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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