Lest I seem to be evangelical bashing

Lest I seem to be evangelical bashing, here is a great post on some of the history of women in evangelicalism

No leading the singing for women

Continuing on the American complementarian thread,
women really shouldn't be leading the service or the singing either, if we follow the lead of Bob Kauflin at Sovereign Grace.

So , where are we up to. No preaching, no reading the scriptures, no praying, no singing, no leading. Lets be really clear who we are getting involved with if we want to go down this complementarian line.

Lets be quite clear that they teach Christians that what we do is sub or even anti biblical (if we do indeed allow women participation in these things).

No praying from the front for women

Let's get this straight, you raving feminist Sydney Anglicans, who misunderstand the way God has made men and women.

Women shouldn't be praying up the front in church services either,
says John Piper and plenty of other complementarians

No Bible reading for women either

I would hate for a slippery slope argument to be invoked in the discussion about women in ministry, but.. this is where it leads to folks!

Tim Challies tries to defend only men reading scripture publicly

http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/challies/men-women-the-public-reading-of-scripture.html

Lucky evangelical liturgies and prayers are such trite nonsense (ie lacking in teaching content), otherwise women would be excluded from those activities too.
What rubbish.

Listening to the voice of women in the church

Take a look at your christian books.
How many are by women?
What ratio women to men?

Mine is about 1:50

Please list your best theological book written by a fmale

Principles for preaching- Spend some time with yourself

When we are preaching we are speaking to humans ( I hope!).
In theory then, this should be incredibly easy. I am also a human, we should be able to relate!
Surely in ourselves we have a great resource for understanding each other.
But unfortunately, most of us don't spend time simply with 'ourselves'.
Sure, we spend time alone. With the TV. With some passtime. With a bible.
But I don't think this counts as spending time with ourselves.
Now, I'm not recommending some complicated program of 'finding ourselves', or deep meditation to find something profound.
In fact, the profoundest thing I have found by spending time with myself is that I'm not very profound. Not that I spend that much time with myself now.

When I was a child and teenager however, I had a special rock that I would go to, simply to sit.
It overlooked a vast valley. I played with the smaller rocks on top. I got bored. I got past being bored. I let my mind wander. I learn't all sorts of things at that rock. I learnt that I should thank people who have helped me. I learnt about a friends horrific story. I learnt to sit. I noticed that I am here, now. I thought about stuff. Nothing too profound*. But at least it gave me some time to have an interior reality. Not everything is conversing with others. I exist when I am not being entertained. Apparently teenagers and young uns' these days are lacking an interior life. Go and sit on a rock. You get to notice yourself a bit
Which should help you relate to other 'selfs'. Perhaps even show them their own 'selfs' more than they have ever seen them before. There is a lot of talk that preachers should go and spend time with people if we want to connect. And there is some truth in that. But perhaps there is een more benefit from spending some time with yourself
Preachers, go sit on a rock.



* though also some profound things. On a moonless night, the few lights from the farmhouses in the valley blended with the stars, so that the horizon seemed to drop 100 metres ahead, and gave the feeling you were floating through space on a small ball. Which you are really. Also, after a few years sitting on the rock, I lay down in just the right place and saw that the edge of the rock aligned almost perfectly with the contours of the mountains in the distance. Freaky.

I Ain't dead

So this last year I have taken up mat-surfing. Heading out to the beach on an inflateable pillow.
Probably the best time was in tiny surf when a few dolphins turned up and joined in the wave fun, and the worst when I went out in big surf and got the crap kicked out of me.

Last week I went surfing, there were a lot of fish in the water. Which made me a little, ahem, nervous.

I got home and turned on the news, they are going through the headlines

"Beachgoers swim unaware next to sharks in feeding frenzy"
I scream and recoil from the television.
"Surfer bitten by a shark"
arghhh
Then the story comes on
"Surfer Mike Wells was lucky to survive today after being mauled by a 6 foot bronze whaler"
I ran from the lounge room squealing.

All of which is to say,
I aint dead

FIVE sharks were seen off central coast beaches yesterday less than 12 hours after a surfer was bitten by what was thought to be a bronze whaler at North Avoca.

Mike Wells, a local semi-professional surfer and surf shop worker, received stitches and had surgery to prevent infection to about 50 puncture wounds on his right arm.

The 28-year-old was attacked at dusk on Tuesday in the water not far from the beachfront house he rents with his girlfriend, Samantha Symonds.

She said he was doing well and was expected to be discharged from Gosford Hospital last night.

On a surfing blog a friend, Grant Molony, said he was ''cracking jokes [and was] a lucky man with a story to tell for years to come''.

Mr Wells used his left hand to fight off the shark, which was about the size of his surfboard.

A neighbour, called Max, said beach walkers helped when he came ashore bleeding. His surfboard strap was used as a tourniquet and a towel covered gashes.

''He was as white as anything but still lucid. I think shock was setting in,'' he said.

Yesterday a Westpac life saver rescue helicopter spotted five sharks up to four metres long at Copacabana Beach and Avoca Beach, which was closed for an hour. Large numbers of baitfish are thought to be attracting them.

One surfer at North Avoca, Lachlan Taylor, 19, went into the water about 8am yesterday and saw masses of fish. ''Then I saw a huge shadow so I just absolutely bolted,'' he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/rescue-service-spots-five-sharks-up-to-four-metres-close-by-20120104-1pl8g.html#ixzz1ivbXyfXa