Living life with steps of faith

Modesty.  This morning as I was getting dressed I was reminded of how contentious the idea of modesty could be at the conservative Christian school I attended as an undergraduate.  It was the young women's responsibility to dress in a way that wouldn't "tease" the young men.  The women were held responsible for protecting the men's morality.  I remember reflecting on this as a student and wondering if the same rules would apply if the school were located in a southern state instead of the cold, wintry north.  I also thought it might be better for us women to desensitize the men from skin so they weren't turned on so easily! Recently, I've encountered two other reactions to modesty that were different from my college experience. In one, a group of immigrants from a very warm climate of the world were complaining that the public school's dress code regarding modesty was too strict.  One father explained that the clothing his daughter wore was perfectl...

I am inspired by Anouk Wipprecht who is part of the Intel Edison team. As a scientist and an engineer she has found ways to express her femininity rather than wear the clothing of the male majority in her field. Not that doing so would have been a bad thing, but it takes confidence to become the "Hardware Couture." One woman who has inspired me like Anouk in my own field is Kathleen Kline Moore . She is a pastor in Virginia who is very graceful and embraces her role as mother, classical dancer, caregiver for the impoverished, and pastor.  I hope that I can be a role model for young girls and women who enjoy playing dress up and decorating with roses and lace who also feel called to the pastoral ministry. I desire to be a tool for God growing the Kingdom on earth and I hope that I can be part of our church becoming a healthy and constantly growing role model for churches in our state. There are so many women in the Bible who are inspirational: Phoebe, the pastor at C...

The beginning of the story of the marriage of Jacob and Leah, captured in Genesis 29, is an interesting one.  I am not intending to write this as a seminary trained theologian, but rather as a person who is reflecting and de-tangling a biblical narrative. I find it interesting that Jacob uses his father's poor eyesight in order to gain his blessing.  Then his uncle uses Jacob's own poor "eyesight" to attain a blessing for his oldest daughter Leah.  I know there is debate about the meaning of the Hebrew adjective that describes Leah's sight, but what if it points to a form of blindness?  Wouldn't that be appropriate?  Jacob deceives his father taking advantage of his dad's difficulty in sight and as a result Jacob is deceived into marrying someone who has difficulty of sight?  And the purpose of both deceptions is to attain a blessing? And then this one sentence, stops me: "When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel w...

Imagine your family has its own mission statement.  It has been written up in an elegant type placed in a frame that was hand chiseled by your great-grandfather and it hangs over your fireplace mantel.  When you look at the statement it gives you the warm fuzzies because you know it is true.  Your great-grandfather (actually several "greats" ago) claimed that it was a mission statement given to him by God and your family tells stories of its fulfillment in each generation. You are a small and very close-knit family.  When you gather for a holy day of remembrance there are only a few in each generation.  Yet you laugh together, enjoy a meal, and take time to worship your God.  Actually taking the time to worship God is the reason that you gather, but it doesn't appear the same as it does for other families.  First each generation gets their chance to tell their own story of God's faithfulness and their incredible encounters with Him.  Then your...

The saintly woman three generations ago was defined by from what she abstained.  Perhaps the saintly woman of today is defined by how she exhibits compassion.  Those in their 90s today define godliness and being set apart as related to a moral goodness that is internal.  Yet, when I look at the term godly or righteous, I see it in terms of external relationships, how one interacts with the stranger.  When I put these two models side-by-side, I experience a bit of friction.  I love the sinner by inviting him in, she loves the sinner by keeping him out.  She is set apart by her personal lifestyle of abstaining.  I am set apart by my personal lifestyle of engaging. We read the same passage of Scripture and hear different things.  What did it mean when Jesus said to treat the obstinate as one would a pagan or tax collector? (Matthew 18:17)  What did he mean when he invited us to live in the Spirit instead of by the flesh?  Did the flesh r...

One of my favorite New Testament stories is of the Samaritan woman's encounter with Jesus at Jacob's well.  I love this story, because it models to me what it means to share the gospel.  In it, I am reminded to speak the truth in love, to invite my neighbor to have his or her thirst quenched by the Living Water, to use what is before me as a tool for witness, and to reach out to those who are marginalized by society.  I typically interpret the woman to represent in modern times those disfranchised in society by race, poverty, or culture.  But, today when I read it, I saw it in a new way.  The Samaritan woman had faith. She believed in the Torah and worshipped God.  She was at odds with the Jewish believer because she chose to worship God in a different way and she rejected parts of the Scriptures.  I read it and I heard an encounter between Jesus and a Muslim woman. I also heard the part about her having several husbands in a new way.  Previ...

A highlight of my week is often visiting the alcohol and tobacco shop located next door to our church.  Every time I go I am met with an unexpected and pleasant surprise.  One of the employees has decided that I am the store's pastor and that it is my responsibility to come by each week to bring a little Jesus into the store. Today when I went, it must have been in the midst of a shift change, because several employees were behind the counter.  One of the men who I am getting to know introduced me to another man as "the padre I've been telling you about, the one at the church next door."  This then started an entire conversation with employees asking where the church was because they hadn't remembered seeing one next door.   Our church is currently meeting in two connecting store fronts in a strip mall.  We don't yet have a traditional sign, so many people don't yet know we are there.  It is only by our relational presence in the community tha...

This morning as I took a shower I dream about a sermon series I will do once I am the pastor of a church. It was a series that would take place in the summer and the theme would be bio-ethics. I thought about how I would start collecting information in different files for different possible sermon topics, speakers I would have come for an adult Sunday afternoon VBS, and a fun children's Sunday School/VBS curriculum that I could design. Switching between regions of the United States gives me access to whole new kind of resource. My current job has connected me with Christians who are experts in their fields and have learned how to integrate their faith with their work. There is a gift in this. But there is also a gift in my home region and that is a sense of stability and intimacy among a Christian community. In that region I imagine myself doing sermon series that go deeper into one's spiritual walk in a different way. I would still do a bioethics series, but it would probab...

"In the beginning..." Today I started reading through the Bible, Creation to the Throne of God. In just about 5 months I will be ordained as a minister in the Christian church. When I met with the pastor of my home congregation to discuss the ordination process, he challenged me to consider how I might spiritually prepare for ordination. One of the ways I decided to prepare was by reading through the whole Bible between now and then. While I was on my intercultural immersion study trip in east Kentucky, I learned a lot about the relationship between humans and the earth. I was reminded of how I am lacking in my appreciation for and understanding of nature. Consequently, I feel led to use the Green Bible as my source of devotion for this time period of preparation. I also hope to reflect upon nature by planting a garden this spring and reading from my undergraduate Environmental Studies book. Today's reading was the story of Creation and Re-Creation through the flood. ...

Even though I was very much opposed to Sarah Palin being the Republican choice for President... er, I mean Vice President, I would be a huge supporter of her starting her very own talk show. The release of Palin's new book, "Going Rogue" and her much (too-long) awaited appearance on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" seem to have appropriately gained U.S. Americans attention as well as my own. I agree with both Jeff Simon, from "the Buffalo News" and Oprah, Sarah Palin would be a great talk show host. (See Simon's article: http://www.buffalonews.com/494/story/864456.html ) Palin would be a draw for conservatives and Christians and perhaps she could still end up being the "magic" the disillusioned Republican party needs. She may not be President, but we all know how influential talk show hosts and media personalities can be -- just look at "O." Perhaps McCain wasn't too far off course - Palin perhaps is the key to his party's futur...

Because of a conversation I had with my husband yesterday, I've been thinking about how men and women hear words and think differently. This conversation contributes to other conversations I've had with people about a recent sermon. It seems as though the flow of the sermon made more logical sense to women then it did for men. I also think of the sermons that I have heard that I have found frustrating, but for some reason have really spiritually fed men. I wonder about this and what it means. For example, my husband and I were discussing our conceptions of God. If I understand correctly he sees the military exploits of God in the Old Testament as exactly that - military exploits. Whereas I see them as stories of God's grace being repetitively extended and then FINALLY being worn out as God decides to act against an injustice that cannot be corrected in another way. This morning I read the beginning of 2 Timothy and realized how I clung to the emotive words (or somewhat inte...

Wow! In the final verses of Job, when the writer celebrates that Job has been blessed with restored friendships, a profitable agricultural business, children, and a long life, special attention is given to his daughters! His three daughters are named and it is mentioned that they were given an inheritance alongside their brothers! This is shocking because the book of Job seems to reference a time before the Mosaic law and the latest possible date of its being penned would have been during the post-exilic age of Israel. This means that one of our earliest monotheistic worshippers of God treated his daughters with the same respect or more than his sons. How is that for a biblical precedent?

