Letters Letter From the Editor Letter From the Editor Welcome to the July issue of MORNING STAR. In this, our tenth edition we feature a number of articles concerning Christian women's issues. Our feature area as well as Editorial column, People Profiles, Ministry Profile, Testimony and Young Adults columns are all concerned with this theme. I'd like to thank the wonderful Christian women who submitted material for this issue, as well as the folks at JESUS CARES Ministries, which is featured in our Ministry Profile Column. We are always looking to publish original material. If you wish to submit an article, you can tailor it for one of our regular columns, or write something that would fit in with one of our future themes. Our next three themes are as follows: Volume 1.11 - BIBLE STUDY Volume 1.12 - PRAISE, PRAYER AND WORSHIP Volume 2.1 - 1990's EVANGELISM (TV, radio, computers, software, faxes, movies etc.) We are about to make final decisions on themes for the issues following these. Some of the ideas we are considering are: Pastors & Ministers (A testimony issue) Family Men's Issues Missions and Missionaries Prophecy Messianic Studies Witnessing (A follow up to our first issue) Local Church Ministries (Bus ministry, Visitation, Choir, Sunday school, Children's groups etc.) If you have an article or story that would relate to any of these themes please send it in! We will be making decisions on which to go with, based on the responses we receive. Of course, we welcome your ideas for themes, so if you have something in mind, let us know! We will soon reach our one year anniversary when we publish the September issue (Volume 1.12). We are looking at making a few changes in format and content beginning with Volume 2.1. Suggestions from our readers are most welcome and needed. Regardless of whether you have ideas for us or not, please drop us a note sometime. We love to publish letters from our brothers and sisters around the world and hope to get more in the future. Finally, praise the Lord for some great news concerning our online distribution. We had been encountering various problems getting the DOS edition of the magazine onto the Compuserve computer network since our first issue. Last month, a new person was put in charge of the Religion area for that network, and she has been more than helpful. Not only are all the issues now available in the DOS edition, they are also obtainable in the Macintosh format as well. We are also getting some free "advertising" in the religion forum. Compuserve has more members than any other network, so this is a wonderful development. The Lord will always take care of His part, we only have to be faithful with ours! In service to Jesus the Messiah, Toby Trudel MORNING STAR accepts literary contributions from believers wherever they may live. It is our policy to publish testimonies as they are originally submitted with minimal alteration of the text. Opinions stated in these testimonies do not necessarily reflect those of the MORNING STAR staff. The content of MORNING STAR does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of any computer network. [Editor's Note - Upcoming Event] Messiah '92 Conference Saturday June 27 through July 4 Messiah College, Grantham PA (outside Harrisburg) LAMB concert on Sunday June 28 starting at 6:30. Open to the public for admission of $5. There will be music, teaching, studies, prayer, complete children and youth programs, and neat stuff to buy. For more information, call MJAA at 1-800-225-6522. Your Letters Your Letters Our letters this month come from users and System Operators (Sysops) of various electronic bulletin board systems (BBS) which carry MORNING STAR. Their comments concern both the magazine as well as the MSDOOR viewing program created by Alan Graff. (P.O. Box 131, Wheelersburg, Ohio 45694) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Very nice door you have written, and this was the first Super BBS I saw up and running pretty nice system from what I could see, I run Remote Access. Well my dime is running, God Bless, and I'll be back to pick up new version sometime next month ... Bob Lucido Christian Hotline BBS Albany, New York (518) 756-3002 Hi! My name is Scott Burk, co-sysop of Jesus Connect in Houston, Texas. Morning Star has been a blessing to me and the other users of the Jesus Connect and extends an invitation for a deeper study into Jesus Christ and all that he stands for. Thank you for serving the Lord! Scott Burk Jesus Connect BBS Houston, Texas (713) 537-6836 I want to say that this electronic magazine is fantastic! I was introduced to it by a user of a BBS (Gethsemane) and then contacted the manager of our Net about it (CFN -Christian Fellowship Network). Ray Waldo of CDN (Christian Distribution Network) got the ball rolling on getting this distributed in our network and I love it. A great way to spread the word. Of course on my BBS I already have a specific section dedicated to these files and when I heard about the door program, I couldn't wait to get it. I will be setting up Remote Access soon and this will be one of the features. Thank you all and keep up the great work. Joe Hacker Sysop - Gethsemane BBS (512) 937-2088 Hi, I just wanted to leave you a quick note to tell you that I have installed MSDoor on our BBS. Rick Arendt Agape-Way BBS Beaumont, Texas (409) 753-2014 Hi! Many of my callers really appreciate your mag ... Get it from Jay Gaines in Dallas, "Dallas BYtes". Had a problem trying to get it off his board recently, that's when I realized that my callers MUST have Morning Star! Bless all of you for allowing Jesus to rule your hearts, minds, bodies and souls! Call sometime! and remember Hebrews 13:16. Rod Porter "The Cross BBS" Sachse, Texas Commentary Commentary EDITORIAL "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3) Where are we women seeking fulfillment, contentment, peace of mind, and spiritual growth today? Is something bothering us? Are we buying books on "How to stay young?" Does our age concern us as we grow older and more mature? Do we worry constantly about our health? Are we reading articles on "How to be happy?" Are our datebooks filled with appointments at the spa, physical check-ups, calorie charts, and vacation travel folders? Do we feel like we want to run away from it all? Do we worry about tomorrow? Today we earn more than ever before. We see women in executive positions and in higher paying jobs . We own our homes and have money laid aside in certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and stocks and bonds. What's missing? If we are looking for tangible objects to satisfy our inner needs, we are looking in the wrong place. Why do we feel that there is more peace and tranquility in the country rather than in town? It is because everything, as we see it, is doing the will of God ... the birds, the cattle, the flowers and the crops. Watching a cow graze on the hillside can be so relaxing. Even the fragrance of the wild flowers has a soothing effect on our minds. We feel nearer to God. In many ways this is true. The purposes of God, the Creator, are prevailing and the result is perfect peace. The effect is the same when we make the will of God uppermost in our lives. Peace is found when we are in full recognition of the fact that Christ made peace through the blood of His Cross. It is a complete rest upon the eternal, never-changing fact that JESUS PAID IT ALL. Therefore, my life belongs to Jesus ... lock, stock and barrel! Paul says: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15). This should be the rule for our life. If we are dividing our life into a part for God and a part for ourself, we cannot find peace. Even though we may lead an upright life, it will not satisfy. "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25). Why do we have mental depression? How does it happen? A great deal of mental anguish comes from spiritual waywardness. So many professing Christians are living with less joy ... less stimulus ... and less peace than when they started. We get so involved in worldly cares, that it wearies the soul and gets us down. There are also inward conflicts. The devil never lets up on us ... never! "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8). We live in an age where so much is negative around us. There is strife and turmoil everywhere. Is there no good news to report in the daily front page? "In the last days perilous times shall come" (2 Timothy 3:1). But if we put all our faith, hope, and trust in the Lord, He will see us through, one day at a time. We are not abandoned. He will never leave us or forsake us. God is still in control. "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Why worry when we can pray? If we are going to worry about something there is no point in praying about it. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) According to a recent Focus on the Family program, one of the reasons that women are more stressed, is because they no longer care for one another. In earlier times women spent a lot of time together. We need to encourage women to meet one on one, in small groups, support groups (i.e. moms groups), etc. to pray for one another, family children, etc. There is no substitute for praise. Why not join together and praise the Lord? God inhabits the praise of his people. We are social beings and were intended to communicate with one another. Why not share our worries with a trusted friend? It can be a great relief after we have talked it over with someone. Why not overcome our worry by doing something about it. Once we take action, muscle tension will diminish. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you" (I Peter 5:7). We can sidestep our worries by letting God fight our battles. In perfect faith, tell God you want Him to take the entire problem and let you sidestep it entirely. Be sincere with God; talk to Him! God understands. When we are stressed out, there is one book that can bring permanent relief ... the Bible. It offers healing. Inner conflict can show up on our body. What about that rapid beating of the heart, that discomfort, that choking sensation over the heart region? The enemy at work in us is anxiety. Where can we find relief? Tell it to Jesus. Our Bible has this antidote: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22). So many times we want to get away from it all. It could be to a remote isle or utopia where we can be utterly untouched by the chances and changes of life. But life is not planned that way. Middle-aged people want to be 20 years younger. Women look for men built like movie-star heroes. We are still looking for the fountain of youth, but we are looking for the wrong thing. It is not in changing the world - but in changing ourselves that makes the difference. God stands ready to change us if we really want to be changed. Are we ready to turn over our life completely to Jesus Christ? He brings us peace that the world can not give and the world can not take away. Jesus said: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). Staff List Morning Star Staff List Morning Star Staff : MORNING STAR STAFF LIST EDITOR IN CHIEF Toby Trudel - Nashua, NH SENIOR EDITOR - Biblical Department Geoffrey Kragen - Roseville, CA SENIOR EDITOR - Christian Life Department Teresa Giordanengo - Canonsburg, PA SENIOR LITERARY EDITOR Al Murillo III - El Paso, TX ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jerry Johnson - Modesto, CA Clark Stephens - Huntington Beach, CA Dale Strand - Dublin, CA J.C. Trudel - Naples Park, FL Mike Wilkinson - Citrus Heights, CA Dr. Charles Wootten - Matoaca, VA SENIOR PUBLISHER - DOS and WINDOWS Editions Steve Paulovich - Derry, NH NETWORK DISTRIBUTION AMERICA ONLINE Network: Jerry White - Germantown, MD COMPUSERVE Network: Jorge Lopez - Lubbock, TX GENIE Network: Mike Wilkinson - Citrus Heights, CA DELPHI Network: Derrick Shipman - Greenville, SC DIRECTOR OF BBS DISTRIBUTION - USA Walter H. Bauer Jr. - Sugar Land, TX MSDOOR PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION Alan Graff - Wheelersburg, Ohio INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION Sharon Sanders - Jerusalem, Israel Lars Storstrand - Minde, Norway Peter Cunliffe - Noisiel, France Roger J. Obe - Iloilo City, Philippines Scott Walters - Punchbowl, NSW, Australia David Faris - Yaounde, Cameroun OFFICE SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN Patrick Auriemma - Nashua, N.H. Features Hath God Said ? (Part 1 of 2) Hath God Said ? by Donna D'Iorio (Part 1 of 2) HATH GOD SAID? ANOTHER LOOK AT DIVINE ORDER OF THE SEXES PART 1 By Donna D'Iorio Carrolton, Texas There is little doubt that the advocates of women's equality who spoke change into the body of Christ in recent decades, did so with a sincere and earnest desire to right the wrong we all perceived. It was an ungodly order ... male "lording it over" female ... which they sought to, and did abolish. However, it is not so much motive as it is method that we must question in the changes that have been wrought. Although we are sure that godly instruction of Scripture does not advocate what has been the historical suppression and oppression of the female sex, yet have we indeed arrived at God's ordained order between male and female? Or has the majority of Christianity rather become locked into a worldly standard of sexual equality? History provides us some interesting insights for reassessment at this juncture. By the 1800s, it seems we would go to any lengths to strike male-domination from our midst ... even to the point of discrediting any Scripture that failed to pre-fit our 'enlightened' view of sexual equality. To fit our view, it was required that whole passages in both the Old and New Testaments be neutralized ... ripped out, negated, or turned upside-down in "re-translation". It was simply impossible to validate the new order of absolute equality by leaving those scriptures alone, so we decimated them. Our concern was the ends, not the means. If the changes the church has made in this regard has not set us on the path of Divine Order, even though woman's lot has improved, ultimately we will pay a heavy price for adopting secular standards of sexual equality. Indeed, all indications are that we have already begun paying that heavy toll. In this we have a problem, for the humanistic measure of 'equality' which the Church has assimilated stands in diametric opposition to that precedent of order communicated to us consistently throughout the Bible. True Divine order will not require an obliteration of the integrity of the written Word of God! It would not require the determination that the apostle Paul was a woman-hater, a crusty old bachelor who never overcame his basic male chauvinism! This man that God entrusted with writing half of the New Testament we have decided was a spiritually under-developed person?! There is a big difference between saying that the Church erred from the Word, and saying that the Word itself is in error. Can we even begin to grasp the insidious destruction that was set in motion as we rejected Paul's explanation of good order between the sexes, and his referral to Creation Order to substantiate it? We must understand: it was the clearly stated goal of turn-of-the-century Feminist leadership that the Bible must fall for women's rights to rise. Feminist goals could not be realized as long as Scripture was regarded Divinely-inspired. When the Church was finally persuaded that the plainly spoken words of Paul could absolutely not be correct, several dynamics were involved: (1) Paul's commands were "disproved" in isolation from the rest of Scripture--the only evidence with the authority of God behind it. The Scriptural consistency of the apostle's commands was obscured from the discussion. (2) At the same time, tremendous pressures of intense social change factored into the decision-making process. The Church needed to re-evaluate its wrong doctrines about women, but it didn't need to knuckle under to pressure to accept the Feminist conception of equality over God's! We simply reeled from one pole of error to the opposite pole of error. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. (2 Tim. 2:5) The modern arguments and documentation which swayed the body of Christ to accept a new sexual order ... the irrelevance of Creation Order and the inaccuracy of translation and interpretations of New Testament commands consistent with Creation Order ... were only the parroted arguments of avowed atheistic Feminist leaders in the 1800s! The American Feminist movement forced change in the Church of Jesus Christ between the 1960s and the 1980s after over a century of steady chipping away at the integrity of the Word of God. We had best bring that memory back into the Church's consideration lest we find ourselves as dumb sheep led blindly into treacherous pitfalls! The ends do not justify the means in the Kingdom of God. Whatever we sow, that is what we will reap! How can we possibly overlook the fact that it required a negation of the Divine inspiration and authority of Scripture for our new-found equality to be established? This point cannot be emphasized too strongly: even such a seemingly minor concession of "limited inerrancy" eventually will result in a total implosion! If there is concession made that any part of the Bible is "in error" then ultimately the integrity of the whole is destined to cave in! The Bible is not in error, we are! Because we have dismissed the passages of Scripture that we could not understand, we have removed the very foundation which God set in place for men and women to build their relationships upon! Is it any wonder that for all our scriptural 'band-aids', Christian marriages are