blind to the need

by Amanda Edmondson on February 16, 2012

in Missions,Spiritual Disciplines,Uncategorized

I’ve noticed over the past year that we practice four methods of what we call evangelism.
1. Invite your lost friends to church.
2. Invite them to community group.
3. Invite them to come hangout with your “Christian Friends”.
4. Give them a Christian book or pamphlet.

But that isn’t evangelism. That is inviting and bringing, not evangelizing. Have we become so lazy that we just invite our friends to where we are and then sit and wait for our pastor’s to tell our seeking friends the truth? In her book Out of the Salt Shaker & Into the World, Rebecca Manley Pippert says, “The heart of evangelism is sharing the story of Christ the good news of how God took upon himself the sin and shame of the human race so that all who believe in him might be saved.”

That’s it. That is evangelism. So why aren’t we willing to tell our friends, family, or co-worker this?

The key to evangelism is spending time with God –reading and studying your bible, praying, etc. Evangelism is an over-flow of your heart and it begins with your relationship with God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). If we aren’t daily renewed by the word we will stay as we are and continue being an inviter. The gospel is the most liberating news to ever grace this planet and we aren’t willing to tell others about it.

Some of you are different. You find your joy and security in what you do for God rather than who you are to God. Like the inviter you don’t share with others out of the overflow of your heart, but instead you are doing it to earn a right standing with the Lord. The Lord is powerful and can use both of these people for his glory and draw people to himself. We need to remember that we are commanded to share the gospel and it’s a delight to be able to tell others (Matthew 28:18-20). But before we dig into gospel conversations and tell others the good news we need to remember a few things.

First we need to see people as Jesus sees them. We fail to see others this way because we are blind to the needs around us. Instead, we treat people around us as interruptions to our lives. Your neighbor, co-workers, even the smelly person next to you on the plane, is there by divine appointment.

In order to see people as Jesus we need to know how Jesus saw them. A desire for the lost only comes from knowing and understanding who God is and how much we need Him.

At a previous job I worked with someone who was really hard to love. I didn’t love that person well because I’d forget that they needed a savior and that they were blind to truth. Instead of seeing her as an annoyance, the Lord began to break me of this to view her as she was, a person created in His image just like me. I still didn’t love her perfectly and she still annoyed me, but my compassion increased and I often had to go to her and seek forgiveness for how I had responded or didn’t respond to her. I did a terrible job of communicating and displaying the gospel because I didn’t see her as Jesus did.

Evangelism is work. We have to take risks and dig beneath the surface of peoples’ lives. It’s messy and can be draining, but in light of eternity that momentary mess or exhaustion is well worth it compared to what we deserve.

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Loving God in Limbo

by Rebekah Hannah on January 25, 2012

in Biblical Womanhood,Work

If you’re like me, you feel a constant push and pull from what is, what may be and what you need to get done in between.  There’s laundry, baby needs another feeding, meeting at 1, client at 3, must make dinner, pick up the kids at ____, make a meal for this dear friend who did it for you so you want to return the favor, spend time with Jesus, call that friend you’ve been thinking about for 3 weeks, keep up with your husband’s family (and yours), buy that shower gift, attend community group, meet with so-and-so, get these papers graded, return 30 emails that require response, love my husband, look into that PhD program, do dishes, remind yourself not to compare your dirty hair with the girl’s blog you just read, “why did i just waste time reading that?!”, wait for the repair man, “oh yeah i need to work out!”, think through what the Lord is calling us to in this neighborhood, pray about moving, pray about not moving, pray about where to maybe move, someone’s knocking at the door (answer it), pray the Lord won’t have us move, pray that I wouldn’t worry about if we have to move… and the baby needs another feeding.

I would really love to think this is not how most people live.  In fact, if you don’t, I’m so thankful.  If you do, you’re not alone.  And either way… good grief, there is immense grace. Recently when talking to a young wife from our church, I was asking her about how she spent her time.  She replied that all she really had to do was “love her husband and take care of their baby.”  There wasn’t this sigh of “how do I even begin to answer that question”. Now I know she has her share of trials and they will be moving to do a church plant soon. But there was such a freedom and release in the way she answered.  After thinking about it and talking to my husband, I realized, it was just probably not going to ever be that way for me (and that’s a whole other conversation).  Before you start judging me, know that my husband and I take great care discerning and praying about what I should and shouldn’t be involved in.  It WILL look different for each woman!

