If Sixty Percent of Your Congregation Speaks… Do You Listen!

Sorry Pastors but statistics say that most of you don’t listen to the needs of 60% of your congregation. Not really listen….

On Saturday I posted a link to CBD and a book being offered entitled, What Women Wish Their Pastors Knew. (She also has a book…What Pastors wish Church Members Knew) Over the next few days I will be posting several summarization’s offered and some comments from Pastors and theologians addressing this issue from a Pastors Perspective.

Pastors, before you click the X at the top of the page to close or delete, saying, what does this women know about being a Pastor? I ask for a small amount of grace. I freely admit the only thing I know about Pastoring comes from three sources: First and Foremost, The Word of God…. the authority on this issue, books and articles written on the subject and by experience and observation. Note that I am posting the excellent forward by Eugene Petersen who is more than qualified to address this issue from a Pastors persepctive.

Women, before you yell YES !!!!! too loud… I ask you to check your hearts. Though you may feel woronged by a pastor in the past, remember two wrongs do not make it right or as the apostle Paul states in Romans 12:17: “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.” If your heart is bitter please stop and confess this hard heartedness and ask the Lord to open your eyes to what He would have you learn.

The authoress, Denise George has done a wonderful job at articulating the hopes, hurts, needs and dreams of Women in the Church today. Too many excellent Pastors have placed the true needs of the women in their congregations on the back burner. Given the life of a pastor the back burner NEVER is reached. I have known some Pastors who simply make a decision NOT to engage the women of their church on any meaningful level. Too often the result is a group of women, affected by the fall and having no male leadership become manipulative, devisive and worse. THEN the pastor will get involved, the outcome? Christ is not honored, God is not glorified, and the body is scarred……and womens hearts harden like diamonds. Pastors PLEASE read the following by Eugene Peterson that forms the forward of this book.

Pastors do most of their work in congregations comprised of a bewildering diversity of souls. We commonly use labels to introduce at least a modicum of order into the diversity: saints and sinners; children, elderly, and adolescents of all ages; rich, poor, and middle class; mature, immature, and neurotic; saved, unsaved, and backsliders; married unmarried and divorced. And Men and Women!

The french use an expression that I like very much, deformation professional — a liability, a tendency to defect, this is inherent in the role one has assumed, as say, a physician, a lawyer, a pastor. I have come to think that if there is a deformation that pastors are particularly liable to, it is our habit of presorting people into categories. Once we have a category to place them in, we have provided ourselves with a grid for “dealing” with them. We have reduced them by labeling them. Now we know where we stand and have a pretty good idea what we will do. The difficulty is that the label, before we even know his or her name, depersonalizes this intricately personal, one-of-a-kind, image of God SOUL into a some-THING (note, not some-ONE) that we as pastors are qualified by training and ordination to handle.

Labels have a certain usefulness, if used with caution and restraint. But when used habitaully and unthinkingly, stereotyping and “lumping” they are responsible for an enormous amount of damage in congregations. The damage is reciprocal: the pastor’s imagination is blunted and a souls uniqueness is violated.

The label”woman” is among the most damaging of labels used by pastors. The label depersonalizes the working identity of a large segment of any congregation into matters of gender and role. The label is then commonly subdivided into women with problems and women with gifts. If she is a problem, it is my job to “fix her”, find a solution and get her “functional”. If she is a gift, my job is to put her to work, to use her as a resource. “Functional” and “Resource” , note both are impersonal terms, furthering the depersonalization. The pastor is depersonalized into doing a church “job”; the woman is depersonalized into either a problem or resource.

The moment we do that, we are diverted from getting acquainted with what is most human in this person, child-of-God-human, an eternal soul with hungers and needs that are beyond our fixing and with gifts and abilities that cannot be slotted into a church “job”. But pastors are in an enviable, and maybe even unique, position to go against the depersonalizing, functionalizing habits of our culture and recognize woman as souls-in-formation, persons redefined primarily by their baptism and not by gender, thier debilitating problems, or their exhilirating jobs.

Denise George is doing a wonderful thing for we pastors. She brings the voices of hundreds of women from across this land and around the world onto the pages of this book, women whose pastors haven’t been listening to them. “Listen to us,” they say. “you’re our pastor!” My husband can tell you how many times I have cried as my soul screams out in need.

They of course have needs and gifts— don’t we all? But mostly what Denise accomplishes is a massive de-labeling, a de-categorizing, letting each and every voice be heard with all the dignity inherent in every daughter of Eve, making sure that we listen, really listen to who they are, not just what they represent, or where they are slotted in a file drawer. We hear these voices making common cause with all of us as souls to be respected and honored; and are reminded that we share the demanding work of growing up to the stature of Christ.

Eugene H. Peterson
Professor Emeritus of Sprirtual Theology
Regent College, Vancouver, BC

Sabbath Worship A Sign of Hope

On the sixth day, God contemplated his finished creation in its vast
splendor and saw that it was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). But he did not yet see
the “very best.” That was because even before he created, God had decreed
that “the best of all possible worlds” was not to be at the beginning, but
rather at the end of history. That, too, was why he made Adam and Eve to be
his image bearers-to give them the privilege and responsibility, unique
among his creatures, of working for their Creator-Lord and so to bring the
creation to its intended consummation.

Our first parents, however, proved to be unfaithful and unprofitable
servants, and the rest is history-the sad, calamitous history of human
sinfulness and God’s just wrath and curse on that sin. “But where sin
increased, grace increased all the more” (Rom. 5:20). In his wrath, God did
remember mercy (Hab. 3:2). God purposed, despite sin, not to abandon the
creation. He purposed to save a people for himself. He sent his own, only
begotten Son to be the new, “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45, 47). By his life,
death, resurrection, and ascension he has not only canceled out the
punishment we sinners deserve, but has also secured the realization of God’s
original purposes for the entire creation. As “head over everything for the
church” (Eph. 1:22), he is presently working, by his Spirit, for the full
realization of those purposes at his return. Then, as he surveys the new
heavens and the new earth in their final, unshakable perfection (Heb.
12:26-28), he will in fact see the “very best.”

What, you may be wondering, does all this have to do with the Sabbath? “Much
in every way” (to borrow from Romans 3:2). Certainly in the book of Hebrews,
for example, God makes it clear that he would have us appreciate the deep
tie between the comprehensive scope of the Christian religion just outlined
and our weekly keeping of the Lord’s Day. In the long passage Hebrews
3:7-4:13, he is intent on giving New Testament Christians a sense of their
basic identity: they are sojourners; the church is a pilgrim people. He
makes his point, in commenting on Psalm 95:7-11, by comparing the church to
Israel in the wilderness. That analogy has two sides. On the one hand, just
as Israel had been set free from slavery in Egypt, so believers have already
been released from the guilt and power of sin. But, on the other hand, just
as Israel in Sinai had not yet entered the land of Canaan, so we have not
yet attained our salvation in its final fullness. An unthreatened,
unchallenged (but not uncertain!) experience of salvation is still future
for the church. This is why there are so many pronounced exhortations to
persevere, not only in this passage, but throughout Hebrews.

God calls this future possession of salvation “rest” or “my rest,” picked up
from Psalm 95 (see Heb. 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3, 5, 10, 11). Moreover, he
explicitly associates the Sabbath with that rest. That happens in two ways.
First, in Hebrews 4:4, he connects that rest with Genesis 2:2 (“So on the
seventh day he rested from all his work”). This is the only place where the
New Testament quotes this verse. It is also significant that there are only
two places where the Old Testament quotes this verse, and they both function
to support the weekly Sabbath commandment (Ex. 20:11; 31:17). Second, in
Hebrews 4:9, he deliberately calls the rest “a Sabbath-rest” (or “Sabbath
keeping”).

The intent of this inspired commentary on the Old Testament should be clear
enough. God wants us to view the final rest-the consummation order in store
for God’s redeemed children-as one grand, unending sabbath-rest. That
suggests that the Sabbath day is an eschatological sign. In other words, our
weekly Sabbath-rest is a recurring pointer to that consummation. Weekly
Sabbath keeping is a sign that points to the end of history and to the
ultimate fulfillment of all God’s purposes for his creation.

To see the Sabbath in this light has significant implications not only for
our attitude toward the Lord’s Day, but also for how we view ourselves and
all of our activities as God’s servants. The weekly Sabbath is not just
God’s provision so that we might have time to worship him (although it
certainly is that). The rest itself-ceasing as much as possible from those
activities that are appropriate on the other six days of the week-has
positive meaning. The Lord’s Day is about worship because it is first of all
about the gospel. It is a sign, a witness both to the church and to the
watching world, that “you are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19). We are depending
on God, not on ourselves, to provide for us. It is a sign that we do not
trust in ourselves and our own efforts as fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
We trust in the perfect righteousness of Christ, the last Adam. We trust in
God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises to do for us what we are unable
to do for ourselves.

We obscure the meaning of the Lord’s Day if we detach it from the other six
days of the week. The weekly cycle-which structures human existence in
virtually every time and place-itself provides a kind of “philosophy of
history.” The pattern of six days of activity interrupted by one day of rest
is a continuing reminder that human beings are not caught up in a
meaningless flow of days, one after the other without end. History has a
beginning and an ending. We are heading toward final judgment and the
consummation of all things. Every time we remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy, it encourages us to “think big.” It reminds us of the truly large
picture we are part of as God’s redeemed children. The weekly Sabbath is a
God-given sign that our lives are not meaningless and without purpose. Every
time we neglect to consecrate the Sabbath day to God, we actually steal hope
from ourselves. Every time we fail to keep the day holy to God, we actually
obscure our witness to the world of hope in Christ. Every Sabbath day is a
gracious reminder that our “labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor.
15:58).

The Sabbath is now the Lord’s Day. The Sabbath Day has moved from the end to
the beginning of the week. Our great privilege under the New Covenant is to
start each week with the Sabbath. That’s a sign-because of Jesus’
resurrection on the first day of the week-not only that the new creation is
“ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:5), but also that our Lord
Jesus Christ has actually already begun the new creation. Because we still
look forward to the future consummation, when we will enter God’s rest in
perfection, we continue to have a weekly Sabbath in the New Testament.
Because in Jesus Christ we have already entered God’s rest in principle, we
begin the week with the Sabbath. We already possess “the promised Holy
Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14). The
Lord’s Day is a weekly sign that salvation is not just a future hope, but a
present possession.

In a world increasingly without God and without hope, our weekly Sabbath
keeping is a voiceless, but nonetheless eloquent and powerful witness-a sign
of hope-the hope, God reassures us, which “does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5).

Dr. Richard B. Gaffin Jr.
The author, an OP minister, serves as professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is the author of
Resurrection and Redemption and Calvin’s Doctrine of the Sabbath. Reprinted from New Horizons, March 2003.

Ronald Reagan and Ted Kennedy….

It was the summer of 1985, a year after the second Reagan landslide, and there was a particular speech coming up that was important to the president and first lady. It was a fund-raiser for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, which at the time was relatively new and the only presidential library that didn’t have an endowment. The event was at Ted Kennedy’s house. The senator had asked the Reagans to help out. The families had struck up a friendship a few years before; in 1981 the Reagans had been delighted by Rose Kennedy, whom they had hosted for her first visit to the White House since her son Jack was president.

And so, June 24, 1985. I had worked on the speech, to my delight—JFK had been a childhood hero—and Reagan went off in a happy mood, waving his cards at Pat Buchanan, the director of communications. “I bet you love my speech, Pat!” he said as he bounded out of the West Wing.

And this is what Ronald Reagan said of John F. Kennedy, on a warm dark night in the floodlit garden of Ted Kennedy’s home in McLean, Va.:

“It always seemed to me that he was a man of the most interesting contradictions, very American contradictions. We know from his many friends and colleagues, we know in part from the testimony available at the library, that he was both self-deprecating and proud, ironic and easily moved, highly literate yet utterly at home with the common speech of the working man. He was a writer who could expound with ease on the moral forces that shaped John Calhoun’s political philosophy; on the other hand, he betrayed a most delicate and refined appreciation for Boston’s political wards and the characters who inhabited them. He could cuss a blue streak—but then, he’d been a sailor.

View Full Image

Associated Press

Sen. Edward Kennedy talks with President Ronald Reagan as they look over an American Eagle that graced President John F. Kennedy’s desk during a fundraising event for the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library.
“He loved history and approached it as both romantic and realist. He could quote Stephen Vincent Benét on Gen. Lee’s army—’The aide de camp knew certain lines of Greek / and other things quite fitting for peace but not so suitable for war . . .’ And he could sum up a current ’statesman’ with an earthy epithet that would leave his audience weak with laughter. One sensed that he loved mankind as it was, in spite of itself, and that he had little patience with those who would perfect what was not meant to be perfect.

“As a leader, as a president, he seemed to have a good, hard, unillusioned understanding of man and his political choices. He had written a book as a very young man about why the world slept as Hitler marched on, and he understood the tension between good and evil in the history of man—understood, indeed, that much of the history of man can be seen in the constant working out of that tension.

“He was a patriot who summoned patriotism from the heart of a sated country. It is a matter of pride to me that so many young men and women who were inspired by his bracing vision and moved by his call to ‘Ask not’ serve now in the White House doing the business of government.

“Which is not to say I supported John Kennedy when he ran for president, because I didn’t. I was for the other fellow. But you know, it’s true: When the battle’s over and the ground is cooled, well, it’s then that you see the opposing general’s valor.

“He would have understood. He was fiercely, happily partisan, and his political fights were tough, no quarter asked and none given. But he gave as good as he got, and you could see that he loved the battle.

“Everything we saw him do seemed to show a huge enjoyment of life; he seemed to grasp from the beginning that life is one fast-moving train, and you have to jump aboard and hold on to your hat and relish the sweep of the wind as it rushes by. You have to enjoy the journey, it’s unthankful not to. I think that’s how his country remembers him, in his joy.

“And when he died, when that comet disappeared over the continent, a whole nation grieved and would not forget. A tailor in New York put a sign on the door: ‘Closed due to a death in the family.’ The sadness was not confined to us. ‘They cried the rain down that night,’ said a journalist in Europe. They put his picture up in huts in Brazil and tents in the Congo, in offices in Dublin and Danzig. That was one of the things he did for his country, for when they honored him they were honoring someone essentially, quintessentially, completely American.

“Many men are great, but few capture the imagination and the spirit of the times. The ones who do are unforgettable. Four administrations have passed since John Kennedy’s death, five presidents have occupied the Oval Office, and I feel sure that each of them thought of John Kennedy now and then, and his thousand days in the White House.

“And sometimes I want to say to those who are still in school, and who sometimes think that history is a dry thing that lives in a book, that nothing is ever lost in that house. Some music plays on.

More Peggy Noonan
Read Peggy Noonan’s previous columns.

And click here to order her new book, Patriotic Grace.
“I have been told that late at night when the clouds are still and the moon is high, you can just about hear the sound of certain memories brushing by. You can almost hear, if you listen close, the whir of a wheelchair rolling by and the sound of a voice calling out, ‘And another thing, Eleanor.’ Turn down a hall and you hear the brisk strut of a fellow saying, ‘Bully! Absolutely ripping!’ Walk softly now and you’re drawn to the soft notes of a piano and a brilliant gathering in the East Room, where a crowd surrounds a bright young president who is full of hope and laughter.

“I don’t know if this is true, but it’s a story I’ve been told, and it’s not a bad one because it reminds us that history is a living thing that never dies. . . . History is not only made by people, it is people. And so history is, as young John Kennedy demonstrated, as heroic as you want it to be, as heroic as you are.”

***
The Reagans tried to say hello to all the many gathered Kennedys—”That was Jack,” Jackie Onassis said, to the president’s delight—and a lovely thing followed, which is what Ted Kennedy said. The next morning he poured out his gratitude in a handwritten letter. “I only wish Jack could have been there too last night,” he wrote. “Your presence was such a magnificent tribute to my brother. . . . The country is well served by your eloquent graceful leadership Mr. President.” He signed it, “With my prayers and thanks for you as you lead us through these difficult times.”

And so grace met grace, and a friendship that had already begun deepened. On Wednesday, the day after Ted Kennedy died, Nancy Reagan gave a telephone interview to Chris Matthews on “Hardball.” “We were close,” she said of their friendship, “and it didn’t make any difference to Ronnie or to Ted that one was a Republican and one a Democrat.” “I’ll miss him very much,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll all miss him.”

Edward Moore Kennedy, 1932-2009, rest in peace.

Pharisee’s and Frauds…

Are you a Pharisee or a Fraud? Neither! Until the Lord turns our hearts, lifts the veil from our eyes and blesses us with his unmerited favor, we cannot be saved! We remain dead in our trespasses and sins. We are dead! John Piper asked this question at a recent Pastors Conference. (I am paraphrasing)Have you walked down the aisle of your church lately and smelled the stench? The rotten putrid smell of death. He continues explaining how they should as so many sitting in the pews are dead. Dead in their sins.

Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.
Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

For some of you this may be offensive. In this rare case I do not apologize. Life without the atoning blood of Jesus Christ is death and it STINKS and that is offensive. For others you will read this and say…yep, that was me!

This week I have chosen a testimony of the sort that happens everyday but sadly you do not always hear about. These are individuals that truly believed themselves to be Christians for years, decades, almost a lifetime and yet in God’s time they were saved. I can be counted in these ranks.

This video is somewhat lengthy, but I encourage you to watch it in its entirety.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbdeQKLWMh8]

Below are the short testimonies of two individuals who have walked the same path as Mr. Cortez and myself.

Praise God for His saving grace. I lived a lie from Palm Sunday 1974 (nearly 9 years old) until October 1995 (30). I was a Pharisee and Fraud for more than a decade. I did all the “right things”, went to church, bible study, led bible studies, tithed. Rededicating my life a dozen times…hard to rededicate what you never did in the first place! Dear friends ask yourself as John tells us to in his letters, search yourself and determine if you really are in Christ. Greg Bailey

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

Greg, this is awesome! Thanks for sharing! I too, from age 12 to 28 lived a lie. God is so good and patient. I pray people will take the time to listen and respond to this testimony. It is never too late, and spending you life involved in church does not equate to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and depending on Him only to forgive your sins. KWC

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Additional Scripture for your consideration:

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned–

Romans 5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death, but the gift of God [is] eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all [points] tempted as [we are], [yet] without sin.

To Support Male Supremacy….??????

Recently I have read many comments on various blogs about the True Woman Manifesto. One comment noted called it the “Anti Woman-Woman’s Manifesto, others referred to it as rash and, hastily and poorly written. But the one I found personally most offensive was calling this a “male supremacy-endorsing doc.”

Since it’s inception I have read and re-read this Manifesto and cannot concur with any of the above. Might it be referred to as an Anti Women’s Lib Woman’s Manifesto? Probably, though womens lib has as many definitions as the sky has blues. With respect to the haste and care taken to craft a correct document; well this is an opinion I do not share and I will move on.

With respect to the title “male supremacy-endorsing document,” I say WRONG. A careful reading of “the whole counsel of scripture” will indicate that a man has been created for a different role from a woman. She was not created as an after thought, or as some have said just some type of an assistant to a man. By saying this you insult and contradict God’s Word and that I will never do…

The role a man was created for is as a “servant leader” as was Christ himself. How conveniently some seem to forget that our Lord Jesus Christ while God himself submitted to the will of His father…. submitting unto DEATH on the cross. While these Chrsitians will claim Christ as their Savior, they seem to forget that even within the Godhead there are roles and Christ SUBMITTED to the Father. Any man using scripture to substantiate any type of overbearing, dominating, abusive position he may have, will be judged by God himself. May God have mercy on his soul.

This attitude is a result of a perversion of the male role as a result of the fall. John Piper puts it this way:“So the essence of corrupted maleness is the self-aggrandizing effort to subdue and control and exploit women for its own private desires.” There are men who have never even opened a bible who seek the same type of control of women…. so where did this idea come from? The sin in their heart as a result of the fall. Many pastors have for years preached that woman are to be controlled and that the rod of discipline can be used by thier husband….this is NOT Biblically correct.

Should we as Christians ignore what scripture does say because of it’s perversion by a few? No!!!! We must be diligent to know The Word of God and to apply it to everything in our lives.

It is because of all of the mis-information out there that there is even a need for The True Woman Manifesto…. As long as we are present in our bodies on earth we will be subject to the results of the Fall. I sincerely pray for all out there that the Spirit of God will bring to you a clear knowledge of The Word of God that HE may be glorified as you live it out in your lives each day.

The True Woman Manifesto
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A personal and corporate declaration of belief, consecration, and prayerful intent–to the end that Christ may be exalted and the glory and redeeming love of God may be displayed throughout the whole earth

We believe that God is the sovereign Lord of the universe and the Creator of life, and that all created things exist for His pleasure and to bring Him glory. (1)

We believe that the creation of humanity as male and female was a purposeful and magnificent part of God’s wise plan, and that men and women were designed to reflect the image of God in complementary and distinct ways. (2)

We believe that sin has separated every human being from God and made us incapable of reflecting His image as we were created to do. Our only hope for restoration and salvation is found in repenting of our sin and trusting in Christ who lived a sinless life, died in our place, and was raised from the dead. (3)

We realize that we live in a culture that does not recognize God’s right to rule, does not accept Scripture as the pattern for life, and is experiencing the consequences of abandoning God’s design for men and women. (4)

We believe that Christ is redeeming this sinful world and making all things new, and that His followers are called to share in His redemptive purposes as they seek, by God’s empowerment, to transform every aspect of human life that has been marred and ruined by sin. (5)

As Christian women, we desire to honor God by living counter-cultural lives that reflect the beauty of Christ and His gospel to our world.

To that end, we affirm that…

Scripture is God’s authoritative means of instructing us in His ways and it reveals His holy pattern for our womanhood, our character, our priorities, and our various roles, responsibilities, and relationships. (6)

We glorify God and experience His blessing when we accept and joyfully embrace His created design, function, and order for our lives. (7)

As redeemed sinners, we cannot live out the beauty of biblical womanhood apart from the sanctifying work of the gospel and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. (8)

Men and women are both created in the image of God and are equal in value and dignity, but they have distinct roles and functions in the home and in the church. (9)

We are called as women to affirm and encourage men as they seek to express godly masculinity, and to honor and support God-ordained male leadership in the home and in the church. (10)

Marriage, as created by God, is a sacred, binding, lifelong covenant between one man and one woman. (11)

When we respond humbly to male leadership in our homes and churches, we demonstrate a noble submission to authority that reflects Christ’s submission to God His Father. (12)

Selfish insistence on personal rights is contrary to the spirit of Christ who humbled Himself, took on the form of a servant, and laid down His life for us. (13)

Human life is precious to God and is to be valued and protected, from the point of conception until rightful death. (14)

Children are a blessing from God, and women are uniquely designed to be bearers and nurturers of life, whether it be their own biological or adopted children, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, or other children in their sphere of influence. (15)

God’s plan for gender is wider than marriage; all women, whether married or single, are to model femininity in their various relationships, by exhibiting a distinctive modesty, responsiveness, and gentleness of spirit. (16)

Suffering is an inevitable reality in a fallen world; at times we will be called to suffer for doing what is good – looking to heavenly reward rather than earthly comfort–for the sake of the gospel and the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom. (17)

Mature Christian women have a responsibility to leave a legacy of faith, by discipling younger women in the Word and ways of God and modeling for the next generation lives of fruitful femininity. (18)

