Can Women Be Pastors and Elders?

What does the Bible say about women in leadership roles at church?

Is there Scripture to support a woman in a pastoral role? If not, is the Bible sexist or discriminatory?

Women are the biggest blessing and God’s greatest gift to the world.

Our modern culture is very sensitive to the inequality and suffrage that women have dealt with in recent history.

As a result, it naturally seems like a statement of male dominance, sexism, or discrimination for me to say that…

The Bible does NOT support women in a pastor/elder role in the church and therefore they should NOT hold or take on this position of leadership which God clearly intended for men to be responsible for.

Before I share some Scripture that clearly supports this statement, let me preface by saying these three basic things about the equality of men and women in God’s eyes.

  1. Men and Women are equally loved and equally as valuable in God’s sight. They were created to complement each other perfectly.
  2. We cannot reject or ignore the differences between what the man’s and woman’s roles and responsibilities are as God designed.
  3. From the very beginning, God intended a leadership role for man and no matter how much he usurps his responsibility to protect and serve, and no matter how much women are forced to step in and rise to the call, men must take the role of servant leadership as the Bible instructs.

Am I saying that women are not qualified? Ha! Heck no!

Many women interested in positions of leadership are much more suitable and experienced than their male counterparts.

Am I saying that men are better or superior to women when it comes to leading the church? Again… Heck no!

What I am saying is that it doesn’t matter what your opinion is and it certainly doesn’t matter what my opinion is.

All that matters is what the Bible tells us because the Bible is the one true source of knowledge and instruction for our lives.

So what does the Bible say?

Continue reading

Can You Be a Liberal And A Christian?

How can some people claim to be Christians and support a liberal agenda?

What does it mean to be a “liberal”?

Define Liberal: Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values.

Hmmm… Okay, so what does the Bible say about these “new behaviors” that a liberal person might support? And furthermore, if a liberal person is “willing to discard traditional values”, what are they being exchanged for?

These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

James 1:15

Let’s look at a few topics that the Bible clearly addresses and see if we can answer the question on whether or not a liberal person can really be a Christian.

Continue reading

Do I Have To Be Baptized To Go To Heaven?

Is Baptism a Requirement to be Saved?

The myth that you must be baptized to get in to heaven is less common today than it was a few decades ago.

Even now my grandparents would maintain the belief that baptism ‘is a very important part’ of salvation.

In a way, this is kind of true, but Jesus explains that the act of baptism is not a prerequisite to the kingdom of heaven.

Take the passage about The Criminal as a perfect example. When Jesus was horrifically pinned to the cross there were two other criminals whose sentences were being carried out at the same time.

One of the criminals that was nailed to a cross next to Jesus was making fun of Jesus by saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself. Save us.”

The other criminal was facing his fate differently and decided to rebuke the criminal that was making fun of Jesus…

Continue reading

Abortion is Murder. Period.

What does the Bible say about the Unborn?

When does life begin?

Is an embryo or an unborn child considered human?

What about unplanned children, or threats to the mother’s health?

And what about the horror of rape?

Should there be exceptions to God’s law?

Even before I had a beautiful child of my own I understood that all life is precious.

And now, knowing that God gifted me with such a beautiful daughter, I can’t imagine the pain a mother must go through to even consider something as horrible as abortion.

Whether I can comprehend this pain or not, the Bible is very clear on the subject.

God gives life…

Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. God breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.

Genesis 2:7

Think about that for a minute.

God created life from nothingness. God’s power breathed life into existence.

Even Job, who had everything taken from him, recognizes that only God had the power to bless his existence in the first place:

The Spirit of God has made me. The breath of the Mighty One gives me life.

Job 33:4

I think the hardest part of this conversation is the myth that some people have regarding the inception of when “life” begins.

It makes sense to me that a pro-choice individual chooses to believe that life begins at birth.

Continue reading

Does God Exist?

5 Reasons God is Real.

We have all probably questioned the existence of God at some point.

Whether you are an atheist, agnostic, or practicing one of the many active religions of this world, you have probably known someone who has said the words, “There is no God.”

This statement can be a result of tragedy, abuse, or simply a level of pride regarding scientific discoveries that support the argument against God’s existence.

I find the possibility that God is absent from this world to be astounding.

There are many reasons why a person could argue one way or the other, but here are 5 reasons that prove the existence of God without a doubt:

Continue reading

What Does It Mean To Be ‘Saved’?

I Want To Go To Heaven.

When you know you have done something ‘wrong’, what do you do?

Do you think of an excuse?

Do you justify your actions?

