Worship Goes Out

Last night I was relaxing and reading the scriptures. After this, I felt some words from God concerning our worship come to me and I now feel the need to share them. I ended up tweeting them so I apologize for the shortness in which they are structured but here they are:

• As we heal from our hurts we must heal others. As we work for justice around us we find it for ourselves. 

• If we don't see our worship including service & solidarity with those around us then we are missing the point of worship.

• Church is not about me. It's about us, all of us, as reconciled & adopted children of God. How can we not reach out worship?

• There comes a time when we no longer focus on our own healing but move into the lives of others. In this we are all built up.

• Many of our apologies will go unknown. This is sad. Thankfully, none are ever unknown to the Creator who restores those we hurt in the past.

• Confess as much as you can. Reconcile as much as you can. In it all, trust the God who makes all things right. He prevails.

God almost meant for his people to be a people who were rooted in love so that they might bring all people to God. It was never about Israel alone. She was supposed to bring other nations into the fold instead of growing an ego. It's not about the Church alone. She is meant to serve the world and not piously escape it. It's not about anything or anyone being alone. It's about reconciling the entire world back to it's Creator. Our worship exists when we love one another throughout the week and as we celebrate on Sundays as well as when we interact with the world around us day to day. 

Colossians 1:19-21 states, "For in him [Jesus Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

How is your worship? Is it selfless? Does it go out beyond yourself? Beyond comfort? Does it bring others into reconciliation? Can you say with confidence each night "I worshipped fully today?"

International Women's Day Thoughts

Today has been International Women's Day. Of course, being the feminist that I am (yes, men can be feminists), I had a few thoughts on women today that I wanted to share.

Below is a sampling of my tweets from today. Before you read them, I should state that I'm an egalitarian (I believe men and women can possess all the same leadership roles in the family and the church) who exists among a majority of complimentarians (and we get along fantastically).  I could be wrong about my theological views regarding women, but I don't think I am. I hope I'm not. If I'm wrong, I think Jesus will be okay with me promoting the notion that women are as blessed as men to teach the gospel message and to lead a family into goodness as a capable leader (hopefully along with their very present husband). I have a hard time seeing Jesus get upset about that because I simply didn't follow "the rules." Let's face it though, he isn't a God of rules. Anyway, let's move on to the tweets.

• In God's kingdom there is neither male nor female. This is about status. We clearly need to live more into this.
• A curse: "Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you". Christ came set captives free. Doesn't this apply to women?
• Adam brought a curse but Christ brings a blessing. How can we think men should still rule over women when there is neither male nor female?!
• We listen to Christ & obey him, no matter the catalyst he chooses, which is often women. Don't believe it? Read the scriptures & see.
• The only reason we'd say women can't teach/lead men is because we've denied it is Christ Himself working in & through them. We follow Him!
• To deny women have equal status & the ability to have Christ's Spirit dwell in them as in men is to rebel against the imago dei.
• We say "No" to the imago dei whenever we oppress women. Thus, when we say "no" to women we say "no" to God, their Creator/Redeemer.
• Christ is born of a woman and obeys her for a his first miracle, yet we say they can't teach men? May we open our eyes. Christ forgive us.
• The word "helper" in Genesis that describes Eve is most often used to describe God in scripture.
• Woman was made by God to meet man’s deficiency. Woman as "helper" points to Adam’s inadequacy, not Eve’s insufficiency.
• All Adam’s nature demanded for its completion, physically, intellectually, socially, was included in this "helper." 
• Woman isn't merely made for man. Woman is made for all creation, for God, for good, for completion. This is why she is not a slave to man.
• Women head 83% of single-parent families. The number of families nurtured by women alone doubled from 1970 to 1995. Leaders!
• 3 out of 4 fatalities of war are women and children.
• About 75% of the refugees and internally displaced in the world are women who have lost their families and their homes.
• We must value women more. If we do not, we will lose our humanity in both quality and quantity. That is, we will be extinct after deformed.
• I believe women can teach/lead in the Church because I believe in the priesthood of ALL believers and not priesthood of all male believers.
• Today we do good by recognizing women as good and confessing we've failed at this as an overall human race for too long.
• Today is a day for men to confess an repent of our mistreatment and devaluing of women. Let us rejoice in our sisters!
• Jesus' resurrection message was first put in the hands of women and they instructed the disciples that they might believe the gospel.

Below are tweets I shared from others.

• International Women's Day: may it begin as 24 hrs, extend into a month, then century, till celebrating women is a normal part of life. -@wagebeauty
• Women birth 100% of the world's population, do 66% of work, produce 50% of food but earn 10% of income & own 1% of the property. -Eugene Cho
• As men, we have to acknowledge that we have privilege and must ask: "What do we do with that (male) privilege?" -Eugene Cho (http://eugenecho.com/2011/06/09/thank-god-that-i-am-a-man-and-not-a-woman/).
• "By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to...Jesus." ~ Mother Teresa (tweeted by Eugene Cho)

And here are some fun resources provided by my fellow Seminarian and brother John Lussier.

• A teaching on women by Frank Viola in Chile. http://frankviola.org/2012/01/30/godsviewofawoman/
• Wendell Berry on the importance of place and time in proving that the sexes are indispensible to one another - https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/060-08-12.pdf
• An academic look at Women in the NT by Kenneth E. Bailey - http://www.cbeinternational.org/files/u1/free-art/women-in-new-testament.pdf
• Rebecca Groothius's on the Bible and Gender Equality - http://www.cbeinternational.org/files/u1/resources/14-groothius-pdf.pdf

If you haven't yet expressed your appreciation for the wonderful women in your life then take some time to do that. After all, you wouldn't be here without one of them! Whether you agree with some of my views or not we can all agree that all women are to be rejoiced over and have been oppressed for far too long and it is time we, as men (and humanity), begin to change that. We can do that first by listening to the ladies around us. Be blessed!