This post marks the first in a series I would like to begin about the role God has called women to do, in both church and home life. There are so many different opinions and interpretations of scripture concerning women that I am bound to have readers who will disagree with my view on certain issues. I encourage you to comment on any aspect of what we are discussing, if you feel led to do so.

If we start at the beginning (which seems sensible), the book of Genesis outlines the way God intended the family unit to be structured. A heterosexual marriage, with children. Today we have all sorts of variations on this, but we know that this is the result of sin coming into the world through the fall of Adam. So when God created Eve, the first woman, he did so by using one of Adams ribs. I think we have symbolism in this, because after all, God could have just made Eve exist without using a rib and the fact that it is recorded in scripture means that God wanted us to know about it, because everything in the bible is there for us to learn from.

So this rib came from Adam’s side. Not a hair from his head or bone from his foot, but from his side. Not superior to him and not inferior to him, but created uniquely to be side by side and eventually joined together to make one whole – Genesis 2 v 24 ‘a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh’. I don’t believe that this verse is only talking about about the physical marriage, but also the spiritual and practical aspects of everyday life. Men and women are different for a reason, God intended them to need one another to make a whole.

Later on I want to discuss the teachings of submission and spiritual headship which God has outlined as the way families are to function. I hope that by the end of these blog posts, I will be able to show why I believe many people look at this topic of submission and authority from the wrong standpoint. It is not a patriarchal system of oppressing women, nor is it an old-fashioned way of living that we should dismiss. I want to stress that I believe the whole of God’s word has relevance to us today. We cannot pick and chose certain parts to follow and we must never despise or reject certain teachings because they do not fit in with our ideas of how we want to live our lives.

Anyone who knows me, will confirm that I am the first person to speak up against genuine cases of discrimination and sexism against women, and I hope to be able to show from God’s word how women are not described in scripture as inferior, but rather exhorted and created as unique people who have DIFFERENT roles to men. There is no discrimination in the bible. Discrimination is a result of sin and we should not use the language or ideas of the world to attack the relevance of scripture in our lives today.

I’ve been thinking about how the way the church evangelises, has changed so much in the past 150 years.  If we think back to the 1859 revival, this happened through the preaching of the word, so it was quite easy to visibly see God at work when people were getting saved in public gatherings.  Today we have been blessed with amazing forms of technology and although alot of it is used by the devil for evil purposes, it has had a role to play in evangelism.

There are thousands of evangelical services broadcast live over the internet every week, and we have no real way of knowing how the messages are effecting people unless they email the church, which very rarely happens.  Countless radio and TV stations broadcast the gospel on a daily basis.  Many churches give out recordings of their services on CD or DVD, with many Christians distributing these amongst their friends and family who would not otherwise come under the sound of the gospel.

It is very hard to tell how these means of evangelism are effecting people all over the world.  The Lord could very well be using it to revive people on a global scale.  I think we should remember to pray fervently for the work of media teams in our churches who do this very good work. It is very often overlooked when we think about the different types of work in the church, but really they are quite literally fulfilling the command to ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel’.  They present the word that the preacher is speaking to people who may not otherwise hear it.

Discipline is one of those things you know is good for you, but very often you cringe at the thought of it.  Whether inflicted by others or ourselves, its always hard work.  Today I want to think about discipline from a Christian perspective, although many of my thoughts could be applied to secular life.  I was reading this verse in Hebrews ch 12 v 11 “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

As Christians we know that sometimes the Lord ‘chastens’ or disciplines us, but very often we overlook our need to discipline ourselves in everyday life.  As the verse in Hebrews explains, it is not always a happy occasion when we have to scrutinise our own lives and cut certain things out, or introduce new habits, but there will be eternal fruit for our efforts. I know that sometimes I can be quick to expect amazing things from the Lord and claim promises from scripture, but  afterward I am reminded of my need to fashion my life in such a way as to allow the Holy Spirit to work in the way that God desires.  It seems unreasonable even in everyday life to expect certain things to happen when we don’t prepare and make ourselves ready.  If we wanted to run a marathon, we would have to train our bodies to be capable of this, which would take time and effort, ultimately self-discipline.  I believe this is true for the Christian in the many spiritual marathons we run during the course of our lives.

If we want to see God bless us financially, then we need to exercise self-discipline in our spending.  If we want to be blessed in our Sunday services, then we should be praying for the minister all week and attending prayer meetings in the church.  If we want unsaved people to come into the gospel meetings, we should be inviting them to come, either by personal invitation or joining the outreach team.  If we want our children to be saved, we need to set time aside to witness to them and have family worship.  These are examples of things which require discipline, if we want to achieve a good end result.

I am taking Hebrews 12 v 11 as a promise that the things which require discipline, especially in our spiritual lives will yield the good fruit, glorify God and benefit us long-term.  I had read this verse so many times before but had never really thought about what it meant.  Hopefully it will be of some benefit to you.

Recently I had felt the Lord speak to me concerning the use of my time, especially during the day, as I am on maternity leave.  I had been reading a book on how to reach your full potential for God and recently I heard my minister talk about how as each minute passes, we should think about what we have done for God in that minute.  When I thought about it, I was almost ashamed to admit that I revolved alot of my day based on what time certain TV programmes were on.

The more I thought about it, the Lord brought to my attention some uncomfortable truths about my TV viewing.  First of all, I spent more time watching TV than I did reading and studying God’s word.  Secondly, most of what I was watching was of no profit to my mind, heart or soul.  Thirdly,  I realised that most of the programmes I watched on TV were filled with content I wouldn’t want my daughter to see or hear.  So it made me question whether I should be watching them either.

So, I thought that abstaining from TV for one week would be good for me in a multitude of ways.  As it turned out, I really enjoyed using the extra time everyday for activities which I would normally have avoided.  It forced me to get into a good exercise routine, which I had let fall to the wayside recently.  I planned a route for an energetic walk and done it every other day, to try and get my body used to exercising again.  To make the walking more enjoyable, my husband recommended a set of sermons that I could listen to, based on the Song of Solomon, the teaching was based on building Christian marriages and families in accordance with scripture.  Although being a little more liberal than the preaching style I am used to, I found them very encouraging and a very good distraction from the long walk!

I found that although I had quite alot of time to fill, when I would previously have been watching TV, I was never bored, but felt more organised.  Dinners were cooked on time, I baked on a few of the days, the house has never been tidier, and I enjoyed having visitors on couple of the days.  I also done alot more reading and felt very blessed by what I read.  I still enjoy watching certain TV programmes but I have been reminded that it shouldn’t be an important part of my life.  I now have some  structured thoughts and questions to keep in mind, in order to make sure I don’t fall back into bad habits again.  These include

• No TV on a Sunday, no exceptions.
• No eating meals in front of the TV.
• If a programme is unsuitable for children, is it really profitable for me to watch?
• Do I spend more time watching TV than Studying God’s word?
• Would I feel I was missing out on something if I couldn’t watch TV?  The answer should be NO.

Colossians ch 2 v 6&7 say “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving”.  It is difficult for us to be built up in faith if our minds are continually being filled with content from the TV screen.  I hope in sharing my experience it will encourage other Christians to think about aspects of their lives which perhaps are becoming more important than their walk with God.