Believing the above, we declare our desire and intent to be “true women” of God. We consecrate ourselves to fulfill His calling and purposes for our lives. By His grace and in humble dependence on His power, we will:

1. Seek to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (19)

2. Gladly yield control of our lives to Christ as Lord–we will say “Yes, Lord” to the Word and the will of God. (20)

3. Be women of the Word, seeking to grow in our knowledge of Scripture and to live in accord with sound doctrine in every area of our lives. (21)

4. Nurture our fellowship and communion with God through prayer–in praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession, and supplication. (22)

5. Embrace and express our unique design and calling as women with humility, gratitude, faith, and joy. (23)

6. Seek to glorify God by cultivating such virtues as purity, modesty, submission, meekness, and love. (24)

7. Show proper respect to both men and women, created in the image of God, esteeming others as better than ourselves, seeking to build them up, and putting off bitterness, anger, and evil speaking. (25)

8. Be faithfully engaged in our local church, submitting ourselves to our spiritual leaders, growing in the context of the community of faith, and using the gifts He has given us to serve others, to build up the Body of Christ, and to fulfill His redemptive purposes in the world. (26)

9. Seek to establish homes that manifest the love, grace, beauty, and order of God, that provide a climate conducive to nurturing life, and that extend Christian hospitality to those outside the walls of our homes. (27)

10. Honor the sacredness, purity, and permanence of the marriage covenant–whether ours or others’. (28)

11. Receive children as a blessing from the Lord, seeking to train them to love and follow Christ and to consecrate their lives for the sake of His gospel and Kingdom. (29)

12. Live out the mandate of Titus 2–as older women, modeling godliness and training younger women to be pleasing to God in every respect; as younger women, receiving instruction with meekness and humility and aspiring to become mature women of God who in turn will train the next generation. (30)

13. Seek opportunities to share the gospel of Christ with unbelievers. (31)

14. Reflect God’s heart for those who are poor, infirm, oppressed, widows, orphans, and prisoners, by reaching out to minister to their practical and spiritual needs in the name of Christ. (32)

15. Pray for a movement of revival and reformation among God’s people that will result in the advancement of the Kingdom and gospel of Christ among all nations. (33)

Supporting Scripture:
1.) 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11
2.) Gen. 1:26-27; 2:18; 1 Cor. 11:8
3.) Gen. 3:1-7, 15-16; Mark 1:15; 1 Cor. 15:1-4
4.) Prov. 14:12; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:18, 8:6-7; 2 Tim. 3:16
5.) Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:12-14; Titus 2:14
6.) Josh. 1:8; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 3:15-16
7.) 1 Tim. 2:9; Titus 2:3-5; 1 Pet. 3:3-6
8.) John 15:1-5; 1 Cor. 15:10; Eph. 2:8-10; Phil. 2:12-13
9.) Gen. 1:26-28; 2:18; Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 5:22-33
10.) Mark 9:35; 10:42-45; Gen. 2:18; 1 Pet. 5:1-4; 1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:12-3:7
11.) Gen. 2:24; Mark 10:7-9
12.) Eph. 5:22-33; 1 Cor. 11:3
13.) Luke 13:30; John 15:13; Eph. 4:32; Phil. 2:5-8
14.) Psalm 139:13-16
15.) Gen 1:28; 9:1; Psalm 127; Titus 2:4-5
16.) 1 Cor. 11:2-16; 1 Tim. 2:9-13
17.) Matt. 5:10-12; 2 Cor. 4:17; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 2:21-23; 3:14-17; 4:14
18.) Titus 2:3-5
19.) Deut. 6:4-5; Mark 12:29-30
20.) Psalm 25:4-5; Rom. 6:11-13; 16-18; Eph. 5:15-17
21.) Acts 17:11; 1 Pet. 1:15; 2 Pet. 3:17-18; Titus 2:1, 3-5, 7
22.) Psalm 5:2; Phil. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:1-2
23.) Prov. 31:10-31; Col. 3:18; Eph. 5:22-24, 33b
24.) Rom. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:1-6; 1 Tim. 2:9-14
25.) Eph. 4:29-32; Phil. 2:1-4; James 3:7-10; 4:11
26.) Rom. 12:6-8; 14:19; Eph. 4:15, 29; Heb. 13:17
27.) Prov. 31:10-31; 1 Tim. 5:10; 1 John 3:17-18
28.) Matt. 5:27-28; Mark 10:5-9; 1 Cor. 6:15-20; Heb. 13:4
29.) Psalm 127:3; Prov. 4:1-23; 22:6
30.) Titus 2:3-5
31.) Matt. 28:19-20; Col. 4:3-6
32.) Matt. 25:36; Luke 10:25-37; James 1:27; 1 Tim. 6:17-19
33.) 2 Chron. 7:14; Psalm 51:1-10; 85:6; 2 Pet. 3:9

A Peek into Fetal Memory:Learning in Utero

The following is an article on recent research into the memories of the pre born. Finally vindication for all of we women who have for years talked to our babies while in their own “womb”. Maybe this will help us to help others who have had tragic situations occur before the babies birth, when that little one seems to shy away from things… Pregnant mothers the world over can often be found talking or singing to their babies in the womb. But as tender as those moments may be, is anyone besides Mom and Dad actually remembering them? New research says yes.

A team of medical researchers in the Netherlands combined sonogram technology with sound and vibration stimulation to discover that 30-week-old fetuses demonstrate short-term memory. By 34 weeks, these babies in utero are able to store and retrieve that information up to four weeks later, according to the study published in the medical journal Child Development.

This research follows on the heels of similar studies conducted to determine if a fetus can remember its mother’s voice. One such study had mothers read Dr. Seuss’ famous Cat in the Hat twice a day to their babies six weeks before birth.

Three days after birth, scientists were able to determine that not only did the babies prefer the sound of their own mother’s voice, they also preferred the sound of the story they had heard in utero to a new story.

Still other studies have found that fetuses exposed to theme songs or other music tend to show recognition of those same songs shortly after birth. Other studies show that newborns prefer the sound of the mother’s native tongue to other languages.