Do you question the rules? (I know I do… Ha.)

Or, do you admit your guilt?

Do you confess that you made a mistake and commit to fixing any damage you may have caused?

Have you ever done something so bad that you feel like there is nothing anyone can do to make up for how badly you messed things up?

You can see where I am going, right?

Is this just another thread of questions that creates a need so that I can ‘sell’ you an answer?

Ha.

NO! No. No.

There is nothing for sale here. Breath a sigh of relief…

But, the answer to your plea for help can definitely be satisfied in an eternal way.

If you have ever heard a ‘born-again’ Christian say that they have been ‘saved‘, here is how that works…

Continue reading

Is Hell Real?

What Does the Bible Say About Satan?

We have all been to a funeral or seen a post that includes condolences that look like this…

“I am sure he is in a better place.”

“Now she is looking down on us.”

“She is dancing with Jesus now.”

or even…

“Have a beer up there for me buddy…”

I find it intriguing that people who are self-proclaimed atheists, or even those people who use God and Hell as references in their every day speech, are so quick to believe in Heaven, but could care less to believe that Hell exists.

I once heard a pastor say, “The best evangelists in the world would be those people who are in Hell.”

Just this last Sunday, the pastor at a church we visited described a funeral he officiated for a 20 year old man who died in a car crash while driving drunk.

At the funeral, the man’s family searched for words of comfort and assurance that he was now in heaven.

Knowing that God is the final judge, the best thing the pastor could say to the family was, “I am sure God will judge him fairly…”

Yikes!

Do you know with utmost certainty what will happen to you when you die?

Why are we so quick to believe in a glorious place called heaven that we certainly don’t deserve, and yet, we deny Hell as a possibility for the majority of everyone we know that was “a good person”?

Continue reading

Guess Who Approved the Border Wall? God!

What Does The Bible Say About Illegal Immigration?

This is actually a very simple subject.

The Bible is very consistent when it comes to illegal immigration and the policies that a nation should uphold to protect its citizens.

Throughout the Old Testament sin and rebellion towards God ran wild.

God even gave his creation a ‘makeover’ when there was no one left who would follow him. Noah and his family survived the flood and just like God commanded Adam and Eve they were to…

…”Have children so that there will be many of you. Fill the earth and bring it under your control…

Genesis 1:28

Noah and his descendants definitely multiplied, but rather than filling the earth, they continued to sin in a big way.

Genesis 11 describes how self-absorbed and power hungry they had become.

Everyone spoke the same language and as one big group they decided they could build a tower to heaven to show how awesome they were.

Ha!

They were living as one nation, not following God’s command to fill the earth.

He said, “All these people are united and speak the same language. That is why they can do all this. Now they will be able to do anything they plan. Come on! Let us go down and mix up their language. Then they will not be able to understand one another.”

So the Lord scattered them from there over the whole earth. And they stopped building the city.

Genesis 11:6-8

Bam! Now we have an earth filled with many languages and many nations.

God scattered His creations across the whole earth.

You might be thinking, “What does an earth filled with many nations have to do with illegal immigration?”

Continue reading

Are Guns the Problem?

What Does The Bible Say About Guns?

Since guns were not a weapon used in ancient times you might ask if the Bible can be used as a reference point at all?

Of course it can.

The Bible is an instruction book for everything in our lives today and the answers to all of our questions can be found in it.

The Bible does not mention the modern weapon of a gun, but it sure talks a lot about warfare, weaponry and even self-defense.

Let’s start with the Old Testament and then move on to see what Jesus has to say in the New Testament.

In the time of King David each man was expected to have his own sword ready. There was no organized military to protect the citizens.

If the time came, the leader of the day would summon the men in his nation to ‘put on your swords’.

David said to his men, “Each of you put on your swords!” So they did. David put his sword on too. About 400 men went up with David. Two hundred men stayed behind with the supplies.”

1 Samuel 25:13

Every man was expected to have a weapon ready to be holstered should the time for defense or fighting arise.

Does that mean we should all own a gun today and be trigger happy when we feel threatened?

Continue reading

Can I Be Gay?

What Does God Say About Being Gay?

No.

No.

No.

This is not a post about being intolerant. This is a post about what’s real.

Whether you believe in God or not, you simply cannot argue with science and our physical dispositions.

What does God say?

Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman. I hate that.

Leviticus 18:22

Suppose a man has sex with another man as he would have sex with a woman. I hate what they have done.

Leviticus 20:13

Do you think I am cherry picking verses from God’s laws in the Old Testament?

Do you think Jesus has a different message in the New Testament?

Continue reading