Sorry folks that I haven't written on this page for some time.
Have been thinking and processing several things over the last few months.
Will hopefully be back to it early 2013!  - thanks, Tere

Submission in the Garden

Here's what I think...

The relationship between the Incarnate Son (Jesus on earth) and the Father is the model of how to apply the human-Divine relationship, not a model of how the male-female or husband-wife relationship is to operate. All humans should pray and submit to the Father "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"; Jesus models this for us in the Garden of Gethsemane with "not my will, but Thine be done." I don't think it is correct to use Jesus' submission to the Father as an example of male-female or husband-wife relationships. 

The principle is not that wives should submit to husbands as Jesus did to the Father, but that all people should submit to the Triune God just as Jesus submitted to the Father.

World Vision - 40 Hour Famine

World Vision's annual 40-Hour Famine relief appeal is still on!

The "official" weekend was last week, but many groups, including my son's youth group, are beginning tonight!

Please consider donating to this very worthy organisation. 

Feel free to sponsor my son Justin here - or simply donate generally.

$40 feeds a family of FIVE PEOPLE for an entire MONTH!!

Thank you so much - Tere

Concert #1 of 3

So last night I went and saw Kate Miller-Heidke at Metro Theatre, Sydney. I went with my daughter Erin who said while we were standing in line "Your first concert Mom!"   ... Ok, that's not exactly true, but... well... yes it's been a long time.

Anyway, apparently I'm making up for lost time as last night's concert was the first of three which all come within a 12 week period. Yay me!

But back to KATE! She was wonderful. Amazing voice and a unique talent. So glad I went.

Read below my daughter's take on last night - I think you'll enjoy it. Make sure you also read Jessie's review on Kate Miller-Heidke on her blog Never Mind the Arias. Awesome.

Here's Erin...

Sitting here in a swirl of happiness created this evening by the flawless Kate Miller-Heidke - just returned from her concert at the Metro, and it was amazing and I wish it had just kept on going forever and ever, as is the usual feeling at spectacular concerts.

This woman is magical. There's really no other way to describe her, really. She conjures up these incredible sounds out of nowhere and you can do nothing but stand there totally gobsmacked, awed by the effortless power that is her operatic vocals....

  Read more

Mark Driscoll on his servant-hearted leadership...

Mark Driscoll gave himself so much rope here that I don't really think I need to say anything at all...

Church leadership: "20 Things to look for in a Good Right-Hand Man" by Mark Driscoll

Saudi Women represented in the Olympics for the first time

UPDATE:  L.A. Times Article - 

3Aug2012  Female Saudi Olympian loses quickly, but her courage endures

 

The Face of Courage:

16-year-old Wojdan Shaherkani became the first Saudi Arabian woman allowed to compete in the Olympics.

2012 London Olympics - Women at the Olympics!

Three countries have women in the Olympics for the first time!

Saudi women participating in the Olympics for the first time ever - London 2012

A couple of links:

Saudi Arabia's Olympic Paradox: Insulting Women, Islam and "Prostitutes"

-

History of Women in the Olympic Games

 

 

Sierra to Bekah (it had to be said).

I am fairly new to the blog-o-sphere and this past week has been quite an education with emotions running high at many url's.  Nothing wrong with some emotion and passion in my opinion.  But then I think it reached a point on a couple of sites where it was not okay. I was mortified to say the least at some of what I read.  Instead of adding to the melee I will just post a link to Sierra's response to Rebekah's diatribe... and for the record, I whole-heartedly agree with Sierra.

Doug Wilson’s Daughters Defend Him by Attacking Rachel Held Evans  by Sierra @the phoenix and the olive branch

Theological Heresy: "Attack of the Killer Pachyderm!"

Had I not known that this was Doug's blog, I would have thought this was all said tongue-in-cheek. But not so. Doug is serious. So serious in fact, that his "mission" is both "dangerous and risky". And Doug is ready to do "battle" against this "pachyderm" of "theological heresy" which wreaks "havoc", "tramping through our sacred houses" and it's "assault on the family table... and... Christian household culture"!

So what is this beast? What controversial issue has the potential for "theological heresy" and "confusion, extremism, trendism, indifference, and apathy"? What animal does Doug desire to tame in order to "restore the family to its place of influence in the lives of the next generation"???

Food.

Yep. That's it.

A few days after Doug's Petition of Prayer (read: advertisement), the Reformation of Food and Family Conference was held and Doug & crew continued to live-feed blog right through the whole thing. Including this little morsel and newsflash: "America is Gluttonous".  Wow Doug, who knew?