still failing at a record pace--a mere 1% below the gargantuan national average? If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3) The Bible's own testimony of itself is that it is God-breathed and does not contain any contamination from the human authors the Spirit moved on to commit the Word to writing. All scripture given by inspiration of God, and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16. NOW is the time that God is giving light on this matter. He wants us to throw off Male-domination order and Feminist order, in full surrender to His order. Will we now refuse to re-investigate what the Word of God has to say about Divine order out of a fear of losing the desirable benefits of unlawful gain? Shouldn't we rather fear standing in disobedience to God's order? Error at the Root: An Ancient Derailing from the Truth. We too often have idealized concepts which are not based in historical reality. We tend to think that Christian wives have always fared better than their secular sisters. We tend to assume that the practical instructions taught by Jesus and his apostles for Christian living were only gradually eroded from the Church with great passage of time. This is just not the case. Many of the standards for Christ-like living taught in New Testament scripture had become doctrinally corrupt within only two generations, even as the apostolic writers had warned (Acts 20:29-30, 2 Peter 2:1-2, Jude v.4). In the apostolic first generation, the threat of corruption had manifested most markedly in what the Bible refers to as "judaizers", those seeking to constrain gentile believers to the observance of the Law. But as the Church exploded in growth among the gentiles, and first generation leadership within the church was taken up by succeeding generations, the source of threat shifted. While the Church remained focused on distancing itself from judaizers, the synagogue and the revelation of God laid among the Jewish people, the real threat to unity came insidiously from within the ranks of the gentile believers proclaiming liberty from "law". Degeneration from "the simplicity of Christ" set in as immediately as the authority of first-century apostles was passed to a new generation of leaders. By the third and fourth generation, a marked decay is evident in a great number of teachings vital to the Christian life as successive church leadership left the moorings of faith. As gentiles were grafted into Israel's "olive tree" with great increase, the new majority began to redefine the faith in gentile terms. With the loss of true apostolic authority and understanding of the foundations God had already laid among the Jews, is it any wonder that many teachings became corrupted? Of the first teachings to be phased out of the Christian faith in its first 200 years were the gifts of the Spirit; the recognition of God's unrepentant election of Israel; and the role of women in divine order. It may be that as these were the first teachings to be lost to Christianity, that they will also be among the last to be re-established. In spite of authoritative apostolic foundations laid on the topics of marriage, ministry order and women's roles, "the sin of Eve" rose again in those earliest generations of Christianity to haunt women. Within a mere 150 years, "sex is dirty" had already become a fairly universal dogma. While many of us assume that such concepts did not occur until the Victorian Age, the root system of such error goes back to the "grievous wolves" that Paul warned the fledgling church would surely follow him. Early on it was commonly taught that even sex within marriage was courting spiritual disaster, exception made only for sex for the sake of procreation. The error budded in second generation Christian leadership with the misunderstanding Genesis 1-3, and the result was that thereafter most of the Church Fathers taught that Adam and Eve's sin was sexual in nature. Of the earliest on record, the Roman teacher Tatian, a student of Justin Martyr, claimed that it was carnal knowledge that the first couple gained from eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Tatian believed that their resulting sin was sexual intercourse and that Adam was expelled from the garden for having invented marriage. Both Bishops Clement and Irenaeus rejected Tatian's view insisting instead that the first sin was disobedience to God's command. However, both agreed in interpreting the Fall as having taken a decidedly sexual form. Clement, the bishop of Rome around the 90's AD, believed that sexual intercourse was indeed a part of God's original plan, however he taught that Adam and Eve had rushed into it before God's intended time: "Nature led {Adam and Eve}, like irrational animals, to procreate." Bishop Irenaeus (whose life spanned 130-200 AD) placed the blame primarily on Adam and, like Clement, also taught that the couple had initiated sex before God deemed it proper: "For having been created just a short time before, they had no understanding of procreation of children. It was necessary that first they should come to adult age, and then "multiply" from that time onwards." Irenaeus believed that Adam demonstrated his guilt feelings in his choice of covering for their nakedness, that of scratchy fig leaves: "while there were many other leaves which would have irritated his body much less." While Clement believed that the teachings of Jesus were meant to transform the traditional patterns of marriage, the views he forwarded left little room for uplifting woman's lot in life. Clement taught that Eve's subjection to Adam was her punishment for the Fall, and also that Adam's dominion indicated the natural superiority of male over female. The idea that woman's submission had sprung as punishment for the Fall ignores the fact that Divine Order was instituted in Creation. Headship and submission are not punishment and reward, but the assigned roles of the created by the Creator. Nevertheless, this erroneous concept of submission as woman's punishment stubbornly hangs on to this day. Only one hundred years after the death of Paul, Clement's influential teachings certainly helped to mold and establish a standard which was at odds with the spirit of New Testament Scriptures. Beyond a restriction of the forbidden pagan sexual practices (incest, adultery, homosexuality, abortion and infanticide), Clement's teachings also severely restrained sexuality within Christian marriage: "Our ideal is not to experience desire at all ... We should do nothing from desire. Our will is to be directed only toward what is necessary. For we are the children not of desire but of will. A man who marries for the sake of begetting children must practice continence so that it is not desire he feels for his wife ... that he may begat children with a chaste and controlled will." Hath God Said ? (Part 2 of 2) Hath God Said ? by Donna D'Iorio (Part 2 of 2) HATH GOD SAID? ANOTHER LOOK AT DIVINE ORDER OF THE SEXES PART 2 By the third century women had firmly fallen from the place of respect which Jesus and the apostles had spoken into being for them. In the writings of Tertullian on Genesis 3, he warns his "sisters in Christ": "You are the devil's gateway ... you are she who persuaded him whom the devil did not dare attack ... Do you not know that every one of you is an Eve? The sentence of God on your sex lives on in this age; the guilt, of necessity, lives on too." In the fourth century, Jerome revived Tatian's interpretation with his own twist claiming that God had meant Adam and Eve to always be virgins, and that marriage had only been instituted as a remedy to their sin. At the end of the same century the Patriarch of Constantinople, John Chrystom wrote that women were to be avoided (the mere sight causing such physical anguish) and that "the passions in fact are all dishonorable." Augustine, who it seems struggled intensely with a spirit of lust, was also no great advocate of the female sex. Denying the conclusion of many in his day that women would be raised to resurrection life in male bodies, yet Augustine identified the problem of lust as lying solely in the female form. For this reason he also wrote that "the body of a man is as superior to that of a woman as the soul is to the body." In the same early days of Christianity's redefinition and development of "orthodox" ("Straight-thinking") theology, the "heretical" Christian Gnostic sects also vied for the popular view. Although these primarily gentile leaders did not avail themselves of the Hebrew light which could be shed on the Scriptures, the "orthodox" of the early centuries clearly saw heresy as the main battle. Heretics were the enemy...in spite of their own erring from apostolic teaching. The major threat to orthodox leadership was the teaching of the Gnostics, who majored on mystical "wisdom" and claimed to be the true "pneumatic" (spiritual) church. Generally, the gnostics can be divided into two branches of belief: (1) the minority of Gnostics believed in unlimited, unrestrained Christian freedom; but (2) the majority were strict ascetics who practiced rigid celibacy. They nevertheless tended to explain spiritual beliefs in sexual terms. Among Gnostics, Eve was idolized and most also emphasized "the Divine feminine element of God". These groups believed in an androgynous (male and female) God and down-played the "Fatherhood" of God. As a result, most gnostics also placed a strong emphasis on women in ministry--a fact which attracted many women to their ranks. Another common mark of the gnostic sects was ritualistic or ceremonial mysticism and ecstatic prophetic utterance. In one such secret ceremony, the "sacrament of the bridal chamber", participants claimed to experience supernatural "union" with God, a description of which is highly sexually-suggestive. This heresy is making a comeback in some quarters of Christianity today...primarily among women's groups and teachers. Orthodox Church fathers were especially upset with the appeal the Gnostic teachers and sects had with women, whom the Gnostics allowed to act in ministerial capacities forbidden to orthodox Christian women. Bishop Irenaeus complained that "many foolish women" from his own congregation had been lured away by the seducing teachings of the heretic Marcus. Irenaeus noted that the gnostic teacher "addresses them in such seductive words" referring to Marcus' habit of praying to the 'feminine element' of the divine being: "She who is before all things." Irenaeus was equally unhappy with the seduction of women to prophesy and to act as priests in the Lord's Supper. The eye-witness description he gives of a woman's initiation by Marcus notes that he would end the initiate ceremony with a prayer, "Behold, Grace has come upon you; open your mouth and prophesy." Then, as Irenaeus reports it, the "deluded victim ... impudently utters some nonsense," and "Henceforth considers herself to be a prophet!" Tertullian also lashed out at gnostic practices: "These heretical women ... how audacious they are! They have no modesty; they are bold enough to teach, to engage in argument, to enact exorcisms, to undertake cures, and it may be, even to baptize!" It is clear from Irenaeus' indignant remarks, that by his lifetime (140-202 AD) women were no longer permitted to prophesy in the orthodox, Church, nor to act in any ministerial capacities as Tertullian's comment exposes. By the year 200, there is no evidence whatsoever of women taking any active roles in the church. Although the New Testament scriptures do restrict women from certain activities within the church assembly, the spiritual gift of prophecy is not one of those restricted activities. (I COR 11:4 the primary scriptural evidence). It seems that in the years of battle between "orthodoxy" and "heresy", women lost all ground which the first generation apostolic leadership had laid out for them in the ministry of the gospel. Women should not take this personally, since the orthodox Church also pronounced against the free operation of the Spirit in this era. The prophetic spirit could not be absolutely controlled, so to maintain orthodoxy, it was banished. And so the dye was cast for women in the Church: the new measure of dignity and respect which Christ secured and apostolic doctrine taught for women, later generations of leadership corrupted beyond recognition. By the Victorian Age, erroneous ideas about sex, women, and ministry had literally hundreds upon hundreds of years of orthodox Church teaching to hold up as vindication. The emphatic enmity which God spoke between the serpent and Woman ... not just "thy seed and her seed" ... has consistently held true for the female sex throughout human history. Woman's Rebellion in the Latter Days It was not until the year 1492 when Columbus discovered America and the Reformation and Renaissance began, that the world began to climb out of the dark spiritual abyss known as the Dark Ages. This dark period of history began less than 500 years after the birth of Church of the Messiah Jesus, the Light of the world in human flesh. This fact alone should alert us as to just how de-railed the body of Christ had become from the paths of truth in the Word of God. With Luther's famous posting of the 95 theses in 1517, the official Reformation of the Church was launched and, it seems, one-fiercely-resisted-revelation-at-a-time, the truths of scripture began to be restored to the Church. However, the sad fact is, with each truth restored there was created yet another division of the body of Christ. The restoration of what women had lost of their place in Christ in those early stages of the developing Church, would not begin to push to the fore until the 1800s. Even then progress would be slow, resistance fierce and the pitfalls many. Instead of finding an ally in Christianity, women would find the Church to the one of the fiercest resisters to any improving changes in woman's lot in life. Nevertheless, from the seed of conception through its fetal development of earliest organization, it is quite likely that the modern Feminist movement was an idea that would have never gotten off the ground without the Church. In the years which the women's rights movement began to take shape, church was the only realm outside the home that was truly open to women. The sad state of spiritual life was that women dominated in the church by the seventeenth century ... but strictly a domination in terms of membership and attendance. Male membership in churches had dwindled drastically as the age of commerce blossomed. Fewer men considered spiritual life to be a male priority ... especially in light of the moral conflicts that so often cropped up between Christianity and commerce. By the 1700s women outnumbered men in the churches by three to two. In families, spiritual and religious responsibility fell squarely upon the shoulders of wives. Such was the potential for stresses created by unequally yoked marriages. Christian wives with 'heathen' husbands wasn't the only problem. The relative standing of women was far below that of men even in the orthodox teaching of the church. Women didn't have a legal leg to stand on and were considered inferior to male beings. Women suffered a great many hardships as a result. It is unfortunate, but the Church was no great champion of women's respect and dignity. The doors were wide open to the ill-treatment of women, both wives and sisters. In a curious twist of moral standards, it appears that only one's mother was rightly deserving of male honor. A letter from a bitter feminist in 1897 captures a measure of the harsh realities common to women of the day: "The ownership of the wife established and perpetuated through Bible teaching is responsible for the domestic pandemonium and the carnival of wife murder which reigns throughout Christendom. In the United States alone, in the eighteen hundred and ninety-seventh year of the Christian era, 3,482 wives, many with unborn children in their bodies, have been murdered in cold blood by their husbands; yet the Christian clergy from their pulpits reprove women for not bearing more children ... " The Bible clearly sets forth a standard that is contrary to such inhumane treatment; a standard in practice that would have held womankind in both value and honor. The traditional interpretations of men has drained all the dignity out of the woman's role in life as the Bible was instead used to justify harsh and un-Christ-like treatment of the female sex. How could bitterness and rebellion have failed to blossom under such conditions? How could Christianity have so missed the mark of God's will? The "tiny" errors which set in motion after the first generation church leadership departed from this world had grown to major proportions. Revolt had become inevitable. By the time the first Great Awakening began to sweep England and the American colonies in the first quarter of the 1700s, many women were seething under the heavy hand of Church-endorsed male supremacy disguised as "authority". Those women who were not secretly angry, were often 'whipped dogs,' psychologically beaten-down by centuries of carrying the guilt so often preached at them, of Eve's 'more grievous' sin. "Deeply, deeply do I feel the degradation of being a woman ... not the degradation of being what God made woman, but what man has made her." --Lydia Maria Child, 1838 The cry that was going up from women from the late 1700s through the 1800s was for a basic human respect and equality which had long been denied them. Men resisted any change in the status quo and even disparaged the concept of the female's equality as a human being. The more men resisted, the more women hardened into a fleshly battle. The