of the body.
It also was a metaphor for origin, like the head of a river, could be “fountainhead or life source”. 
When the Greek word kephale was used, it did not have the connotation of boss or authority. Our English word "head" has that connotation, as the head of a corporation. So, when we read "head" we think of boss, leader.  I Corinthians 11:3 says that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Christ is not inferior to God. The trinity is not a hierarchy. The Father does not say, I’m the boss, do what I say. The trinity is perfect unity, an organic oneness.The metaphor used is the body. The head and the body have an organic unity. So, it must be that Paul is saying that the husband and wife have an organic unity like the body with the head. 

     So, do these verses indicate that the husband is the leader of the home, spiritual or otherwise? Maybe. But, not clearly. 

     There are some marriages that work like this. The husband is the spiritual leader of the home, and both husband and wife are happy and secure. That is great. I don't want to rock that boat. 

I     I know many other marriages that are struggling with that idea. 

      Many women are upset because their husbands are not the "spiritual leader". The wife wants her husband to pray with her, to lead family devotions, to read Bible stories to the children, to have personal time reading his Bible, to serve in the church, and to live a godly life. All  of those things are good things, very good things, but those things should be between a man and His God, not his wife. These wives are frustrated, and feel that they are not able to grow or be in community; they feel that they are being held back by their husband  Many times, these wives begin to nag their husbands, complaining to them, and about them to other people. Many times, the husband is confused by his wives demands, and feels that she does not respect him or appreciate him. 

       It just seems to me that often, we have put a demand upon husbands that they are not comfortable with. I think it would be good if wives let go of an idea of what their husbands should be. Learn to appreciate your husband for who he is. Focus on his good qualities and don't demand that he live up to some ideal "spiritual leader" that you have formed in your mind.
      Every woman has the ability to study the Bible, to spend time with God to grow in faith, to be transformed, to love the Lord with her whole being, to love and serve other people. It is person's responsibility to take care of their relationship with God.


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The Original Marriage

In my study of what marriage should truly look like, I decided the place to start is in the beginning.  That should give us a good picture of what God intended marriage to be like.

The first thing that I see is that the woman was part of the plan from the beginning.

Gen 1: 27, “ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;  male and female he created them,” created in the image of God to reflect God-male and female.

Female was not an afterthought, she was part of God’s plan from the start. 

When God spoke of creating man, he meant male and female, in His image.

God is big, great, beyond understanding. Reflecting God was a big job. God needed both male and female to show Him more completely. Male and female…part of God’s original plan.

This first marriage was a partnership. Gen 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

It was to Adam and Eve together that God gave the job of populating the earth, of subduing it, and having dominion over every other living thing.

Genesis chapter two gives us more detail of the creation of man.

Gen 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."

In  this verse, the word “helper” is the Hebrew word “ezer”, which is sometimes translated “deliverer”, and is often used to refer to God, as in Psalm 33:20, “Our soul waits for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.”

 God did not mean that Adam needed a servant. Adam had a problem that he needed help with. The problem was that man was alone. God created woman to help Adam with his aloneness. God did not say, “It is not good that the man should have all this work to do without help.” It wasn’t the work. God declared that man did not need to be alone, and that was never God’s desire. He planned from the beginning to create male and female human beings to be together in equality and intimacy.  Adam and Eve had a joint commission. They were to be partners in fulfilling God’s command. There was no question.

Listen to Adam’s response when God first showed him his “helper”.

"This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

24  Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

There is no hint of one person being over another, but of a joyous partnership between the two. Man was the source of the woman, but there was nothing negative about that. Adam is thrilled with this one who is just like him…”bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”

There was no shame between the two. Just think, a man and a woman living together with none of the pitfalls of our current marriages…fears, insecurities, pride, jealousy, distrust, intimidation, hurt feelings…nothing but love, security, intimacy, joy, sharing life and work, fellowshipping together with God in a sweet, intimate, equal partnership. 

That is God’s original plan for marriage. 

Partnership Marriage

In the past few weeks, I have spent some time considering, studying, reading, praying about, and reconsidering what we traditionally teach and view as the Christian marriage. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of books dealing with marriage. I have read a few. There are countless marriage conferences, retreats, seminars, every year. In the face of all of this, the divorce rate in the church is the same as the rest of our society.

The foundation of much of our marriage teaching and counseling is based on the foundation of love and respect; that wives are to respect and submit to their husbands, and that husbands are to love their wives with a sacrificial love. That sounds good, but why isn’t it working?

I have come to question this very foundation. What I am asking is this: Doesn’t everyone want to be loved? Doesn’t everyone want to be respected?

Really, does any husband want a wife that does everything he says, but doesn’t love him?

Does any wife want a husband that truly loves her and is willing to sacrifice his life for her, but doesn’t listen to her and doesn’t value her opinion?

I don’t think that is the case. I believe that we all want to be in a marriage relationship where we are loved, cherished, cared for, respected, valued, and nurtured.

The basis of much of our view of marriage is from Ephesians 5:22-33

22  Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.   28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31  "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

I am not arguing with this passage at all. I am just questioning our application of it.