Now don't get me wrong, I think speaking against greed and materialism is a true and necessary message to our western world. But the blogging that continued with this one warning were these headlines: "Learn to Cook a French Meal & Prepare Cancer-fighting Raw Cuisine on Monday!", "Food is Hot Topic at our Church", "Master 3 Meals, Get a File Box, Make a Stew ahead to Reheat".

Seriously?
There are 925 million starving people in this world according to the 2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics

I'd like to see Doug Phillips do a little less blogging on elephants and recipes and more on Hunger, Malnourishment, Poverty, Harmful Economic Systems, and Climate Change.

And I suppose that's just as much a challenge to myself.

Spine Tag Poetry

 

getting real

of this and other worlds

where angels fear to tread.

in his steps

because he loves me,

traveling mercies, surprised by joy.

the hours, present concerns

a wrinkle in time.

My wonderfully creative friend Ally tagged me in her post of Spine Tag Poetry and I said yes, I'd be delighted to have a go! I surprised myself in readily assenting as I am SO NOT a poet! But I guess that's the point, just using other's words and having a bit of fun.

So I'll tag a few of my near & dear, but please anyone who wants to 'have a go', do! The 'rules' are: 

• Create a book spine poem.
• Take a picture.
• Post it on your blog.
• Link back to this post.
• Tag another blogger, or two, or ten!

Tagging: Erin, David, Justin, Cyndy, Kerry, Melinda, Jennifer, Dawn, Cheri, Michael, Christine

Respect & Cooperation

As a continuation to my last post I would like to share with you Libby Anne's article from her blog Love, Joy, Feminism.

I thought Libby Anne did a great job of getting to the ultimate issue: respect and cooperation between the sexes.

"By focusing only on getting girls to cover up so as not to “lead their brothers astray,” and on rooting out all sexual feelings (something impossible to do when it comes to teenage boys) rather than on how to healthily handle sexual feelings, the modesty doctrine misses the opportunity to truly promote respect, cooperation, and understanding between teens – and adults – of each gender." - Libby Anne of Love, Joy, Feminism



Please have a read...

On Modesty and Moving the Bar

June 20, 2012 By Libby Anne 

Some time back I posted a picture of two men leering at two women in burkas. For me, this picture emphasized something I had been thinking for a long time: imposing new stricter standards of modesty just moves the bar, and once that standard becomes the new norm, the bar must be moved again.

Because of how they are wired, there is no way to stop (heterosexual) men from finding women sexually attractive, or to stop them from appreciating that sexual attractiveness. Even a burka won’t stop it. I remember when I was still an undergrad, and dating the man I would go on to marry. We were talking about modesty, and I was trying to make him understand why it was so important. Finally I pointed to a friend of mine wearing modest jeans and a turtle neck standing across the room and said “see, when women dress modestly like that, men can’t possibly look at them and think sexual thoughts about them.” His reply shocked me: “actually, those pants and that shirt show off her curves perfectly.”

I think it was that moment when I realized that the modesty battle was one that would always be lost. Read more...

Guess what Christian - your children are sexual beings!

Sexuality. I have more than a few thoughts on this subject, which I will probably continue to unfold over time on this blog. But what I read this morning rather irked me and so I thought I’d write about it.

I came across the Modesty Survey which was reviewed on another's blog page. Now I realize this survey was done in 2007, but I honestly don’t think things have changed much in the message that is being presented via many of the Christian books, media forums and pulpits to our Christian teenagers. The message that I am hearing is “Girls present yourselves modestly in dress, manner, and deed because you do not want to be a stumbling block for your brothers in Christ.”  To be fair, I have heard several talks that have included the reciprocate:  “boys don’t be a stumbling block to your sisters in Christ…”

Okay, so that doesn’t sound unreasonable now does it? I admit, as a mother of two teenagers, one of each sex, I don’t want to see my daughter with the dress slit up to her hip and the front cut down to her navel just to go to the mall. Likewise, I would have something to say if my son was heading out the door with his jeans slipping way down to the top of his thighs showing off the state of his undies! So don’t get me wrong, I agree that it is good for people to present a certain amount of modesty in their dress and attitude within its appropriateness in a given situation.  Such situations range from going to the beach, to a wedding, or out on a date to the movies – and every other life event in between!

So of the message "Present yourselves modestly in dress, manner, and deed because you do not want to be a stumbling block for your brothers in Christ", I do agree with the first part and equally given to both sexes regardless of age: Within the context of a given situation, be modest in dress, manner and deed.

It’s the second part of the message that I am thinking about: “… don’t be a stumbling block…”  What does that mean? What does it mean, “to stumble”?