Church did little to intercede on women's behalf; consequently, once her battle turned to a fleshly one, for many the bitterness against God and man was only a hop, skip and a jump into full-blown rebellion. The underlying frustrations of women had been buried for thousands of years. With no change in sight these finally began to surface even as a deeply imbedded splinter in one's finger will over several days fester and finally push itself to the surface. The actual surfacing of these frustrations came about innocently enough. It was women's prayer groups that were the 'nativity scene' of the women's rights movement. What began as a crying out to God for the souls of men (the Great Awakening Revivals, 1739-41 and 1798-1825), turned into women's rights activist groups as the revival spirit waned. The women saw how effective they could be and realized that this effectiveness in an evangelistic context would also translate to effectiveness in non-religious realms. Having been suppressed under male dominance for so long and told that their subordination was based on lack of ability and intelligence, women now began to realize achievement in areas never attempted before. The transformation from women's prayer meetings into the training ground for feminist activism had begun. For them the issue was female ability. Their focus became disproving the error of female inability rather than finding the true will of God for women as revealed in Scripture. Through the Church, a door of opportunity was open wide to women during the great religious awakening of the early nineteenth century and they zealously participated in the revivals. Christian women's association flourished as revival organization skills were applied to missionary societies, moral reforms and charities. The existence of these networks would prove decisive in hastening the feminist message throughout the nation. Among the first of quasi-political activities by women were a series of Moral Reform movements. Crusading against such things as male licentiousness in exploitation of prostitutes and the Temperance movement against alcohol abuse, these movements were orchestrated by leadership that emerged primarily from the ranks of Christian women. Gradually over time the goals of these women shifted and ultimately the umbilical cord to the church was cut as they sought instead to wage their own agenda for liberty and equality in society. As hard as it is for us to imagine, women in America even had to fight for the right to receive an education. Since it was the widely-accepted belief that she was "mentally inferior", lacking the intelligence of man, she probably would not have been allowed formal education had not the primary responsibility of teaching the fledgling nation's sons fallen to mothers. "While man assumes that the present is the original state designed for woman, that the existing differences are not arbitrary...but grounded in nature, she will not make the necessary effort to obtain her just rights, lest it should subject her to the kind of scorn and contemptuous manner in which she has been spoken of." --Lucretia Mott, 1849 The subject of "mental inferiority" would arise at almost every juncture in woman's quest to better her station in life. Were women incapable of voting intelligently? Could their brains "cope" with it? Shouldn't women be protected and spared the responsibilities of owning their own property or handling their own money? These were the seriously posed questions of the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Within ten years of the formation of the first Female Reform Society, over 400 reform chapters had sprung to life to combat a diversity of social ills perceived by women. Perhaps the most political of reform movements women took on was Abolition, against the sin of slavery. Christian women were extremely active in the crusade against slavery, seeing it not only as a national disgrace, but also as an abomination before God. In the process of laboring in the Abolition movement, women could not help but see how many parallels existed between their own state and that of the right-less Black slaves. The parallels were many: neither had access to education; neither could own property and were considered the "property" of their masters; both groups held no legal rights to their own children (husband's held all legal rights to their children); and, both groups had no right to vote, nor of any independent social status. As Friedrich Engles noted in 1854, "The modern family is founded on the open or disguised domestic slavery of women." The earliest stages of woman's awakening centered on true injustices which had dictated the female role throughout the centuries and a situation in life which, according to the gospels and apostolic New Testament writings, ought not to have been the circumstance in Christian relationships. However, once rebellion was conceived among women, it soon increasingly produced demands exceedingly beyond the parameters that Scripture supported. It would not be long before key leaders of the women's movement would identify the Bible. Editor's note : For more information on this subject, please read Jerry Johnson's SCUD Warnings column in this issue of Morning Star. Christ's Blessings for Single Parents Christ's Blessings for Single Parents by Jane Erb CHRIST'S BLESSINGS FOR SINGLE PARENTS By Jane Erb Des Plaines, Illinois Many people struggle today with the problems of single parenting, which include but are not limited to, financial, emotional, physical and spiritual. Though the "spiritual" may not seem to be a big problem for christian single parents, it can be more so than for Christian couples. It is a problem of faith when the chips are down. It is a problem of focusing on Christ constantly when everything seems overwhelming, when you feel like you are at the end of your rope. For those that do not know the Lord, it must be extremely difficult to be a single parent. It is easy to see why there are so many reports of child abuse that we hear about. For those of us who have a personal relationship with Christ, we would not make it without Him. While our faith seems to be tested so very, very often, we know that without Christ, we wouldn't survive. Neither would our children! To see our children as Christ views them is one of the greatest blessings given to us as a believer and as a parent. This does not only apply when everything is lovely, going smoothly, and you are getting along famously, the test comes when your child is pushing you to the limit, and your patience is almost gone. It is in these moments you call on Christ for wisdom, and He comes in and calms the storm. Pray today for Christ's wisdom in those trying moments and, being the miracle worker He is, He will in that instant cause you to see your child as the innocent babe He has given you as a gift. You'll see this child as Christ sees him, right now, and you will want to reach out and hold him forever. The storm passes. My daughter is 4 1/2 years of age. We have read through her children's bible countless times over the past year, on a daily basis, and she never tires of it. The blessing here is that God has given her a hunger to read these familiar stories yet another time, to the point that she knows a lot of them by heart. I will occasionally encourage her to tell me a story, and she will proudly tell me the story ... quite edited, of course! Another recent blessing in our lives is that she has just started to pray on her own. We have prayed together so much, and it is a real blessing from the Lord to see that she takes it on herself to pray. Her mouth moves and hands are folded with her eyes closed, and her prayers are just between her and the Lord. I have always encouraged her to talk to God, and that He knows what she is talking to Him about even if she doesn't say it out loud. Praise God, she is doing it. Remember to pray with your children daily, and the Lord will greatly bless you. Although I work full-time outside the home (as well as inside the home!), the Lord has given us caregivers who have been a joy to have in my home. They have worked with, taught, played with, cooked with, and have been such an asset to my daughter. How I long to be home with her, and the Lord knows that. But not having to worry about her, getting the love, care, and attention she needs, is truly a blessing. Because I choose to keep her at home rather than at a day-care, the expense is great. However God has found a way for us in this regard also. To God be the glory, great things He has done! The most important lesson I have learned in all of this is to lean on the Lord. I do not try to do it myself, because I cannot. In everything I turn to the Lord, prayer, and the Bible. I do not know the future, and that is why we must lean on Him twenty-four hours a day! Amen. Homemaker of