How are Women Viewed in the Bible?

1 Timothy 2
"9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array
10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the  transgression.
15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."

Ephesians 5
"22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own  husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is thesaviour of  the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ,so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the  Lord the church:
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and  mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

Matthew 28
"5 And the angel answered and said unto the  women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place  where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is  risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8 And they departed quickly  from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his  disciples word."

Genesis 3
"16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall  rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened  unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy  sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;"

Genesis 2:20
"22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is  now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called  Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man  leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they  shall be one flesh."
 
Feminism is the belief that men and  women should have political, social, and economic equality. Feminism is on behalf of women's interests.

But it is biblical? 

I would have to say no. Why? Because men and women will  never be truly equal. Men and women are just different and that is the way we are created. Men and women have different functions. Men can't have babies, women can. Women are helpmates. That is how things are.

Women should receive fair and just  treatment, not necessarily equal. Equal doesn't always mean  better. That is what the feminists should be striving for. A woman can be a housewife and still be a good role model. It has been said a girl can be anything she wants to be. That isn't what the Bible says. It says that God is the cornerstone and we are the builders. Girls as well as boys are created to be what God wants them to be. That alone is why feminism is not in best interest of women.

God created Adam first then Eve, and that the husband is the head of the household. Men should be the leaders of their home. Young boys need male role models in their lives.  Every child should have a mother and a father, not just role models of one gender.

I believe that women should be and are strong, smart, and capable. But men too are and should be strong, smart, and capable. However, we are equal in God's sight, and we will be jugdged by equal standards.

Women have played a vital role throughout the Bible. They have been jugdes, mothers, and rulers. Women ARE to be treated "as a weaker vessel", and men ARE to love their own wives as themselves. A weaker vessel does not mean that men are smarter and stronger; however men are physically stronger as a whole than women. It entails that men are to be gentlemen and treat women with respect, honor, dignity, and delicacy, like something of valuable. He, our Heavenly Father, is the one who gave us women a plan and purpose for our lives.

However, the fact remains, we cannot change God's Word, nor should we. Our Heavenly Father  is not a male or a female. He is a Spirit. HE is to be reverenced as our Heavenly Creator, Savior, and Lord. There is no such thing as a Heavenly Mother and God should not be referred to as a she for the Bible never refers to God in the feminine.

Plans

I hope to continue on this journey of weight loss.  I am doing well so far.  I am just eating according to a plan that I have.  Hopefully it will continue to work.  So far, so good.

Weight loss journey..

The scale just isn't my friend.  I had to learn that.  I realize that I gain and lose everyday.  I hope to sincerely lose however.  I believe that weight loss is a journey.  I hope that I will stay on this past for I am much healthier than I was before.  This journey is worth it.

What is wrong with Ecumenism?

Simply put, ecumenism is when Christian denominations come together for the purposes of cooperation amongst the churches. It can also mean different religions coming together for a common goal or goals. On paper, ecumenism is a very good thing. With all of the trouble in the world and all of the anti-Christian rhetoric and persecution in the world, the church should come together.

Ephesians 4:5 states, " One Lord, one faith, one baptism." Aren't all Christians under one God? The problem with that logic is that ecumenism promotes compromise. Not all who say they are Christians really are Christians.
Not all denominations believe in things that go in line with the Lord. For example, some Baptists believe that John the Baptist helped found the Baptist Church. There is no evidence of that in the Bible.

Christians and Buddhists (as well as other religions) are also uniting to find common ground. Not a good idea. "Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers:or what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? "(2 Cor. 6:14) Christians are to fulfill the Great Commission as Jesus has said in Matthew 28. We aren't supposed to join with them. Am I saying that we should look down on or hate other who believe or worship differently? Am I also saying that we shouldn't learn or know about other religions? The answer to those questions are no.

We should respect that others believe and worship differently than we do. We should most of all love those who worship and believe differently. We should understand what their religion is about. There is no way that a Born-Again Christian who is trying to lead a Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or New Ager to Jesus Christ without first learning what their beliefs are. We should not be ashamed, and those who believe in Jesus should not be ashamed. (Romans 10:11).

We who are true Christian believers sinneth not, because we have conquered sin. Jesus died for the sinners. The sinners are the one who are in need of the Great Physician. There is not one person that has not sinned, except Jesus Christ. Those who have not repented of their sins, are still sinning, no matter if they believe in reincarnation or not. Ecumenism is a dangerous thing for a Christian to follow. There is however, true Christian unity spoken of in God's Word. Christian unity is about true believers fellowshipping and "worshipping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. "(John 4:23)

Being proactive

I have come to realize that there are things that I need to do. And there are things that I need to be. To do and to be can be the same thing. Even though I am being philosophical now, being proactive is something that needs to be done. I am a procrastinator who is in need of wisdom. Now I realize that these past few months, but I am learning. I don't know about you, but I am proud of myself. I cannot believe that proactivity can come from this body. Lately, I celebrate being pounds lighter. This is the classic example of being proactive.

Losing weight is not easy for me. I have PCOS, which is a hormonal condition that would affect a woman's fertility and other things. It is a decent description, but admittedly does not tell the whole story. I don't know why, but I don't identify with PCOS. I do tend to micromanage myself. That is something that I need to change. I have my light bulb moments which inspire me to do better for myself.