This Modesty Survey was answered by 1600 young men (12-19) throughout the world, but mainly within America.  The general framework of the questions was “is it immodest for a girl to…” or “is it a stumbling block for you when a girl…”

Here are just a few of the results:

• Nearly 64% agreed and strongly agreed  “A girl bending over and exposing her lower back is a stumbling block.”
• 75% agreed and strongly agreed  “The way a girl walks can be a stumbling block.”
• 71% agreed and strongly agreed   “Seeing even an inch of skin between the bottom of a girl's shirt and her pants is a stumbling block.”
• Over 70 % agreed and strongly agreed  “Showing any cleavage is immodest.” (read: “stumbling block”)
• Over 76% agreed and strongly agreed “Seeing a girl's chest bounce when she is walking or running is a stumbling block.”
• Nearly 50% agreed and strongly agreed   “Lifting a long skirt any higher than the knee in order to step over something is a stumbling block.”

Okay wow.  Here is my question again: What does “stumbling block” mean??

My guess is that many of these young Christian men define any amount of sexual arousal with “stumbling block”. And I think that is tragic.  These poor guys are being slapped down with a message of “don’t you dare even think that!” or “you are sinning because you feel that!”  And our daughters are hearing a message of "don’t cause your brother to stumble" which can often translate into a wrong message of “it’s your fault if the boy 'stumbles'."

I fear that we are sending a destructive message to our Christian young people: that it is wrong to feel any amount of sexual attraction until you have found your life-partner.

The message I’d like my kids and their friends to be hearing is this: 'You feel sexual arousal? Welcome to the human race! Now continue to exercise self-control.'
And they already are in most cases. When these young men find themselves noticing something attractive about someone else do they immediately have to jump up and leave the room in order to masturbate or view porn? Do they jump on top of her and start fondling her? Can they no longer function, unable to speak because they are “playing out” some scenario in their head?  No? Well then I say ‘Well done man, you are exercising self-control!”
It’s not temptation that is the problem, it’s how it’s acted upon. Self-control.

What if the survey read more like this:

This is a survey on Self-control.  If you find that in any of the below given situations you would have to leave the room in order to masturbate, go look at porn, or comment to the girl “Oh yeah baby!!!” then please mark the question as “Agree”. 

But if you are able to maintain control and continue to view the girl as a human being worthy of respect and dignity then please mark the question as “Disagree”.

• The way a girl walks can cause me to lose self-control. Agree or Disagree?
• A girl bending over and exposing her lower back causes me to lose self-control. Agree or Disagree?
• Seeing even an inch of skin between the bottom of a girl's shirt and her pants causes me to lose self-control. Agree or Disagree?
• Girls showing any cleavage causes me to lose self-control. Agree or Disagree?
• Seeing a girl's chest bounce when she is walking or running causes me to lose self-control. Agree or Disagree?
• A girl lifting a long skirt any higher than the knee in order to step over something causes me to lose self-control. Agree or Disagree?

Fortunately I don't see any of the young men my kids hang with dashing out of the room when one of the girls bends over to retrieve something.
Again, it’s not temptation that is the problem, it’s how it’s acted upon. Self-control.

Let the Modesty Message be a message of Self-Control.
What do you think? Agree or disagree?


*click here for my other post: Respect & Cooperation

Mutuality

Below are links to articles that I value. Each makes a case for mutuality (egalitarianism) in the Church. These articles, in my opinion, take an opposed view to patriarchy, hierarchy, and complementarian positions.

I have been a Christian for my entire adult life. Nearly all of the churches I have attended have taken a "soft" complementarian viewpoint. And I'm sorry to say, but being honest, I didn't think much about it because it didn't affect me. My marriage has been "egalitarian" even if David and I never put a name to it. (See here for definitions of complementarianism and egalitarianism)

But then... I was 'affected' and had to think about the issues. At the start of 2010 we made a church change and BAM! we were hit with what I can now define as patriarchy; this church has an unyielding hierarchical authority structure. We only stayed in that church for 18 months, but it has taken another 12 for us to get to the place of being able to say "Okay, that was awful, but what good has come from it?"

The good is that we can now say unequivocally that we believe God's purpose for men & women is one of equality on every level and every place. And now David and I can discuss the issues and the varying viewpoints with our son and daughter. What a wonderful place to be.

Week of Mutuality 2012 - Rachel Held Evans
Is God Male? - series by Dr. Mimi Haddad, President of CBE
What does it mean to be a Christian man? A Biblical Perspective. - Rev. Matthew Williams
It's not complementarianism; it's patriarchy. - Rachel Held Evans
My talk on Gender at Sydney Uni - Rev. Andrew Errington
Pentecost Makes a Difference for Women - Mike Mercer (Chaplain Mike @Internet Monk)
Blog posts in response to Week of Mutuality
List of Resources - both online and books

Who's Who Among Biblical Women Leaders