Tomorrow Homemaker of Tomorrow by Kay Hall HOMEMAKER OF TOMORROW By Kay Hall Cocoa Beach, Florida It was perhaps the most humiliating moment of my life. My name had been called several times without incident at our annual high school awards ceremony, but when the guidance counselor called my name as "Homemaker of Tomorrow," I was mortified. Every senior was required to take the written test for what we called the "Betty Crocker Award," but I was undoubtedly the last person anyone would have expected to win. I was the yearbook sports editor, and notorious for actually liking math and science. Even my mother was quick to admit that I couldn't boil water outside of chemistry lab. I can still hear the howling laughter of my classmates as I made my way to the stage to accept the certificate. Nearly a decade passed, yet the prospect of me as a homemaker remained inconceivable. "They're saying we might not fly for a year or more," I said to my husband. "I'd count on more like two years if I had to guess," the seven year Space Shuttle program veteran responded. In the wake of the Challenger tragedy, the careers and lives of those of us involved with the program had been thrust into limbo. Having only been working four and a half years, I was hoping to meet a few more career milestones before taking a short break to start a family. Now a horrible, indefinite break had been imposed. Once the shock of the crash was over and reality set in, we all began to dread the long months of inactivity that would lie ahead. I had always been goal-oriented, and responded true to form. "Well then, I'd like to have either a baby or a master's degree by the time we're flying again," I announced. My husband gave me a funny look, but quickly realized that I was serious. My career progressed rapidly even with the Shuttle on hold. The company named me an "Engineer of the Year" and I became a Project Manager on the Space Station program. I celebrated my promotion to management with a brand new wardrobe, shortly to discover that I would soon be needing yet another wardrobe - maternity clothes. The Shuttle flew again on September 29, 1988. I had earned my master's degree on the first, and delivered my son Caleb on the fourth day of that same month. I had expected all three of these events to be of equal importance; nothing could have been further from the truth. I did not experience any particular rush of motherly instinct upon the birth of my child and found the early weeks of my four month maternity leave to be especially trying. The sound of the doorbell was a welcome interruption in the now routine days of caring for a newborn. I scooped up the baby, draped his beanbag of a body over my shoulder and scurried for the door. There I found the mailman, bearing a very large flat cardboard envelope marked "GRADUATION." "Congratulations, Ma'am!" he said heartily as he handed me my master's diploma and headed back to the truck. My heart soared from the eagerly awaited recognition of my academic achievement, then promptly sunk when I realized he was instead congratulating me on the baby he was seeing for the first time. Quite frankly, I was tiring of little Caleb's two moods - unhappy and not unhappy. At work I had become accustomed to regular feedback in the form of weekly paychecks, spectacular rocket launches and occasional "attaboys" (aerospace jargon for accolades of any kind). Now I found myself impatiently awaiting any positive reinforcement my son might offer me. When that treasured first smile finally arrived, it was directed not at the mother who had poured heart and soul into his care for nearly two months, but at the exterminator making his monthly rounds. I longed for the day when I could return to a job where I was appreciated. As that day approached I began systematically making all the necessary preparations. I ran an ad for a sitter to watch the baby in our home. I designed my own job application, drew up a schedule and promptly lined up thirteen interviews. At this point, however, things began to deviate from my carefully laid plans. Of the thirteen scheduled interviews, nine were no-shows. Two of the ones who did show up admitted having criminal records, and one of those was also a devout cult member. The remaining two candidates were high school girls who made comments like "Babies just sleep all the time, don't they?" But then, maybe I was being too critical - only a few months earlier I too had believed that myth about babies and their sleeping habits. I finally found a satisfactory sitter who agreed to watch Caleb in her home, and I felt much better - temporarily. Just days before I was supposed to return to work, I found her waterlogged resignation letter tucked under the windshield wiper blade of our car. I was so used to seeing obstacles as things to be hurdled that it took me a while to realize God was closing doors. It had occasionally crossed my mind that God might be calling me home to care for Caleb myself, but I dismissed those stray thoughts based on the fact that I just wasn't the homemaker type. When Caleb absolutely refused to cooperate in the weaning process, it finally began to sink in. I had begun praying for the right child care arrangements as soon as I learned I was pregnant. Without that issue resolved I couldn't have any peace about returning to work. I could not understand why my prayers were going unanswered until I read James 4:3, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." When I looked at my true motives for wanting to return to work - money, freedom, and recognition - I realized that they didn't measure up to God's standards. Unless I could come up with better reasons, I knew it would be wrong for me to go back. I prayed that the Lord would confirm this drastic decision to my husband. I soon received a note from him that read, "I am pleased to offer you the position of full-time mother at [our home address] effective tomorrow." The next morning I nervously picked up the phone and resigned from my job. Our pastor was fond of saying, "Every command of God is a promise of God." I clung to that in the early days after God led (or in essence, "commanded") me home. I had studied Psalm 113:9 at an earlier time in the context of infertility, "He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children." But now, when I read the verse again, "settles," "home," and "happy" became the key words. I claimed this as God's promise that He'd help me adjust to my new lifestyle and actually learn to enjoy it. I had trouble understanding why, after years of preparation, God was removing me from a position on something as critical as America's space program. When I went to the scriptures, though, I began to see that He considers motherhood to be the ultimate in meaningful work. I looked at many verses, but one that particularly stood out was Isaiah 66:13, "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." Here God uses motherhood in the ultimate comparison - to His own love for His people. (I didn't find any verses hailing the worth of engineers.) God allowed me to begin seeing motherhood from His perspective, and that was worth a wall full of attaboys. The salary I left behind was substantial, in fact, higher than my husband's. The financial impact on us was anything but trivial. When we looked at our situation on paper, it seemed impossible that we would be able to pay our bills on one income. We had just completed a seminar on biblical principles of finance. This seemed the ideal time to start putting those principles into practice. Curiously enough, our projected shortfall was nearly the same amount as our tithe. Based on what we'd learned, we resisted the temptation to stop tithing and found God faithful to meet our financial needs as we followed His principles. Part of engineering involves completing a project at the lowest possible cost, so I began to make a project out of our operations at home. I learned about investments, developed a budget, made crafts to give as gifts, and began to shop wisely - bargaining, buying in bulk, and couponing for the first time in my life. I thought surely there were some other skills I had learned on the job that would help me cope with life at home - after all, I had often heard this referred to as "domestic engineering." When I read Titus 2:3-4,"...Older women... train the younger women to love their husbands and children," I saw a familiar concept from the workplace - "mentoring." Unfortunately, older women willing to be mentors were nearly as scarce in our small church as in the aerospace business. But I did manage to find several qualified ladies to teach and encourage me and their help has been invaluable. Of course the ultimate homemaker is found in Proverbs 31. In verse 25 we're told, "she can laugh at the days to come." I suspect that she could laugh at the day at hand, as well. Undoubtedly, a sense of humor has been one of the key coping tools for mothers throughout the ages. I have found it easy to fall into the "grass is always greener" syndrome so I make it a point to hang on to a few of the less glamorous memories from the space business. I remember one particular day in the swamps of Mississippi when my main contribution was to swat mosquitoes for another engineer who was performing a delicate rocket engine inspection. (I later married that engineer and am now responsible for insect control for his offspring, as well.) I noticed that the Proverbs 31 lady allowed herself intellectual stimulation and adult interaction, and I have made sure to do the same. I have taught a couple of night classes at a local community college and worked on some home business ideas. Serving as treasurer of my church has given me a chance to continue "number-crunching." Most importantly, intensive Bible study has provided a healthy challenge for both my mind and my spirit. Needless to say, my coming home has brought drastic changes for my husband, too. He has been very supportive of me and is thriving in his God-given role as provider. He bolsters my self-esteem with words of encouragement. Sometimes he even asks me for technical advice. He takes over many of the child care chores when he gets home, affording me a much needed change of pace. Through my experience, the Lord has opened up a whole new ministry for me. I have had the opportunity to counsel with other women who are considering leaving their careers or who are making the transition to full-time motherhood. I can honestly say that I am a different person than I was just three years ago. It seems I have a new heart about everything from politics to pot-luck suppers. I have now welcomed another beautiful son, confident that he'll have the very best care available. I grow more and more comfortable in my new environment as each day passes. Who would have thought it? - maybe I really am the "Homemaker of Tomorrow." [(Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.] "Betty Crocker" is a registered trademark of General Mills, Inc. Kay Hall 601 Capri Road Cocoa Beach, FL 32931 Reprint Rights (407)783-6053 Wives Submit to Your Husbands Wives Submit to Your Husbands by Joyce Piper WIVES SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBANDS By Joyce Piper Norfolk, Virginia Ephesians 5:22 - a sure fire verse for the man who wants to see sparks flying from all the women within hearing range; a guaranteed topic to stimulate hot conversation in Sunday School rooms and fellowships across the nation. Lightly used by some as a teasing banter between the sexes, it is gravely and dogmatically adhered to by others - even to the sundering of husband and wife or brother and sister in the Lord. Eph. 5:22 probably ranks #1 on a woman's list of least liked Bible verses (and in the top 10 of men's favorite Bible verses). Women's reaction to this verse ranges from pretense that the verse does not exist, to outright denial of or rebellion against it, to total sacrifice of self to every wish and whim of the husband. Similarly men run the gauntlet from 50/50 split of authority in marriage, to the husband having the final voice in all decisions, to the husband wielding minute-to-minute control over the wife. What is the Biblical perspective of this verse? First be warned that it is dangerous to take a single verse out of the Bible and interpret it apart from its context and the rest of the Bible. Therefore, let us finish the verse: "Wives, submit to your husband ... AS TO THE LORD." Continue reading through the end of the chapter, paying particular attention to verse 24. "Now, AS the church submits to Christ, SO ALSO the wives should submit to their husbands in everything." And, again, we read in verse 23, "For the husband is the head of the wife AS Christ is the head of the church." In other words, in order to understand the relationship of the husband and the wife, one must first understand the relationship of Christ and the church, His bride. So let us look at this illustration of the church as the bride of Christ. This marriage relationship between God and His people begins in the Old Testament with God choosing and wooing His beloved, the nation of Israel. God calls her out to be His own, to care for her and love her, to provide her with the best of everything, to comfort her and guide her (Ezek. 16:6-14, Jer. 29:11, Isa. 58:11, Isa. 66:13). But Israel was unfaithful, turning away from her Beloved, seeking to satisfy her insatiable lust and desires, even turning to false Gods. Still God chases and pursues her. Loving her, He tries to draw her back to Himself, to forgive her and once more cherish her as His beloved bride. Finally, through His sacrifice on the cross, at the cost of divine blood, He redeems His bride - now made spotless and forgiven, able to stand once more in the presence of her Beloved! Men, THIS is the role of a husband: To be like Jesus Christ - to love your wife with a gentleness and kindness that will ever draw her to you, to seek after her good and welfare (no matter how she wrongs you), to forgive her and restore her wholeness, to provide for her the best of all that you have, to love her "just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Eph. 5:25). Before pointing out any short comings of a woman in her role as wife, you would do well to examine how close your walk follows Christ's example of a husband and head of the bride. Note carefully the wording of Eph. 5:22. Nowhere in Scripture do we find the verse "Husbands, MAKE your wife submit." God Himself did not force Israel to obey Him, though He has the power to send a lightning bolt at the feet of anyone of wavering obedience. Rather He gave Israel the choice to submit to His will or to not submit. Despite her refusal to submit, he demonstrated His love and His goodness to her again and again. Yes, at times He let her suffer the penalty of her rebellion, and at times He withdrew His presence from her so that she might know the anguish of the loss of her Beloved. Yet always He had in mind to draw her back to Himself through His love. God did not want mandatory obedience from His bride. What He wanted was her heart. In Matt. 23, Jesus blasts the Pharisees' seemingly near perfect adherence to the laws and the commandments because they followed the laws much the same as you and I follow traffic laws (do it because it must be done for orderliness and in order to avoid punishment - not out of any love for the laws or their creators). No wonder the first and greatest commandment is to "love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind (Matt. 22:38). Jesus Christ wants the church to submit to Him not because she must, but because she loves Him. Likewise, husbands should desire this voluntary submission, and such submission can only be won by an unselfish and forgiving love. Now ... if we listen hard enough, we can just about hear the women's minds declaring "Well, if my husband fulfilled HIS role, loving me just as Christ loves and seeks after the welfare of His bride, why, then, I'd have no problem at all submitting to him!" But alas, men are no more perfect in their walk than are women. While we are to go on towards and strive for perfection (Heb. 6:1 KJV), I fear that we shall not reach perfection until He appears, and "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). Does our husband's imperfection then excuse us from Eph. 5:22? No indeed! When we stand before the judgment seat of God, we shall each of us give an account of himself to God (Rom. 14:12) - not an account of our husband's short failings that made it hard for us to fulfill our part. I do not believe God will suffer us to plead "Well, you know, God, I tried... BUT HE....." Submit. The word goes against the grain of our human nature. It stirs the rebellious nature. It threatens the selfish core that says "me". Herein is the heart of our problem with "submit". There is too much "me" in us and we all too often cannot truly say "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God..." (Gal. 2:20). Submit. The dictionary defines it as: to yield or surrender oneself to the will or authority of another. To commit to the consideration or judgment of another. To yield to the opinion or authority of another. To give in. Submit. Oh what a word! It does not mean "to be forced to do something." (Might I add, husbands, that neither does submit mean "to have no input, nor to agree 100% with. I submit myself to the laws of our government, though I do not agree with all of them. I can input my opinion into these laws, even if I do not have the final authority over whether or not it becomes or remains law.) However, submission DOES require the voluntary action of putting oneself under another's authority. And, as if mere submission was not enough, Paul adds the phrase "...as to the Lord," and "the wife must respect her husband." Ahh ... now we cannot get away with gritting our teeth and saying "OK, so I'll do it for you, Lord ... he (the husband) certainly doesn't deserve it." Just as the bride of Christ must give Him her heart, so must we give our hearts wholly to our husbands: to love him, and to respect him. And when we truly love and respect our husbands, will there any longer be a bitterness in "submitting"? Nay. As we grow in our love of Christ, do we not begin to more and more submit to Him, freely and graciously, as a natural outcome of this love - no longer seeing submission as a chore but as an expression of an overflowing love which can no longer be bound? Even so, as we grow in love for our husbands submission will no longer be a chore but a natural outflow of love. But how can we grow in love for our husbands? We cannot just go out and buy more love, neither can we by force of will decide to have more love right now. 1 John 4:7 states "...God is love" (1 John 4:8-16). Along with Paul, we must pray to have the "power together with all the saints,..." (i.e. it's not a maverick action for the lone martyr) "...