". . . who is more to you than seven sons"

A letter from the guys at my church to the girls at my church for valentines:

Women Theologians

Ladies,

As men, we can read the passages such as 1Timothy 2:9-15 or Corinthians 14:33-38 and see in them only restrictions on women. We can react and say, “You have to obey this rule and this restriction”. Although there is a reason for these verses, and we must take them very seriously, if this is our attitude we don’t understand these verses. These verses are not there to give us an attitude of “placing restrictions on women”; these verses instead challenge us as men to lead and honor the women around us.

We can look at the scriptures and see God’s heart for women. A Godly woman is described with eloquence and dignity throughout. We have women like Sarah, Ruth, and Esther, and many more who stand out in the history of Israel. We watch and listen as Jesus treats women with honor. They were always near ministering to him, and he to them. Paul walked with the women around him, relying on the gifts that God had given them. And there is so much more, but for times sake, I am barely even touching the surface of how the scripture describes the beauty of women. My point is I don’t believe that the majority of heroes of the faith should be men. As we see these scriptures opened up and obeyed we will see the churches littered with the heroines of the faith. There is no place for any thought that women have less to offer. The Bible screams against this and rebukes any man who contemplates this. It is not God’s heart to put restrictions on women. In the scriptures, He has provided an amazing protection of the beauty and the expressiveness that only a woman can provide. It is God’s heart for a woman to bloom, under the nourishment and protection of His word.

Our pastor has recently been talking about how Mary’s act of anointing Jesus before His death was a powerful and poignant act. In that act, one women out-theologized all the many men that were in the room. If anyone thinks because a women cannot preach or teach, she has less expression of theology they are wrong. Christ made it clear, what this woman had done would be told everywhere the Gospel was preached. By her act she has challenged both men and women over the ages wherever the Gospel has been preached. Jesus had no intention to limit this woman’s expression of theology . . . nor do the scriptures.

As men, God has called us to lead in the church, but we’d be a fool if we thought we were more than what we are, fellow servants in the Lord, co-laborers in the gospel of God’s grace, with no more influence and strength then the women around us. What Mary did was powerful and meaningful. And she out shone the men around her. A woman can express theology and influence the direction of the church in a way that a man could never do. The church cannot be all God has called it to be without the women, co-laboring with the men.

God has called us men to lead, but He has also called us to honor and cherish the women in our lives. Peter tells husbands that if they do not honor and value their wives, their prayers will not be heard. I don’t believe this just applies to a husband and a wife. If we as men do not honor and cherish the women in our church, we are in danger of having our prayers not heard. A woman has a desire to be captivating and God has left her with a means for that desire to be filled. A woman shouldn’t have to force herself on us to show her theological insight. No, instead as men, we should treat women as captivating and valued. We should seek out what their hearts and what their ideas are. We should be in awe of the insight that God has given women.

Sisters, as your brothers, we want to learn how to encourage you to express theology in the fullness of being a woman and to treat you with the eloquence and dignity that the scriptures dictate. We want you to feel valued and cherished. We want to fight for you with our prayers and actions. Not by convention; by loving you like Jesus, laying our lives down, letting our lives point to one who is truly Romantic, your Savior and Lord. May we be stripped away, so that you will see Jesus. Be patient, we still have a lot to learn, but we pursuing to learn more and grow together through God’s stunning grace in becoming men who treat you with honor, and with God’s help we will. He will grant what He commands . . . by grace alone.



May Our Eyes Always Be Upon Jesus
(written by Landon Lewis)
May our eyes always be upon Jesus,
The founder and perfecter of our faith,
So that we may not grow weary or faint
As we attempt each day to run the race.

Do not grant our eyes the chance to wander
Lest we will give in to the temptation
To stop and marvel at our endurance
Or cringe at our lack of motivation.

Direct our eyes to the one who came down
And though tempted to quit, ran for His church
In perfect, perpetual righteousness
And endured the cross to finish the work.