The life of twins has also opened some unexpected vistas in the exploration of learning and memory in the womb. In the National Geographic special In the Womb: Twins, Triplets, and Quads, a twin brother and sister were spotted through ultrasound technology playing cheek-to-cheek on either side of the placenta. A year after birth, their favorite game was to take positions on opposite sides of a curtain, laughing and giggling as they touched and played through the divider.

In another case of twins, one baby showed more aggressive behavior in utero. Kicking, pushing, and hitting the other, who would retreat to the far side of the womb. Four years later, whenever a fight breaks out between the twins, the quieter one still retreats to his room and closes the door.

Negative emotional states of the mother may also tell us something about learning and cognition in utero. One Australian study found the babies of pregnant mothers watching a 20-minute video of a disturbing Hollywood movie also experienced emotional upset. When three months after birth, the infants were briefly shown clips of the same film, they showed recognition of prior exposure.

From thumb sucking, to cry-like behavior, to dreaming, and smiling, new four-dimensional ultrasound technology has shown us more than we ever imagined possible about human life in the womb. Now as studies continue to unfold the mysteries of life in the womb, discoveries in learning and memory are changing the way many see the fetus. These are stunning reminders of the capabilities of the unborn-precious souls who are so often denied their right to life.

Share these findings with those you know, and if they support abortion, encourage them to revisit the issue. Each day science shows us more and more to confirm what we already know-that the unborn are indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

That’s something all of us should remember.

Written by: Mark Earley and Posted @ Breakpoint.com

Are there any “True Women” out there?

The following article was posted at the U.S. News and World Report Opinion Page this January written by Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog: This was posted in response to the True Woman Manifesto.

If you have not read the True Woman Manifesto: I encourage you to do so. The link is:

http://www.truewoman.com/assets/files/TW_Manifesto.pdf

Please read the article and the 2 sets of comments posted:

This little ditty about the True Woman Manifesto and so-called submissive feminists is wending its way around the Web, drawing choruses of excoriation from true, or progressive, feminists.

The article recounts a gathering earlier last October of 6,000 such women in Chicago:

The Associated Baptist Press explains the relationship of biblical womanhood to feminism, highlighting an ambitious initiative that arose from the meeting: a signature drive seeking 100,000 women to endorse its “True Woman Manifesto,” which, the ABP writes, aims “at sparking a counterrevolution to the feminist movement of the 1960s.”

To outside observers of the patriarchy movement, the starkness of the calls for gender hierarchy often seem amusingly outdated (not to mention historically misleading: feminist blogs Feministing and Pandagon have deftly dismantled some of the speakers’ Leave I t to Beaver idealizations of the 1950s as a time when women were universally protected).

The article’s headline reads as follows: “Women’s ‘Liberation’ Through Submission: An Evangelical Anti-Feminism Is Born.”

The only problem is, there’s nothing new about this movement or its followers. Anti-women women have existed since time immemorial. Another way of putting it is, women have been smart enough for decades to make their living by telling other women to stay home: witness Phyllis Schlafly (and her Eagle Forum), Beverly LaHaye (and her Concerned Women for America), and so on.

Why don’t men form groups to campaign against other men? Am I missing something? If any of you out there know of such a group, please post about it. Women don’t need to form a movement to stay home, make babies and submit to their husbands. That’s what most women did until a few decades ago. If there are those who want to continue on that path, fine! Just do it. But women have not always been allowed to work, or work in meaningful, high-paying jobs. That’s why the women’s movement was formed.

Meanwhile, can we set up a new gender for so-called True Women, so normal women don’t have to share anything in common with them?

I, for one, am one of many intelligent women who have not bought into the feminist agenda of the last 40 years. I do not blindly “stay home, make babies and submit to (my) husband.” In fact, I have a full-time career and a college degree. Your little snippet of a quote inaccurately portrays the true woman movement. We are wives and mothers who love our God-given role of nurturing our families and we invest ourselves in our families for their good while finding intense enjoyment and fulfillment in these roles.

While we empathize that at one time there might have been genuine need for some form of a woman’s movement that time is long past. The myth that women can have it all: full-time high-paying job and family is not the rewarding path it was cracked up to be even though I love my job. Too many times I am torn between family and work and miss out on occasions that mean more to me in the long run than a career.

The feminists are out of touch with many women’s interests and have politicized femininity. We are more concerned with our families than with our individual rights and the self-centered focus of feminism that calls for women’s rights to the exclusion of our families’ best interests.

What the radical feminist will never understand is that many women are deeply satisfied living within the biblical model of womanhood. This model is based upon a mutual, sacrificial love with submission a very small part of the picture.

The men and women involved in TW are humble and kindhearted. We are not angry or militant. You should do a little more research and get to know those involved before you dismiss this group. Just look at the tone of your articles. You would be better served by a softer, less vitriolic femininity.

MJ of IN
*****************************************************
We’re smarter than that..
Thankfully those with brains realize that the biblical verse of a woman’s submission to her husband includes the husbands submission, humility and love toward his wife. This second part, to me, has until recent times been manipulatively deleted and used to man’s advantage, thereby corrupting organized religion.
I wouldn’t be so concerned over this small movement as it has no legs. We are smarter and wiser today.
That being said, what upsets me more as a person of faith and a feminist, is today’s young women. Our culture is setting the feminist movement back decades with their shallowness, lack of self respect, and return to the dumb sex object role. Instead of focusing on education and worthwhile self-improvement, many (at least what’s seen in the mainstream) are obsessed with their physical self and throwing out the intellectual self. It is important to look and feel attractive, but it saddens me that many of today’s young women are degrading themselves, becoming Barbie doll objects who are more concerned with their outer appearance than their inner beauty….and their minds.
****************************************************
I post both of these at this time in an effort to bring to light some of what is happening in the world today that continues to effect women.
The second commentor refers to her self as a “person of faith” I no longer know what this means. Does this mean she has faith in “something” or is she trying to say she believes in God/Christ and is being politically correct? Which ever it is I would like to address several of her comments. First of all her comment about True Woman itself…
“I wouldn’t be so concerned over this small movement as it has no legs. We are smarter and wiser today”
To this I will not state my opinion as my opinion has no more weight than her opinion. But The Word of God on the other hand has great weight.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places

Having said this,
I move on to the other point… she shows concern about what has happened to young women,“Our culture is setting the feminist movement back decades with their shallowness, lack of self respect, and return to the dumb sex object role. Instead of focusing on education and worthwhile self-improvement, many (at least what’s seen in the mainstream) are obsessed with their physical self and throwing out the intellectual self. It is important to look and feel attractive, but it saddens me that many of today’s young women are degrading themselves, becoming Barbie doll objects who are more concerned with their outer appearance than their inner beauty….and their minds.”