I wonder if I have to do what is hard for me in order to do what is easy. That means that what I didn't think I could do wasn't so hard to do all along. It was like that with dealing with obsessive thoughts. It is like that now that I have lost weight.

The Confederate Flag

Why is the Confederate Flag Often Referred to as The Southern Cross By Supporters? Why is called a flag of hate by others? Why is it such a big deal, especially in South Carolina, where the NAACP is holding a boycott of state tourism? What is the deeper meaning behind the Confederate flag and can there be a compromise and an objective view to this hotbutton issue? What does the Bible say about this issue? The flag on the left is the most-known version of the Confederate battle flag; the one on the right is the St. Andrew's cross, the Scottish battle flag.
There are obvious similarities between the two flags. The St. Andrew's cross is named as such because St. Andrew felt that he was not worthy of being crucified the way Jesus was, so he was crucified in the direction shown in the flags above.

Why the Southern Cross? The deep South have been known as the Bible belt because of its religious conservatism. By the time the Confederate Battle flag was made, Jefferson Davis was President and the Bible Belt was now the States of the Confederacy. They probably formed the Confederacy as a nation under God and the flag makers knew of the St. Andrew's Cross, it was called the Southern Cross. Southerners have defended their "lifestyle", including slavery citing religious reasons among others. (If one could give me the history as to why the Battle flag was known as the Southern Cross, email me at gngerald@yahoo.com). This website is not as much about the history of the Confederate flag as it is about the Confederate flag controversy in South Carolina from a biblical standpoint. Historically speaking, from what we know since the 1860s, there wasn't a compromise then, and the compromise won't solve anything now. Only time will tell. Hopefully I will be proven wrong.

The sad thing about what is going on these recent days concerning the Confederate Flag is anything but godly. Many who feel the flag should be left alone on top of the Statehouse or in the Confederate Memorial because of heritage. Sadly, not everyone feels the same way as these people do has demonstrated it that way. Nor does everyone agree. Many are boycotting because they feel it is a racist symbol, a symbol of slavery. This is understandable:
By around 1862 or so, the South seceeded from the Union, which started the Civil War. At that time, slavery was the center issue of all of this, if not one of the biggest issues. Black people were treated as nothing more than property. They were by law not allowed to read, write, or even marry. If the South were to win the Civil War, black people were to remain slaves for years, if not decades to come.

On the other hand, there is the issue of treason and sovereignty. Brother fought against brother. The events that led up to the Civil War and afterward did lead up to countless lives being lost and the breakup of families and thus a nation. It took four years for America to become a united, United States. Many people do believe that the flag should stay up because of the numerous lives, both black and white, lost. There is also the issue of the Native Americans. They were in support of the Confederacy not because of slavery, but because of the threat against their livelihood by the United States government, who also committed many racist atrocities. There is also true accounts of racism by the Union army against blacks as well. Many racist actions have been committed by those in the North as well as the South throughout US history. Such examples include Plessy vs. Ferguson, the displacements of many Native Americans, the Klan's terror even in the Midwest, the race riots, the One-Drop Rules and segregation by law.

This is not the opinion of one or of many. These are just objective historical facts. Sadly, not not everyone who is for the flag staying atop the Statehouse want to stay up for those reasons. There are many hate groups and many older people who use the flag for their own selfish reasons. Many of these include the Klan, many of whom were former Confederate soldiers. They are the reason for the controversy. What made it even worse was that the flag was put up on the Statehouse grounds in 1962. The controversy was that that move may have either been a symbolic "slap in the face" to those who were part of the Civil Rights Movement. The other view is that the Confederacy was enacted a century before. To be fair, I believe that not all who believe that the flag is a part of their legacy and heritage are racists.

The real answer really starts within us. In a democracy such as this one, we must be the ones who will held accountable for all of this. Togetherness is the answer: United we stand, divided we fall. We all need to learn the history of this flag. Ignorance may be bliss, but it sure isn't pretty. The Bible teaches us to love our neighbor, and our enemies. No state flag, or any other flag is worth any amount of divisiveness. Ephesians 4:26-28 writes, " Be angry, and sin not, ...nor give place to the devil." We have seen much unrighteous anger, and probably bitterness, from some on both sides of the issue. This kind of divisiveness is not of God for the whole controversy has given place to the devil.. Burning a flag is not the answer. In fact, it was needless and disrespectful . Disrespect does not breed respect. Nor does name calling, protesting the protest, or ;boycotting. It has even been proven that boycotting isn't going to change people.

We need healing. We need to learn not to tolerate, but to forgive. Let's not repeat what happened hundreds of years ago. Let's move forward. For if we all fail to learn about our history, we are doomed to repeat it.

Thoughts of oppression

The thoughts tell me that I have not gotten over it. It feeds on the thought or rather, it has created the thoughts that because I haven't stood up for myself, I should feel guilty. If I had changed this, changed that, lost more weight, done a better job, then I wouldn't have these thoughts. I have had these thoughts for years and they have gone away...temporarily, but they aren't just annoying. They are difficult to manage. Even if I manage to let the thoughts pass, they are still there. It makes me wonder if it is the Devil, the flesh, or the OCD?