First, I think we should start with verse 21.

” submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. “

The foundation of this passage on marriage starts with the command that we are all to submit to each other, then marriage is built on that foundation.

In that context, of every member submitting to every other member, then Paul, directs the wives to submit to their husbands.

Eph 5:23-24 23 For the husband is the head wife,  as  even  Christ  is the head  of the church: and he is the  saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject  to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

So, no doubt that God’s design is for wives to submit to their husbands. That submitting is in a relationship like the relationship we have with Christ, a sweet relationship of love and acceptance.

Now, Paul addresses the husband.

Eph 5:25

25   Husbands, love wives, even as also  Christ loved the church, and himself gave for it; 

The word used for love in this passage is agapao

"Agape and agapao are used in the NT (a) to describe the attitude of God toward His Son, John 17:26; the human race, generally, John 3:16; Rom 5:8, and to such as believe on the Lord Jesus Christ particularly John 14:21; (b) to convey His wiil to His children concerning their attitude one toward another, John 13:34, and toward all men, 1 Thess 3:12; 1 Cor 16:14; 2 Peter 1:7; (c) to express the essential nature of God, 1 John 4:8.

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

In verses 26 and 27 Paul describes how Christ treats the church; washing her, setting her apart, cleansing her with the word,

Then, in verse 28, he continues the word to husbands.

Eph 5:28 So ought men to love wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself.

 After Paul describes what that love looks like, he adds,

Eph 5:30 For we are members of one body,

Paul comes back to where he started in verse 21, reminding us that, even in marriage, we are still members of the body of Christ, and treat each other as such.

Eph 5:31

31  "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."  

Paul then reminds us that God established marriage at the beginning of creation, as the joining of two people as one.  It seems that marriage as God intended is two people who commit to each other and submit to each other in such a way that they become just like one person. This is not a relationship of domination and submission, but of partnership, mutuality, intimacy, love, and respect.

Rubble

The book of Nehemiah tells the story of the people of Israel who returned to Jerusalem after years of exile in Babylon and began to rebuild to wall around the city. It was hard work, with many obstacles. Their enemies taunted, then threatened them. They had to be ready to fight, holding weapons as they worked. They prevailed and continued to build. 

Then, Nehemiah 4:10 says "The strength of the laborer fails, since there is so much rubble. We will never be able to rebuild the wall."

That verse amazes me. These laborers had faced obstacles that were much bigger than rubble and stayed strong. But, the rubble got to them, caused them to be so discouraged they were ready to give up. 

Rebuilding is harder than starting fresh with a new building. 

We are in the process of a HUGE remodel. Everywhere I turn, there is rubble! (you can see more at http://nottoooldforanewadventure.blogspot.com/)

Rubble is hard to deal with when there is a lot of it. 

One thing about it, you have to clean out the old rubble before you can rebuild. 

We have been working on cleaning up our yard. The first thing we did was trim the overgrown shrubs around the house and cut down some dead trees, which produced rubble we had to cart away. 

We tore down an old fence. Before we could take that rubble away, we had to go through it to salvage the wood we could reuse (some of it became our new kitchen ceiling).

Some of the dead trees and branches will be taken to the country to be burned. We have to go through the piles first to remove any boards with nails, or any wires.

Some of the rubble has valuable products, like copper tubing we found. 

The point is that we need to go through the rubble before we just get rid of it.

I have thought about that a lot since I read the verse in Nehemiah. We all have some rubble in our life; old hurts, wounds, disappointments, bad relationships. We need to deal with the rubble. It is important to go through it carefully, so that we don't throw away the treasures that are mixed in with the rubble. 

Sometimes, people through away a relationship, like a marriage because it is easier than painstakingly dealing with the hurts and issues. Or we throw away a job instead of pulling our the rubble. I have just been thinking about the rubble I may still have in my heart. I don't want to spend any more time stepping over rubble that I don't want to take time to deal with. 

Cookie Report

After a few realllly long posts last week, this one will be short and sweet.
As planned, we gave out cookies for Easter last week, all around our area. I estimate that we gave cookies to around 1200 people, in DeLeon, Comanche, Dublin, and Stephenville. I don't know what the full results are, but we trust that some hearts were touched.
Most people thanked us, and were excited to get home made cookies. Many people read the card and thanked us again for the reminder. Several people said that they appreciate the fact that we are taking the gospel message to people. Some people looked so grumpy that they were hard to even approach, but, after we gave them cookies, they smiled and were happier. One woman shared some hard things that are going on in her life. After we prayed for her, she said that she was so grateful that we had come to her office, because she was "just about to go under".  We ran into a church member in a little store, visiting with the store owner. The church member said that the store owner kept saying, "I can't believe those women gave ME cookies".
I am praying that some people went home and really considered the message of the card.

   Happy Easter
Easter is a special time to remember that God loves us.

It is a time to celebrate the new life and new beginning that He offers.
"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even
though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised
Christ from the dead." Ephesians 2:4-5
Please accept this small gift as a reminder of God's love and the hope He gives.

Join us as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday...