Thanks for the Bible  writings fellows.... Jean   

Remember, everyone, that it is in El Shaddai's will that we use His spiritual gifts that were given, which He has blessed us with in the heavenly realms, to help others and produce a harvest.  We are not to do nothing.  Would we, as a sevant, not be utterly worthless if we do not use what we were given to further us and others in Christ?  Whether your gift be prophesying, preaching, or teaching, (whether you are male or female) God meant for you to use it.  He Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  All of the gifts are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines.  The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.  There are many parts, but one body.  Each person is critical.
If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!"  And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker and indespensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.  And the parts  that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable need no special treatment.  But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.


 Matthew 25:14-18: "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

 "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

 " 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

One must recognize the time these letters were written.  To understand these verses, we must understand the situation in which Paul and Timothy worked.  In first-centure Jewish culture, women were not allowed to study.  When Paul said that women should learn in quietness and full submission, he was offering them an amazing new opportunity!  Paul did not want the Ephesians women to teach because they didn't yet have enough knowledge or experience.  The Ephesian church had a particular problem with false teachers.  Evidently the women were especially susceptible to the false teachings (2 Timothy 3:1-9), because they did not yet have enough Biblical knowledge to discern the truth.  In addition, some of the women were apparently flaunting their newfound Christian freedom.  Paul was telling Timothy not to put anyone into a position of leadership who was not yet mature in the faith.  The same principle applies to churches today.

Some interpret this passage (1 Timothy 2:12) to mean that women should never teach in the assembled church; however, commentators point out that Paul did not forbid women from ever teaching.  Paul's commended co-worker, Priscilla, taught Apollos, the great preacher.  (Acts 18:24-26)  In addition, Paul frequently mentioned other women who held positions of responsibility in the church.  Phoebe worked in the church (Romans 16:1).  Mary, Tryphena, and Tryphosa were the Lord's workers (romans 16:6, 12) as were Euodia and Syntyche (Phil 4:2).  Paul was very likely prohibiting the Ephesian women, not all women, from teaching....because of their actions.

In Paul's reference to women being silent, the word silent expresses an attitude of quietness and composure.  (A different Greek word is usually used to convey "complete silence.")  In addition, Paul himself acknowledges taht women publicly prayed and prophesied (1 Corinthians 11:5).  Apparently, however, the women in the Ephesian church were abusing their newly acquired Christian freedom.  Because these women were new converts, they did not yet have the necessary experience, knowledge, or Christian maturity to teach those who already had extensive Scriptural education.

Ephesians 5:22-33: "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."  This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

Why did Paul tell wives to submit and husbands to love?  Perhaps Christian women, newly freed in Christ, found submission difficult; perhaps Christian men, used to the Roman custom of giving unlimited power to the head of the family, were not used to treating their wives with respect and love.  Of course both husbands and wives should submit to each other (5:21...'Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.'), just as both should love each other.

Although some people have distorted Paul's teaching on submission by giving unlimited authority to husbands, we cannot get around it--Paul told wives to submit to their husbands.  The fact that a teaching is not popular is no reason to discard it.  According to the Bible, the man is the spiritual head of the family, and his wife should acknowledge his leadership.  But real spiritual leadership involves service.  Just as Christ served the disciples, even to the point of washing their feet, so the husband is to serve his wife.  A wise and Christ-honoring husbands will not take advantage of his leadership role, and a wise and Christ-honoring wife will not try to undermine her husband's leadership.  Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage.

In Ephesians, marriage is not a practical necessity or a cure for lust, but a picture of the relationship between Christ and His church!   Paul's counsel in 1 Corinthians 7:32-38 was designed for a state of emergency during a time of crisis.  "It is better to marry than to burn with passion."  Paul's counsel to the Ephesians is more the Biblical ideal for marriage.  Marriage, for Paul, is a holy union, a living symbol, a precious relationship that needs tender, self-sacrificing care.

ALSO... in the phrase "the head of the woman is man," head is not used to indicate control or supremacy, but rather, "the source of."  Because man was created first, the woman derives her existence from man, as man does from Christ and Christ from God. 

Has anyone been here since  the above post. Would you give an opinion on it, Thanks Jean

go to roseanne world and click on clips for 10/25/06.     It is about religion.... i defended Christ!  They rebuked me. no kidding.....   jean  f   www.roseanneworld.com Thank You

"Gee", NancyII... Read my comment again.  I never said that violence against and oppression of women only occurs in KC.  I did say that KC has a problem, and I stand by that statement.  Pointing out that stuff like that happens in other places won't fix your teen pregnancy rates.

Feel free to comment on the issue at hand instead of asking me snide questions that you already know the answer to.  

After all, you might be ok with being compared intellectually to a dog.  That doesn't mean the rest of us are. 

Boy," gift to males" sounds a little chauvenistic.  That was not intended.  I meant they are treated with love and respect and I am greatful they are my friends. 

I think she needs a hug.  In my little circle of friends and family the women are looked upon as a wonderful gift to us lowly males.  I have never seen a man grope a women, I take womens advice as readily as a mans. I don't get the part about her being not moral because of her sex organs.  How you came to these opinions would make very interesting and I'm guessing very sad reading.

I don't know, Stella; the next guy you see under a Resistol cowboy hat just might be me.  I've lived here approaching 20 years, and I'm happy here, and I sure don't fit that stereotype.
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Read some of my blogs!  :-)

Gee Stella...things like groping, harrassing, rape..they don't happen anywhere except Kern County?  What a secluded world you must live in.

And just why DID you grace us with your charming presence?

Steve, they don't exist anymore only because folks like us keep pushing back.  Give up for a moment and we'll be expected to stone unchaste brides on their fathers' doorsteps once again.  (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)

Kern County is full of misogynistic idiots.  It's a breeding ground for he-man woman-haters, and any woman who's ever had to live here (and g-d forbid, grow up here) has dozens of stories.  Stories about being verbally harrassed, groped, punched, raped, and best of all, told that she just isn't smart, strong, morally good enough because of her reproductive organs.  Church is the best, because then all the fundies can tell us that not only are we not good enough to assume any kind of religious authority (since we were cursed with a vagina, oh the unfairness of it all!), but that we should also feel bad if we have ever wanted to use said organ.  

I'm sure that you all think you're being quite shocking, what with comparing women to dogs and advocating that women who want to preach should be killed or...  what's that?  Have miscarriages.  Nice.  Jesus smiles on that, I am sure.   Yawn.  We've heard it all before.  I'm sure that you didn't even think twice before posting those clever little words of wisdom, did you?  Why should you?  It's not an issue for you.  You don't have to think about it, you can just repeat what you've heard your daddies say to your mommies your whole life.   No one's advocating violence against you if your raise your voice in church.  Trust me, the world would look a lot different to you if you'd grown up hearing that.

This whole "conversation" is pointless and sad.  Pointless because it really doesn't matter what a bunch of misogynists in Kern County think, since most of these decisions are made in cities and countries where the calendar says 2006.  Sad because it reinforces a good chunk of what's wrong with the state of spirituality in backwards little places like Bakersfield. 

Enjoy watching the outside world change and grow!  Be careful not to let any of it in!  

I can't believe I'm actually commenting on a bakersfield.com blog.  Hi mom!
Stella

A majority of clerics in the Anglican church decided a few years ago to permit  the ordination of women; hundreds of Anglican priests protested by leaving the Church of England and joining the Roman Catholic Church.  These men made the right and ethical choice (and  that is the opinion of one who is rather  skeptical of religious tradition). 

"In James Boswell's Life of Johnson, Samuel Johnson's opinion of a female Quaker preacher was recorded thus: "sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.""

Ditto to Sam.  

Robb,
   Those were like the good old days. Doesn't exist anymore.

Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Ezekiel 26:6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Hosea 9:14 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 
Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.

Someone (female) has to make the money to put into the collection basket. <snicker , snicker>