As our eyes behold your Son’s bloody stripes
May we rest in His race and perfect time
Because it is His hands that will carry us
And His legs that have crossed the finish line.

May God cultivate and bring your heart to full bloom,
Your brothers

Dignity of a Woman

Where are the men, in these days, who believe in women? Who believe in their strength and influence? Who are willing to stand in honor of the women around them? Where are the men who believe in the dignity of women? Where are the men who believe God at His word, when the scriptures give them such high honor? Below is a quote written by a man, during a war, declaring that the women were there hope. What is said here about women should not be something that is uncommon. It should be an attitude that we as men regularly portray. I want to challenge the men to believe God's word.



For the rest of this sermon go to: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=914081731428

Question: Can men and women have healthy friendships?

Question: Can men and women have healthy friendships?

The scripture calls women and men into a relationship with each other under Christ. Paul told us to treat the younger women as sisters and the older women as mothers. This tells me that there ought to be healthy relationships between women and men and that there is a place for this. We also see that both Paul and Jesus had healthy relationships with women. I think one of our faults that hinders this is that our focus in getting to know others from the opposite sex is easily set on pursuing a spouse. In our culture, our relationships with the opposite sex are often associated with finding a spouse. I don’t believe this is Biblical. My relationships with other women should be focused on treating them as sisters and mothers and fellow servants in the Lord. My focus should be learning how to encourage and build them up in the Lord, not finding a spouse. My attitude should be how can I serve and put others above myself. When I meet other women my focus should not be looking for a wife. God is sufficient to let us know when it is time to pursue. I do not believe we seek a wife by social events. I believe we seek wife, by prayer, feeding on God’s word, and walking in the counsel with other men (and this is an active thing, but it is not the focus of our relationships with others). I know for myself I do not have enough wisdom to figure out who I should marry and if I am seeking a wife through social events or friendships, I will get all messed up in my emotions. But when I seek a wife on my knees and in God’s word and through godly counsel, there is an awesome assurance, certainty, and security. The steps I take to pursue a wife become firm. In my relationship with other women my pursuit is to point them to Christ and to encourage them in the Lord, not to me. I think that the line is that we treat others as sisters and mothers, not in the sense that I can do anything I can do with my own natural sisters or mother, but in the sense that I am protecting a healthy and secure relationship with proper boundaries. Instead of drawing their heart toward me, I am encouraging them in the Lord. This takes work, maturity, and learning how to communicate. And this does mean that some lines will be drawn on how you treat other women, but this does not mean that there can’t be healthy friendships. As for as how this looks practically, some of this stuff is still new to me, and I am still learning.

Don't be afraid to pursue a woman

Here is a link on some of my thoughts on pursuing a wife: Courting

Loving your wife

Ephesians 5:25-30

“25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30because we are members of His body.”


The scriptures paint a beautiful picture of the passion and the enduring and enveloping love of a husband for his wife. It is interesting that the scriptures never command the wife to love her husband. The husband, however, is commanded to love his wife in the most intense and serving way. He is to lay down his life for her. Husbands, when the scripture commands us to love our wives it uses the word “agape”, the very sacrificial love that represents Christ’s love for His church. The scripture describes our wives as “cherished”, “delight of your eyes”, “beloved”, “praised”, “more precious than jewels”, and “favor of the LORD”. Our love for our wives is to be a picture of Christ’s love for the church. Husbands, this is a love that has at its primary goal the good and protection of your wife. It is a love that sacrificially guards her under the word of God. Not in harshness but in the gentle and romantic strength of washing her with the word. A Husband must seek to serve his wife, nourishing and cherishing her, loving his wife as his own body. This is not a typical love, it is more. It is romantic, yet strong; passionate, yet deep and healthy. So husbands let us romance our wives in the amazing love Christ. Husbands, cultivate this love for your wife. And men, we must not wait till we are married for us to cultivate this kind of love, whether you are single or married, we must cultivate a heart of love. We must cultivate a love that not only lays our life down for our wife, but also for others, as we represent Christ’s love as men.

Divine Romance

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