I look at my list of to-do’s and I’m immediately reminded of how grateful I am to have 95% of them on my list. There is immense privilege that comes with most of them.

However, in the midst of all this limbo…

Am I really loving God? Why is this constant chaos within my heart keeping me from trusting God and in His promises? Am I desiring something more than Christ by creating this list of to-do’s?

Romans 4:5 says, “And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

Great. No work, just have to have trust God. But trusting God seems like such hard work!

I’m clearly missing something here.

Romans 7:18 says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”

And here is where it gets tricky for me… I think like this:

If I’m not supposed to work, but only trust God (which is something good), but nothing good dwells in my flesh, then I’m pretty much gonna fail at this whole thing.

I spend an enormous amount of time telling other people what Jesus has already done for them. I make sure women that I love know Christ has already died in their place.  They have an inheritance that is shared with the Son of God and a Father who cares more for them than they can comprehend. In fact, He loves them so much that His plan for them is perfect. That doesn’t mean a care-free life, but it does mean that in the midst of sin and suffering, Jesus IS our hope!  He secured it by dying on a cross. He IS our foundation. He helps us endure the most horrible tragedies and the things we could never believe we would live through.

Just call me a hypocrite. How often, in the midst of my limbo, do I forget to go there for myself? How often do I miss the love of a God so perfect that He gave a perfect sacrifice so that in my limbo I can be set free?

Romans 8:6 says, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

To set my mind on the flesh looks like worry, dread, anxiousness and sin (over my to-do’s). But to set my mind on the Spirit looks like reminding myself of that perfect love already given and already received. Nothing good dwells in my flesh, but hope, trust and faith dwell in the Spirit that dwells in me! And I’m quickly reminded that there is nothing I can do that will separate me from the love of Christ.

HE IS our perfect hope and foundation, regardless of my quality of faith. In fact, any amount of faith at all is from Him. And anything He gives is perfect! In this, I can rest. There is no struggle too great, no schedule too busy, no fear to strong, no grievance too ugly.  He loves me. He protects me. And HE gives me the faith needed to trust in Him who justifies the ungodly.

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The Self-Sufficient Palace

by Rebekah Hannah on December 1, 2011

in Uncategorized

A year and a half ago I participated in the first Redemption Group at Sojourn.  Redemption Groups exist to help us experience gospel community while seeing how our story fits into God’s redemptive plan.  It is an intentional time where the depths of our sin are met with Christ’s love through the cross. For this particular Redemption group, Mars Hill was kind of enough to lend us some of their leaders and we had the privilege of what proved to be a heart-opening weekend.  I like to refer to it as “sanctification on crack,” but I’m fully aware that is inappropriate and probably something theologically wrong with the statement. But I’m gonna say it anyway…

As a biblical counselor, I think through sin and suffering on a daily basis.  However, the Lord allowed this weekend to be a precious game changer for me.  I had a small idea it would be that way, which is exactly why I didn’t really want to participate. Praise God, He is faithful- not because I had to have RG (He could have used a number of things to get my attention), but because He is gracious to reveal our deep-rooted, ugly sin to His children.

During Redemption Groups, we encourage the participants to write a Psalm in regards to what the Lord is teaching them.  Today I am sharing my Psalm that I wrote with you many RG’s ago.  I pray it will be an encouragement to you.  Whether you are failing, falling or thriving- He is always faithful.

The Self-Sufficient Palace: A Psalm

by Rebekah Hannah

There is a place called the self-sufficient palace where dry bones lead the way along a fake river of life.  The water is a mirage, and bellows out for us to drink up of fraudulent righteousness.  “Come here!” it says, “It’s easier here!  Here you can be appreciated for who YOU are and what YOU can do, because when you drink of me YOU are my favorite.”