Throughout the New Testament, the slave-master relationship is used in an allegorical manner to point to the relationship between the disciple and God. In our present Western circumstances, we dismiss slavery as something that is not honoring to God. Another Scriptural allegory that is used to represent the relationship between Christ and the church is the groom-bride relationship. While all Christians recognize this allegory in Scripture, some give it greater influence and priority over other allegories. More specifically, in today's modern debate over homosexuality, it seems as though this allegory is revered in more conservative circles. I wonder how we as believers can use this allegory in an argument against homosexuality, while at the same time read allegories about slavery and still argue against slavery? This seems like an inconsistent interpretation of Scripture. What are we to do with this? Are we willing to admit that we think slavery is right? Do we explain away thi...

The most difficult decision I've had to make thus far in preparing for our wedding ceremony was selecting the maid of honor. I have two best friends who I have asked to be bridesmaids and I love them both dearly. I call them both "my best friend." I know that the word "best" implies only one, but for me, I've never been able to nor felt a need to choose one of them over the other. They are each my best friend in a different and unique way. Recently my grandmother asked me to read the book "The Shack." At one point in the story the main character is asked which of his children he loves the most. His answer is simply that there is not one child he loves more than another, he just loves each child differently. How would a mother choose between daughters as maid of honor? How would a sister choose between siblings to be the maid of honor? In my situation it would have been the easiest to choose my sister, but I really want to have one of my best frien...

What does it mean to wait for the return of Christ? Each day that I go to visit my fiance at his house, I look more and more forward to the day when I will be able to stay and not have to return to my own home. I wonder if that is how it is supposed to be in our relationship with Christ. Each time I meet with Him in prayer and devotion, my longing to be with Christ in our shared eternal home should increase. Each visit into His presence gives me a better taste of what it might be like when we can commune continually. When I look forward to marriage, I look forward to being able to just be present in each other's world. I look forward to being able to share meals with each other on a consistent basis. I look forward to sitting at my computer, doing my school work, and then taking a break to have a short chat with my loved one. How is it that our daily life with Jesus can be like this today? How do we recognize God's presence already in the normal everyday actions of life? Do we ...

"She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7) Is there more to this story? Why wasn't there any room for them in the inn? Did they arrive late to Bethlehem or not arrive early enough to find a place to stay? And if they arrived late, or not early enough, why? Did Joseph not plan ahead? Did he not consider the fact that his ancestral home would be overflowing with people looking for a place to lay their head? Or did they leave early, but Mary's morning sickness delayed their travels and made the trip take much longer than expected? Did they meet unexpected delays in their journey? Were these delays both the devil's attempts to stop them from arriving in Bethlehem and God's perfect plan for having His son born in a manger? Or were they still struggling with family conflict, Joseph's brothers giving him a hard time about including Mary and her child as his own in the census and Mary's mot...

A friend shared this link with me and I'd like to pass it on to you: http://vimeo.com/1553691

Okay, as a Communication major I was thrilled when I came across a social map of New Testament relationships. If you are at all interested in the social networking of Biblical characters and communication theory, you've got to check out this site: ESV and mapping NT Social Networks . You might also want to check into Biblical name weights and frequency and dispersion of Biblical name weights . Of if you are interested to find out who the top 50 most important people are in the Bible (based upon the frequency by which they appear) or even the 50 most significant women in the Bible, check out Logos Bible Software Blog . So, for those less interested in the Communication and Social-Relationship Theory aspect of this blog, you might want to check out who Zeruiah is, she seems to be pretty important based upon this research!

As I have been reading through the book of Genesis I have found it a bit curious how the women are treated. In Genesis 36:40, we have a woman, Timna, named as a cheif descended from the line of Esau. I have identified Timna as a woman, because in vs. 12 the same name is given to Eliphaz' concubine and in vs. 22 Timna is the sister of Lotan. In another instance, Rachel, the wife of Jacob, is a shepherdess as identified in Genesis 29:6 and 29:9. Here are two women who have stood up in this period of time as leaders with careers. Yet, the rest of the book is a bit dis-heartening. Widowed Judah sleeps with a "prostitute" and openly shares this fact with his peers (See Genesis 38). Yet, when his widowed daughter-in-law Tamar is found to be pregnant and "guilty of prostitution" Judah exclaims, "Bring her out and have her burned to death!" Then Judah hears the entire story and pardons Tamar recognizing her as more righteous than himself. As I read th...