The culture is setting back the feminist movement by decades. How is this? Who is this culture person? Who gave “culture” all this power!!!!! The culture is formed by the citizens within. The culture in this case are the thousands of women who proudly hail themselves as feminist, progressive, enlightened and smarter. Than those poor “ignorant” women who are so misguided and lied to that they choose to be SAHM’s and put their careers on hold until there children are grown. Who are so weak they “buy into” this submission stuff…..

I too cry out for our young women.

Young women who have for the most part been forced to raise them selves as latch key children, or have been “institutionalized” through day care centers and baby sitters since they were weeks old. Being raised by Mothers that were raised by the feminist pioneers.

Let’s look at what some of the leaders of the feminist movement have to say about women:

Most women are one man away from welfare. ~Gloria Steinem This does not appear to be the least bit respectful of woman. The inference here is that if she does not have a man then she needs welfare?

And from MS Helen Gurley Brown herself… the author of Having it All and Sex and the Single Woman… and long time editor of Cosmo….. the feminist “bible” of sorts:

One of the paramount reasons for staying attractive is so you can have somebody to go to bed with”
How respectful and edifying is this….? She has just told young women all over the world if you aren’t attractive (live up to the latest object of Larry Flint, et al) then you will go to bed alone. Thus inferring you are a loser!!!!!

The message was: So you’re single. You can still have sex. You can have a great life. And if you marry, don’t just sponge off a man or be the gold-medal-winning mother. Don’t use men to get what you want in life – - get it for yourself.” Telling woman do whatever it takes to get anything you want. The end “your happiness” justifies the means. So to “get ahead” you do whatever it takes…which for thousands of women has meant abortion.

I would say that Cosmo was always a feminist magazine; it was before the movement really took shape. The early feminist movement felt I put a lot of emphasis on beauty, which was true Once again to the “person of faith” who thinks the culture has set feminism back decades….. the very issues you call shallow, lacking self respect and being sexual objects…. all of these are just as much by products of the feminist movement as environmental issues can be to a degree tied to our consumerism.
For any of you who think I do not see any validity in some activism by woman. I will simply say this; changes in some aspects of a woman’s day to day life needed change; however feminism is needed in 2009 as much as a labor union is…they have both morphed past their honest roots.

Ladies, I encourage you to take a look at this map outlining all of the women from across the world who have signed the True Woman Manifesto. Shout outs to all of you who have not signed. Please read and sign this manifesto!!!!

Tears Have a Voice…Your Pain is Known

“The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.”
Psalm 6:8

In the past two weeks, I have had friends who have faced the death of a dear loved one. A Daughter grieves for her Mother, A Mother grieves for her unborn child, a sister grieves for her sister, and now just this morning, A Mother grieving for her youngest son, now a man. Additionally one of my husband’s hospice patients has died. Death as it were has been much on my mind of late. Looking through some devotions I have on grieving, I came across the following:

“Do not stand
at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds
that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight
on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake in the
morning’s hush
I am the soft uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star that
shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there.
I did not die.
— Anonymous

This is a beautiful picture and can be so comforting; but as a Christian I must realize that as my loved one departs there are only two possible destinations: Heaven or Hell. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Knowing this we cannot look at anything and believe our loved ones spirit lives in the wind, the rain or even the sunlight. What we can say is this:

I am not there……
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep,
Remember me as you must,
With my Lord in whom I trust.
Rejoice each day as you may.
Knowing with the Lord I am to stay,
Remember me as you feel the rain,
As our Lord in heaven, knows your pain
Your tears have a voice,
He knows your pain
Stand not at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die
Long ago the Lamb was slain,
So with Him in heaven I remain
Crbailey © 2009

A prayer for the Grieving

Dear Heavenly Father,
We come to you today as your children crying out to our Father in Heaven, we have peace as we know you are a gracious and loving God who heals broken hearts and will bind up our wounds. We know that you are compassionate as you have seen the suffering of your only begotten son, Jesus Christ, who was persecuted and died, not because of any sin he committed bit as a result of our sinfulness. We praise you and thank you for this peace beyond understanding. We can rest as you will keep us in perfect peace as our hearts and minds are steadfast and we trust you. We rejoice with you this day as The Word tells us that precious in Your sight is the death of one of Your saints. We thank you Lord for the time, no matter how small, that you have graciously granted us with our now departed loved one. We praise you with the understanding that morning by morning new mercy see, as great is Your faithfulness. You are our portion and we wait on You. We exclaim with tears burning our eyes, The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen and Amen

An Evening Prayer

O lover of Thy people, Thou hast placed my whole being in the hands of Jesus, my redeemer, commander, husband, friend, and carest for me in Him. Keep me holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; may I not know the voice of strangers, but go to Him where He is, and follow where He leads. Thou hast bathed me once for all in the sin-removing fountain, cleanse me now from this day’s defilement, from its faults, deficiencies of virtue, harmful extremes, that I may exhibit a perfect character in Jesus. O Master, who didst wash the disciples’ feet, be very patient with me, be very condescending to my faults, go on with me till Thy great work in me is completed. I desire to conquer self in every respect, to overcome the body with its affections and lusts, to keep under my flesh, to guard my manhood from all grosser sins, to check the refined power of my natural mind, to live entirely to Thy glory, to be deaf to unmerited censure and the praise of men. Nothing can hurt my new-born inner man, it cannot be smitten or die; nothing can mar the dominion of Thy Spirit within me; it is enough to have Thy approbation and that of my conscience. Keep me humble, dependent, supremely joyful, as calm and quiet as a sucking child, yet earnest and active. I wish not so much to do as to be, and I long to be like Jesus; if Thou dost make me right I shall be right; Lord, I belong to Thee, make me worthy of Thyself. Amen.

Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity

An excellent book review by Winston Smith.

“Just say no.”

Not bad advice as far as it goes but, then again, it doesn’t go all that far. When it comes to dealing with sexual sin, willing yourself to say “no” usually isn’t enough. And thankfully Christ doesn’t just help us to say “no” but gives us so much to say “yes” to. That’s what I like about Winner’s book, Real Sex. It isn’t just one more plea for Christians to say “no” to sexual sin, but a help to say “yes” to sexual purity by appreciating the connections between sex and the riches of life in Christ.

An Old Approach Made New: Chastity.

Interestingly, one of the ways Real Sex helps us to say “yes” to purity is by refusing to downplay the difficulties of sexual purity. Winner understands that sexual sin isn’t an annoyance that can be flicked away, an addiction that is excised with a therapeutic scalpel, or a cultural wave that we simply must brace ourselves against. No, sexual temptation has been and always will be with us. Successfully navigating it requires a long view, discipline, and an awareness of how the means of grace apply. In part, Winner does this is by reintroducing us to the concept of chastity as a spiritual discipline. Viewing chastity as a discipline reminds us that sexual purity is hard; it reminds us that the Christian life is hard. Real Sex isn’t a cookbook of magical formulations that make purity easy – and neither is the Bible. Winner shows us how chastity, rightly understood, points us to life in Christ. That gives us hope, direction, meaning, purpose, and even great power and resources in battling sin. But the help is not in the form of a three, five or twelve step program that allows us to simply tackle one problem and move on to the next. Winner gets the big picture of the Christian life and so chastity is presented as a vibrant, time-honored and biblical way of battling sexual sin.

I found Real Sex especially helpful as a biblical counselor who always lives with the pressure of needing to bring immediate and practical aid to my counselees. Sexual sin often creates a sense of urgency that sometimes pushes me towards behavioral interventions and it’s easy to forget how sanctification roots us in Christ and requires us to take the long view of change and growth. At the same time, Real Sex does not simply shoe horn a modern audience into an old discipline. Winner urges us to take the modern/post modern experience of sexuality into account as we think biblically. She convincingly describes the nature of sexual temptation in our culture and demonstrates how good advice and even the words of scripture are sometimes fruitlessly applied when we’ve failed to carefully understand the experience of sexual temptation. This should resonate with counselors who have learned that unless our counselees know that we understand their experience, we have little hope that our input will be helpful or welcome.

Communal Aspects of Sexuality

As I counsel those who battle with sexual sin, I also regularly observe how easy it is to believe that sex is entirely a private matter, especially in the areas of pornography and masturbation but even when it involves adultery. The cultural ethos is essentially that whatever happens behind closed doors between consenting adults is no one else’s business. Winner comments on just how odd this is. On the one hand, we can’t escape public displays of eroticism and sex while, on the other hand, we are forbidden to make any comment on it other than approval. We have no right to find it harmful, only arousing.

Winner explains how sex is both private and public—that there is always a communal aspect to sexuality. Because sex is part of how we were designed to image God, it is more than an expression of biological urges or a private indulgence. It always powerfully affects and forms us shaping who we are and how we live with others. And biblically we should always care about how we are affecting others. Winner reminds us that as Christians we always live as a “people”. She goes on to describe how marriage itself is part of a larger social unit, the “household”. Sex must be understood not just as the private and impassioned expressions of lovers, but as part of the life and workings of households. Household life requires us to shed culturally touted demands for the new and exciting and learn to appreciate sex within the contours of everyday life. Like every aspect of household life, it isn’t always exciting, fun, or easy but must always be shaped, appropriately so, by the needs and demands of those we live with.

Lies

One of our Enemy’s favorite weapons is the lie. To resist him we need to know what he sounds like and Winner does a great job of identifying and deconstructing the lies that can make chastity so difficult. Interestingly, Real Sex contains two chapters on lies. One describes the lies that come at us from the world. If you’ve given much thought to sexual purity, some of these lies will be quite familiar to you, though you’ll still find her analysis thought-provoking and helpful. The second, perhaps more surprising chapter, deals with three lies that come from within the Church. These are lies that you may be familiar with as well, though you may not have recognized them as lies before:

Premarital sex is guaranteed to make you feel lousy.
Bodies (and sex) are gross, dirty, or just plain unimportant.
Women don’t really want to have sex, anyway.
I don’t have room to expand on them here, but perhaps by listing them I’ve peeked your curiosity. All of the lies Winner details deserve our careful thought but perhaps it is the one’s sometimes promoted by the church that deserve the closest attention. After all, it’s the lies that we believe that are the most devastating.

I think anyone would appreciate Real Sex. Lauren Winner is an excellent thinker and biblically astute. She writes clearly but tersely. To get the full value of Real Sex expect to read it more than once. Since she writes with wit and her prose is lively, it’s no chore. She is expounding a model, a way of thinking about sexuality, that we need to stay rooted in.

*****

Lauren Winner, Real Sex: The Naked Truth abuot Chastity, (Wheaton, IL: Brazos Press, 2006) 192 pages.

A Review by Winston Smith as posted at:
http://www.ccef.org/lauren-winners-real-sex-naked-truth-about-chastity

Winston T. Smith
Winston is the director of counseling at CCEF, a faculty member and has been counseling for nearly fifteen years. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary, where he is also in the process of attaining a Doctor of Ministry degree. Winston has been married to his wife, Kim, for nineteen years and they have three school-age children. Winston enjoys reading, listening to music, exercise, chess and other games of strategy. Areas of interest/experience: marriage and family, depression and anxiety.