The self-sufficient palace woos in its prey and promises eventual hope and glory.  The fake river of life calls out again, “Learn this, drink here, act this way, use what I’ve taught you. You can have all of me you want.”  The keeper of the guard at self-sufficient palace reminds you not to look up or other’s may cause you shame.  “This is what you can trust, this is where you can have what you want.”

This is the world of the self-sufficient palace with a fake river of life and a fog of anesthesia that puffs up heads and makes them blind.

The offense of the cross has been removed.

But God…

But God rescues the mouse that pretends to be a lion.

But God awakens the souls of the dead.

But God takes scared flesh and turns it into a living hope.

But God never tells us that we have to be enough and kindly never lets us be.

But God loves the adulterous whore.

But God replaces the menstrual rag trophies with His own robes of righteousness.

But God crushes the heart of stone against the founding cornerstone.

But God takes the self-deceit and makes it selfless de-feat.

But Jesus, my Jesus, He never leaves me to myself.

And so… the Magnificent Lion loved, pursued and died for the arrogant mouse.

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Fearless & Free

by Nora Allison on November 21, 2011

in Biblical Womanhood,Uncategorized

During a recent snake-in-my-garage episode, (whose harmless species in no way diminished its creepiness factor) I found myself moving from petrified to ponderous – although not as quickly as I moved from inches to yards in proximity!—at how very different this legless lizard must be from its pre-cursed counterpart.  As I watched the reptile slither in and out of the paint cans on my shelf,  I couldn’t help wondering what Eve saw in him that would make her want to talk to him, let alone believe him! (OK, theological pondering wasn’t the first thing I did…first, I sent a text with pleas for help to my husband – in New Jersey.  Then I pondered. Then I solicited a neighbor’s help in snake slaying.  Yes.  One animal was harmed in the writing of this blog.)

A LOT must have changed since Eve chose the serpent’s deceptive persuasion over God’s promises.

Animals were different to be sure: Lions lay down with lambs, mosquitoes were vegetarians and snakes were not yet so decidedly and disturbingly creepy.

But more notably still, women were different.  Eve was completely content with the size and contents of her God-designed wardrobe (think about it!), her relationship with her male counterpart was open, vulnerable and perfectly complementary and her days were full of fearless encounters.

Not so today.  Our bodies are the often at the center of frustration, depression, humiliation, shame, pride and immorality.  Our relationships with the opposite sex are frequently conflicted, immature, misunderstood or just plain weird.  And we face our days with fears, anxiety and uncertainty.

It’s easy for me to look longingly at pre-Fall times and think if only… If only Eve hadn’t talked to the serpent and been so easily deceived by him, and if only Adam had stepped in and obeyed God, THEN life now would be perfect:  No conflicts, no worries, no discontented mirror-gazing ever!  There’s probably a certain amount of validity to my if…then.  God did plan and create a perfect world for human harmony and unblemished glorification of Himself and we decidedly and definitively blew it.  But His plan was in no way thwarted or changed by our foolish rebellion.  It was carried out in a more beautiful way.

Jesus was always, in the beginning, before the creation of the world and the sinful cursing of it, God’s perfect and most beautiful plan.  His sacrifice of Himself on the cross to pay the payment for our sin is the richest and deepest expression of love and grace we could ever encounter or experience.  It wouldn’t be better for us today to be innocent rather than forgiven.  Our hearts are immeasurably enlarged by having experienced the greatness of Jesus’ selflessness.  Our minds are expanded from blissful ignorance to a limitless appreciation for the extent of His love and our lives are forever changed by the greatness of a God who would willingly die for the possibility of fellowship with sinful us.

So despite its “paradisical” perfection, we don’t need to go back to the garden.  We live on the privileged side of the cross.  What God did for us through Jesus vastly enhances our understanding of God and compels us to see all of life more richly than Eve ever could.

As fallen, yet redeemed women, our bodies are imperfect, but our focus is not on our body image, but on reflecting the grace-full image of a God we know better than Eve did.  We are perfectly loved. We have been died for.  We are temples of our living God.  Let that compel us to get over our obsession with the bathroom mirror and become the mirror that reflects these truths to the world.

