The only reliable motive for encouraging women's ministry in the local church is an insatiable longing to see the display of God’s glory in the local church.
Christ, not womanhood or the women’s ministry, must be the reference point. Unless a women’s ministry is an overflow of the gospel, women will become hinderers and not helpers in God’s Church. Those who plan for and implement a women’s ministry must be intentional in maintaining a gospel orientation in their hearts and lives.
If we want to benefit most from our suffering, by prayer and meditation, we will approach our suffering as a good soldier approaches war. What do I mean by that? A good soldier who has trained and trained is not surprised when he fins himself in war! He has been trained for it. Likewise, consider it your Job to be be prepared to suffer. That puts a whole different cast on Sunday morning, doesn't it? You are gathering with God's people Lord's Day after Lord's Day to train as good soldiers of Jesus Christ so that when your time of trial and testing sand suffering comes, you will be ready.
Without a proper esteem and love for Christ Himself, and an understanding of His covenant love for His church, we will lack the motive-force to serve Him in the world. If our ultimate motivation for service to God is simply because we love people, we will never be able to sustain the call to service that God has given to us because the very people we are called to serve will break our hearts. It is only the grace of Christ that enables us to persevere.
When a church has a biblical apologetic for womanhood, the foundational concepts of woman's helper design and life-giving mission can permeate the women’s ministry. Whether that ministry is small and informal or large and well-organized, it can be perpetually and intentionally guided by three questions: • Are we being helpers or hinderers? • Are we being life-givers or life-takers? • Are we equipping women to be helpers and life-givers?
Whenever the creation order is inverted, there is disorder, destruction, and death. When we tamper with this order, even a little, we become life-takers rather than life-givers.
Scores of evangelical women are functional feminists, because the world’s paradigm for womanhood is the only one they have heard. The church should lead the way in equipping God’s people to think biblically about all of life, including a biblical perspective of gender roles and relationships.
The kingdom order of male headship liberates women to fulfill their redemptive function. From the world’s perspective, submission restrains women. From a gospel perspective, submission frees us to do what we have been created and redeemed to do.
Eve means "life-giver" Because of her rebellion the woman became a life-taker, but because of the promise of life she became a "life-giver" This is more than biological. Woman’s redemptive calling is to be a life-giver in every relationship and circumstance.
A husband should be the first recipient of a woman's capacity to show compassion and nourish community. If a woman bypasses her marriage, every other ministry will be polluted.
The complementarian position acknowledges that God created men and women equal in being but assigned different-but equally valuable-functions in His kingdom and that this gender distinctiveness complements, or harmonizes, to fulfill His purpose.
Abram, having failed in Genesis 13, comes through with flying colors in this battle of faith because he aligns himself with God, and he refuses to allow his heart to be compromised by the possibility of taking the riches that this world can offer.
I couldn't give you a count of the number of single women I have in our congregation that are serving in very significant ways in the community. Our desire is for them to live all of life to the glory of God whether God calls them to be a wife or a mother or not.
There is a God we want and a God who is, and the two are not the same.
Saying 'Preach the Gospel Daily, use words if necessary' is like saying 'Feed the hungry, use food if necessary.'
We are not the reason the gospel works; the gospel is the reason the gospel works.