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No Fear in Death
At church tomorrow we’ll be moving into a classic passage from Philippians 2, but before we get there I want to hone in on Paul’s very intriguing attitude in Philippians 1:21-26. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for…
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Prison Letters
In today’s episode we start talking about Philippians. Philippians is one of Paul’s four letters that he wrote from prison. In this particular letter, he is found celebrating the Kingdom work that is coming out of the imprisonment he’s enduring. I want to remind us that the Spirit can call us into persecution and also…
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Women & the Church (Conclusion)
Anyone who thinks Paul is always easy to understand is fooling themselves. Even Peter acknowledges within the Bible that Paul can be a bit confusing sometimes. count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his…
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Cover Your Genitals (Pt 6)
In case things haven’t got weird enough yet in our discussion on women and the church, New Testament scholar Troy Martin did some research on 1 Corinthians 11 in attempts to make sense of Paul’s explanation of head coverings; because on one hand Paul says women should wear head coverings, but then he undoes his logic…
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Cosmological Order (Pt 5)
Paul’s understanding of order is further established in 1 Corinthians 11 in two very shocking ways (one we’ll cover now, and the other tomorrow). For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave…
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Paul’s Women in Ministry (Pt 3)
The New Testament shows Paul’s affirmation of women. He mentions that Eudia and Syntche labored side by side with him in the gospel together (Philip 4:2-3). He mentions that Mary worked hard for those at the Roman church (Ro 16:6). He calls Tryphaena and Tryphosa “workers in the Lord” (Ro 16:12) and writes two verses…
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Church Interruptions (Pt 2)
I feel that the main reason Paul told “the women” to be silent in church was not because they were women, but because they were interrupting the service with their questions. Ancient culture did not spend much time educating women, and therefore they had plenty of questions to ask. As Craig S. Keener points out,…
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Women Can Prophesy (Pt 1)
1 Corinthians 14:33-35 falls on everyone’s ears differently, depending on denominational background. Some hear it submissively while others hear it and can’t help but raise an eyebrow. Still others hear it and a noticeable anger can be seen burning within them. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the…
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Progressive Paul (Opening)
Many of Paul’s words often get used to demean women and other minorities, but Paul’s instructions were actually quite progressive for his time—not regressive. It’s important we take the whole Bible into account as well as the culture Paul was in to understand just how extraordinary his message was. The conversation on women and the…