As forgiven women, our post- cross knowledge of God enables us to engage in relationships with men on a whole new level – one which reflects the harmonious image of a Trinitarian God, hardly imaginable to Eve.  So it’s not about us and our feelings and our romantic ideals.  It’s about letting each and every interaction with the opposite sex accurately demonstrate the healthy, unselfish, mature accord of the Trinity.

And as we gaze at the cross, although our days are filled with the scary, the hard and the hurtful, all our encounters with serpents and the Serpent can be fearless and free – informed by a knowledge of God and His gospel which Eve barely glimpsed.  The garden may have been perfect, but we’re better off now, snakes and all.

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Submission: The Antithesis of My Queendom

by Alyssa Caudill on November 16, 2011

in Biblical Womanhood

If you are single, do not stop reading! If you are a believer, please keep reading! I am not for one moment going to claim that I know everything about submission or how to submit perfectly. I want to look at God’s Word with you and suggest that submission is God’s plan for all people to die to themselves and glorify Him instead.

“Submission” is not just a word for wives, but a command and active choice set before all believers. Again, submission is not just a word for wives – I want us to get this out of our heads. In past societies, women were primarily house wives, and so a focus on the call to submission within that role was appropriate. However, we live in a time where many Christian women are not married and quite possibly will never marry. But if God created all people equal, all of us in His incredible image, then how could He segregate wives and leave them with a calling that could seem unfair, unequal and inferior? It cannot be! No matter your life stage, God has called you to submit; to submit to Him as well as to those He has placed in authority over you. To truly understand this universal calling to submit, we have to learn what “submit” means as well as when God wants us to submit.

1 Peter is a great book for looking at a broader, overall view of “submission.” We can find the word “submit” six times in this short letter. Let’s look at how Peter uses this word.

In 2:13, all Christians are called to submit to every human authority, or the government over them. This is done for the Lord’s sake (v. 13), because it is His will (v. 15) and that doing so will “silence the ignorance of foolish men” (v. 15, NASB). Verse 16 tells us that we are to live in freedom, meaning that submission is not to limit us but is an act of our freedom. We are free to do what is right, to do the Lord’s will and to honor others; not to be manipulative, slanderous and self-seeking.

1 Peter 2:18 states that servants are to submit to their masters with respect, whether they deserve it or not. Alright, this one seems unrelated to us today because I am pretty sure that most of you reading this are not indentured servants with a master. However, I am pretty certain that many of you have work responsibilities, just as these servants would have been responsible to their masters to do their work in a timely manner without grumbling. We read in verses 19-20 that you who are working are to submit to your employer with respect because it finds favor and gives you a clear conscience toward God. And if you face some suffering for doing what is right, this finds favor with God. Peter also encourages you to have patience in this time.

1 Peter 3:1&5 tells wives to submit to their own husbands (not to any man or anybody else’s husband). There are two more reasons given here to submit: that husbands may be won over by your chaste and respectful behavior and that it is the reflection of your inner beauty from the Lord. Submission reflects what is in our hearts, and while it may be easier to manipulate, the Lord wants our husbands to be won over by His work in us.

Jump ahead to 1 Peter 5:5. In the middle of telling elders how they are to serve the body, Peter tells the younger men of the congregation to submit to the elders, and for all to be humble towards one another. Submission is an act of humility.

Finally, the last use of “submit” is found in 1 Peter 3:22. This verse states that “angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him,” speaking of Jesus. This is the first and only non-voluntary understanding of “submit” found in 1 Peter. In Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension, Christ is the victor and everything is now completely subjected to, or made to submit to Him. God the Father made everything fall into submission under Christ! And yet He gives us the opportunity to choose to willingly, voluntarily and respectfully submit to Him through submission to the authorities He has placed in our lives.

One lexicon (basically a Greek to English dictionary) gives two main definitions for the word “submit.” One is a military definition, the understanding of which we see in 1 Peter 3:22, those things being made to submit to Christ. The other is a non-military definition: “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, and assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.”[1] This is the definition that fits with the rest of the usages in 1 Peter. It is a calling, a plea to honor Christ through submission, whether to our government, our employers, our elders or our husbands.

Submission is a conscious and free choice to honor and respect the Lord as well as others. The opposite of submission is seeking my own “queendom.” That is seeking to protect and seek my own desires, comfort, ambitions and place of honor in the eyes of everybody. Submission is an opportunity to not sin and seek my own queendom, but rather to seek the best for others, humility, and Christ’s Kingdom to be made known in my life and the lives of others. Submission is a call to seek Christ alone. When I submit, my queendom dies and Christ’s reigns.

[1] http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5293&t=NASB

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Gravity of Life

by Cassie Chaplin on September 19, 2011

in Missions,Uncategorized

The rest of our lives always require more preparation.  No matter who we are, or what we are doing, we are learning and changing as we walk through new and different phases of our lives.  So this past week in preparation for our future as missionaries (Lord willing), Cody and I, started Sojourn’s Mission School.  Our first assignment was to read/reread John Piper’s book Let the Nations Be Glad. There’s always something about John Piper that tears my stomach out and rips my face off.  It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve read a book.  I forget the wonderful joy that is found in the gospel because I haven’t preached it to myself or my family everyday, and in turn I forget some simple truths that Piper graciously reminds me of in Let the Nations Be Glad. So here is a short reminder of a few different truths we see in the purpose, power, and price of all who call themselves believers and are charged to share the gospel.

First, preaching the gospel should not come out of a sense of duty, but rather out of a sense of delight.  Our desire to preach the gospel is rooted in the deep delight and magnificent joy that we find in the mercy of God! When we delight in God we reflect His glory, and those who are walking in the darkness of this world are illuminated by the radiant joy that flows from a delighted believer.  So what is the importance of delight over duty?  “Delight confers more honor than duty does.”  When we are delighted we are satisfied, and God gets the most glory when we are the most satisfied in Him.  It seems almost strange to think that God’s desire is for me to be over abundantly delighted and satisfied so that in my joyful pursuit of Him, He is the most glorified in me.  That’s encouraging.  In God’s mercy, love, and faithfulness His desire is to see me truly filled, delighted, and happy.  When I see the pursuit of God as being for delight and joy then it changes why I want to share the good news of the gospel.  Missions no longer become some “recruitment project for God’s labor force. [Rather] It is a liberation project from the heavy burdens and hard yokes of other gods.” Praise Him that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free!

Second, As we seek to arm ourselves for the war that is life, we are called to fervently pray for God’s intervention and action in our lives and the lives of unbelievers.  “Prayer is our open admission that we can do nothing on our own, it is a turning away from ourselves to God.”  It is the benchmark of humility.  What a great reminder that when I’m not praying then I’m telling God that I’ve got things under control, and that I’ll handle it on my own.   God has a plan to call out a group of believers from every people group, but we must realize that one of the tools He gives us to accomplish His goal is through the power of prayer.  We cannot save ourselves, or other unbelievers.  We need God to call them through the power of the Holy Spirit to saving faith that is found in Christ.  Be encouraged that though we are in an everyday war for the souls of men, God has promised that He is the powerful force that is keeping us, sustaining us, and encouraging us while we are in the battle through prayer.

Finally, I was reminded of the gravity of a life that is called to follow after Christ, proclaim Him boldly, and endure the sufferings he has called us too.  Our ministry to others may grow with our obedience to follow after Him, but what if it doesn’t?  What if our growth, and His gospel will only be matured and magnified by the pain and sufferings of God’s elect?  Piper cuts away our fanciful ideas of physical safety and security by reminding believers that, “What obedience will not achieve, persecution will.”  How often our hearts are prone to seek peaceful solitude and carefree relationships rather than seeking after those who despise us for who we are an what we believe.  How much do we hate those people to not share with them the gospel of Jesus?  How much are we dishonoring the name of Christ with not only the things we have done, but also the things we have left undone?  Our delight and satisfaction is in Christ, for the glory of God’s name.  No matter the cost let us value His glory above all.

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Accountability…

by Amanda Edmondson on September 1, 2011

in Friendship,Uncategorized

We often hear the word accountability and want to run the other direction. We are so ashamed of our sin and fear what others will think if they find out who we really are that we will avoid “accountability” at all costs.  As we approach one another we should desire to see our sister to look more like Christ after we’ve spent time together.  Each of us has the same need for a savior and we are each called to live a life of repentance and faith. So to sharpen one another as Prv 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”, we must be willing not just to be vulnerable with our sister in accountability we must also be willing to ask the hard questions. Below you will find a few questions that can be used in your time of accountability. Keep in mind these are just starter questions as we have to be willing to ask deeper questions and point our sister back to the cross.

  • How are you daily preaching the gospel to yourself?
  • What is God teaching you from your time in the word?
  • Have you been proud this week?
  • How are you delighting in the Lord?
  • What has consumed your thoughts this week?
  • How have you loved others this week?
  • Have you been honest in all your words and deeds or have you been exaggerating?
  • What are you doing in your spare time?
  • What are you trusting the Lord with this week?
  • How have you pointed others to the Lord (words & actions)?
  • How have you sought the Lord in prayer this week?

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GOD IS TOO BIG FOR OUR MINDS AND HEARTS TO REMAIN SMALL

by Nora Allison on July 27, 2011

in Uncategorized

“Wimpy theology makes wimpy women…Wimpy theology simply does not give a woman a God that is big enough, strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to handle the realities of life in a way that magnifies the infinite worth of Jesus Christ.  Wimpy theology is plagued by woman-centeredness and man-centeredness.  Wimpy theology doesn’t have the granite foundation of God’s sovereignty or the solid steel structure of a great God-centered purpose for all things.” John Piper

As John Piper so eloquently explains, it is vitally important for women to know their God!

At Sojourn, we want to offer our women an opportunity to engage in the pursuit of the knowledge of God and grow in their ability to lead and serve others.  As I’ve interacted with our leadership on this issue, I’ve been incredibly encouraged by their strong desire to make available to women every opportunity to learn and grow in Christlikeness.

Here’s what’s coming up…

On Saturday, Aug. 20th make every effort to attend our Women’s Conference with speaker and author Elyse Fitzpatrick, entitled “Am I My Sister’s Keeper?” She will engage, challenge and teach you out of her strong biblical knowledge and years of practical ministry experience.  Hurry up and register – word is getting out and women are coming from all over the state!

To register, go to: http://women.sojournchurch.com/?page_id=14

I want to make sure you know about 3 separate courses designed to help you gain the “solid steel structure of a great God-centered purpose for all things.”

Two of these you may have heard about already:

  1. DOCTRINES (formerly called “Foundations”) — Beginning the week of Sept. 5-9 through Dec. 5-9

Doctrines is a 13 week study of the foundational Christian truths that define us.

Meeting in small groups in homes, women discuss chapters from Bible Doctrines by Dr. Wayne Grudem and related Bible passages, applying the truth of the character and ways of God to their lives as women.  I SO encourage you to find out more from those who have participated and discover how much bigger, stronger and wiser your God is than you can even imagine!

Visit women.sojournchurch.com for more info.

  1. METHODS in Bible Study  — Wednesdays, Oct. 5 – Nov. 2, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. – East Campus

METHODS is a 5-week class designed to equip us to understand and apply God’s Word through first-hand study.  We can gain the ability to be taught directly by God as we meet weekly with other women and discuss life-changing applications to our lives.  This fall as you dig into a book of the Bible, you will not only learn from the Word, but you will gain invaluable tools to equip you for a life-time of discovery in the Scriptures.  I hope every woman participates in this valuable class!

Again, women.sojournchurch.com is the place to go for more info.

  1. NEW this year:  SOJOURN WOMEN’S SCHOOL Mondays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm – Midtown

24 weeks, Sept. 12 – Dec. 5 (1ST semester)   and Jan. 9 – April 2 (2nd semester)

As women, we are commanded by God to use our gifts for the building up of the body of Christ and for the transformation of the world through the gospel.  In order to facilitate our growth, WOMEN’S SCHOOL combines academic study with practical ministry, in the context of small groups to promote character growth and accountability in learning.

WOMEN’S SCHOOL is for any woman who is currently serving or wishes to serve in a leadership role at Sojourn, (e.g., Community Group Leader, deacon, missionary, women’s mentor, children’s leader, etc.) as well as for any woman desiring to grow in gospel living in her home or community.

The school is divided into 2 semesters, composed of 9 units, which take 24 weeks to complete.

The course work includes units in theology, Bible study methods, counseling, evangelism, spiritual disciplines, stewardship, shepherding, and Biblical womanhood, as well as practical service instruction and opportunities.

Participants must complete a WOMEN’S SCHOOL application (see link below) and pay a fee of $30.00 per semester to participate.  The fee is non-refundable and will cover materials and course expenses.  All fees must be received on or before the first class at the start of each semester.

It will be the responsibility of all participants to borrow or buy up to 5 additional books per semester.

Depending on the need, childcare will be provided at a small, per child, fee.

Application: https://sojournforms.wufoo.com/forms/sojourn-womens-school-application/

DEADLINE to APPLY:  AUGUST 22

I can’t urge you enough to take advantage of these amazing opportunities.  Your minds and hearts will grow as you are taught, challenged, loved on and encouraged towards a Gospel-centered life!

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For the over-churched and the under-churched

by Rebekah Hannah on July 26, 2011

in Biblical Womanhood,Uncategorized

My friend and I have a top ten list of words people will never use to describe us… “Sweet” is on my list.  Not because I don’t like people or I lack friendliness necessarily, but in contrast, there are some people who are just downright, drippingly sweet.  However, you could describe me as a “tell it as you see it” kind of person, some call it brutal honesty. This is not always a positive thing, but it’s not always bad either.  Truth be told, we can learn something from both types of people.

BUT, one place I like to stick to the brutally honest kind of person is when it comes to women teachers.  I am a classic case of being over-churched.  So as you can imagine, if you are a women teacher who is trying to get me to listen, I have some major criteria for you.  First, it has to be theologically sound; we women have to many opinions to just throw one more in the mix.  Secondly, I don’t need it dipped in honey first.  This is precisely why I gave Elyse Fitzpatrick a platform from which to teach in my life.  I first heard Elyse several years ago.  In her opening line she explained that she was not from the south, so she was likely to offend some gentile women in the crowd.  Needless to say, she had me at hello.  As she began talking, the Holy Spirit began what I would call “Gospel CPR” on my heart.  After this first encounter with Elyse, I went to a coffee shop where I spent several hours trying to regurgitate the things I had just heard; I was in grace-shock.

Elyse is a biblical teacher, prolific writer and a biblical counseling comrade.  And although I’ve really only had one conversation with her (where she told me I needed to repent of my inner slave driver), she has profoundly impacted my life.  Narrowing it down, there are 3 major perspectives the Holy Spirit has used Elyse’s teaching in my life.  First, understanding God’s grace and love apart from my ridiculous works.  And then, being able to share that grace with others cause their works are ridiculous too.  And lastly, sharing it in humility because His love is the only sustaining grace that can retrieve us from our hellish lives.  It’s the no-fluff, desperately needed Gospel message.

Elyse will tell you there was a shift in her thinking when she wrote, Because He Loves Me.  This paradigm shift spotlighted not the word “Gospel”, but the literal affect each element of the Gospel has in our everyday lives.  You think you “get” the Gospel?  Have you checked that off your list?  The beauty of Elyse’s focus is that it reawakens your desire for knowing the Gospel and she so expertly explains how we can never move passed Jesus.  It’s not just imperative, it’s life changing. I can testify that after 20 years of being a believer, the Holy Spirit changed me through her Gospel message.

I can’t promise that you’ll have an immediate epiphany while listening to Elyse.  But I can almost guarantee that you will walk away thinking not about what Jesus would do or what we should do, but what HE DID.  Elyse does not allow you to gloss over what Jesus has done; she beautifully explains how our justification as believers impacts our sanctification.  Sound confusing?  Basically, it’s a slow process of change, but Christ has already done the work.  This is profound!  And if you don’t think it is, that’s precisely why you should hear Christ’s message through Elyse.  No matter how long you have been a believer, 40 years or 2 years, you’re not above this message.  Christians often think that the real action in Christianity is about what we need to DO or where we can serve, but Elyse will teach that you’re not above the Gospel declarations.  In fact, they give you the hope needed to even care about the biblical imperatives.

Elyse doesn’t teach some new idea.  She teaches the Gospel with legs, the Gospel with an arrow straight to your heart in every moment of your day, the Gospel without extra fluff.  Come.  Enjoy.  And learn how to share that Gospel with your sisters!

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Male Shepherds and their Female Flocks

by Nora Allison on May 31, 2011

in Biblical Womanhood,Uncategorized

In a recent blogpost on practical shepherding, Brian Croft addresses the complicated responsibility pastors face when ministering to the women in their churches. He is searching for an alternative to the 2 extremes of:

1)    Ignoring the differences, difficulties and potential downfalls and taking no precautions in relating to the female flock

OR

2)    Ignoring the female flock in fear of the differences, difficulties and potential downfalls!

He goes on to share some of the practical precautions he has instituted to help enable him to effectively minister to the women in his church while guarding his and their marriages/purity.

While I find it encouraging on the one hand that pastors are wrestling with ways to best serve the female half of the body, I am at the same time disappointed and surprised that we are not further along in having figured out this issue.

There are at least 3 realities that I would like address in this blog:

  1. Titus 2:3-5 makes it clear that a pastor’s first line of defense (and offense!) in ministering to the women under his watchcare is older women.  The Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, directs Titus – and his modern-day counterparts – to older women who are to teach and train the younger women. As much as I applaud pastors for involving their wives in the ministry and fully support any young spouse partnering with her husband, a young pastor’s wife is not the biblical antidote to the challenge of seeing gospel transformation in the many facets of a woman’s life.  Reverent, Spirit-controlled, older women are, no matter who they are married to. Thus, in his practical solutions to the problem, he might want to start with training older women to minister to the younger women.  Which leads to the second reality….
  2. Although personal care of women can present certain challenges to pastors, it is vital not to confuse one-on-one counseling situations with “shepherding women.”  Shepherding involves handling delicate personal issues, to be sure.  But it also must, of first priority, involve teaching and training women and involving women rightly and purposefully in the work of the church.  Too often, the development of women’s gifts in the church is secondarily addressed or ignored altogether.  As all sound, biblical pastors would attest, women in the church, like men in the church, are gifted members of Christ’s body, placed there at His good pleasure “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12)  Too often, however, because of our differences from men, the God-ordained authority structure in the church and the mysterious nature of it all (!), women are seen as a problem for pastors in the midst of their weighty mandate to build a healthy church, rather than a vital part of the solution. God has gifted us to serve diligently as helpers to our church elders.  We must be recognized as such, adequately trained and then used in our vital roles in the church. When I read the title to Pastor Croft’s blog: “How Should A Pastor Approach Shepherding Women in the Church?” I was looking forward to reading about his thoughts on “presenting [women] mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28) and his creative ideas about employing women’s gifts “to make the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Eph. 4:16)  Instead, we are still figuring out how we can keep parishioners out of their pastor’s bedrooms (and vice versa)…A worthy topic to be sure, but certainly a less than adequate answer to the question of how to shepherd women.  I just wish more pastors were struggling with the broader applications of this question.
  3. Lastly, I sense from Pastor Croft’s tone that he is a kind, sensitive, caring pastor and that he is faithfully trying to rightly protect himself and his female sheep.  My concern with his and others’ treatment of this issue is that in their sensitivity, they construct safeguards without always stopping to put themselves in the woman’s sandals.  One of Brian’s protective measures involves cc’ing both his wife and the husband of his female counselee on all e-mails of a personal/counseling nature.  I see what he is trying to do, but if I were the counselee, knowing that my issue – likely a delicate one if I am going to my pastor with it – would end up in his wife’s and my husband’s inbox would cause me to go elsewhere.    If a man were e-mailing his pastor with a marriage issue, should his wife and the pastor’s wife automatically be privy to its contents?  Safeguards have their place, to be sure, but we must be careful to protect all the people involved.  In Christ, our safeguard is the Holy Spirit and His guidance, direction and conviction.  Perhaps in situations like this, rather than instituting hard and fast policies, the pastor and the counselee, controlled by the Spirit, could agree to appropriate safeguards right from the start.

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