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge..." (and then, knowing this love...) "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:17-19)" - filled with all the fullness of the God who IS love. 2 Tim. 2:22 warns us to pursue this love, along with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. We do not just sit and absorb this love. We must actively seek this love, together with other brothers and sisters in the Lord. Galatians 5:22 lists love as a fruit of the Spirit and then goes on to state in verses 24 and 25 "those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." "...Live by the Spirit. (v16)." So then, the way to living the husband more is through submitting to the Lord, through denying our old sinful and selfish nature and choosing to live according to the will and authority of God ... walking and living by His Spirit ... becoming more and more like Him. "He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)" Submission - a new definition for the woman who is growing and maturing in Christ: Submission: the natural and outflowing response of one who is basking in a love that surpasses the limits of knowledge; a love which comes from dwelling in the outstretched arms of the Beloved, the God of love. My Life as a Mom My Life as a Mom by Gretchen Cole MY LIFE AS A MOM By Gretchen Cole Lawrence, Kansas Sometimes when I think about my life, and especially my life as a mother, I think of a song by U2: "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for." I am always reminding myself why I'm here, changing my schedule, and trying something new. But the bottom line is that I often wonder whether I'm doing "the best" thing for my family, for the world, for myself. I've concluded that as long as we live on earth, we will sometimes have this feeling, because this earth is never going to be the Garden of Eden. "For we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness," said the apostle Peter. Life is just not perfect. I have three children, ages 5, 3, and almost 2. I am just coming out of a period of time that every mother seems to agree is the absolute nadir of family life. Three preschoolers at once are rough. I guess because there are so many demands and so few rewards. For me, it started when I was pregnant with the third one. I had a personality transplant about the fourth month and turned into a crazy person. I would cry all the time, I would run into the bedroom and slam the door and cry and yell, just to keep myself from doing something worse. I thought, this must be what it's like having a mother who's an alcoholic. Finally I got our whole church to pray for me, and about the seventh or eighth month I began to be more functional. But still, when I looked to the future, all I thought was, when I deliver this baby I won't be pregnant anymore! Sure enough, having a new baby in the house with the boys was a piece of cake compared to being pregnant with the boys. I would nurse and they would go play together - they didn't even want me to read to them. The "old baby" (17 months) didn't push the new baby off my lap, and he still got his share of cuddles when she was in her bassinet (in fact, I still say he's my baby, which infuriates him). She is still the cuddliest of my babies, and a good thing too, because she's going to be the baby for a long time. All I remember about the first half-year of having three kids is the back pain and the fatigue. But I think I was pretty happy during that time. We had some stressful moments with our oldest until we realized that we needed to be spending more time - or at least some time - on the things that interested him. And I had to learn again, after that pregnancy, not to just walk around all day wondering when I could get everyone off my case so I could lie down. I finally got it through my head that I was on earth to serve my family, that they were not interruptions to my life, but the reason for my life; kind of like those inspirational signs about the value of the customer that you see in retail stores - "the customer is not an interruption to our business, he is the reason for our business, etc." But then in the fall I resumed my volunteer activities. I refused the preschool activities because of my back, but I was teaching English once a week. And you know how it is - when a volunteer organization gets its teeth into you, your involvement just mushrooms. It was not as fun as it was supposed to be. We had a record cold winter that year and I am sure somebody in this family was sick every single day from December 1 to May 31. This was the nadir of my mothering experience. I think the only way I got through it was that I had a lot of friends with preschoolers, and I didn't seem to be any more exhausted than they were. I started calling in sick to my volunteer work whenever I felt like it. In the end, by May, I was only going about twice a month, so although they moaned and groaned when I quit, I figured it wasn't really much of a loss to them. I can still remember the feeling of hejira I had when I quit that volunteer job. I would get up on a Tuesday morning and decide that it was a nice day, why not drive forty-five miles to the zoo. Or we'd just walk around the neighborhood, and I'd think, we have a neighborhood, what a concept. I guess you call it "burnout". I was charred. Having what you might call an "outreach", a way where I could be meeting the needs of other adults and showing them the love of Jesus, has always been important to me, because I didn't want my kids to have the pressure of being my whole world. But the situation I had gotten myself into was just unrealistic. I was so stressed out, I wasn't showing anybody the love of Jesus. At this point my oldest one was old enough that we had to make some schooling decisions for him. We decided to keep him at home this year, the year he's five, and experiment with home schooling. I told everyone I was doing it because I thought it would be fun, and if it ceased to be fun, I would cease to do it (how's that for commitment). Home school is something like my volunteer work, in that I'm using my teaching skills, but it's much more rewarding because my students always show up. I feel like I'm not just sitting and spending my husband's money, being a shrew, complaining about my kids, doing damage control, but that we are all moving forward and learning. I don't wake up with a mile long agenda of how I'm going to save the world in spite of my three little impediments. We do take vacations, but the oldest one recently told me that he prefers school because then I play with him and don't always say I'm reading. Along with everything else I did last year, I helped start a playgroup, and I decided I would make that my link to the outside world. I thought of myself as a Victorian lady with "at home from 10 to 1 on Wednesday afternoons" printed on my card. From now on, anyone who wanted to see me could do it at playgroup. Next year I'll probably have to give up the playgroup, too, but I hope that I have a few true friends who will still remember me. And we participate as a family in an outreach program to international students through the University, so we are always meeting more people. But this year I am really trying to center on the fact that my primary responsibility is my family. I take my marching orders from the Bible, and there you can see that for both men and women, if your family life is not in order, nothing else you do will be significant. All along, though, one thing I have always done is made some quiet space for me in our life. I get an hour every afternoon and another every evening to read, do art, write, make lesson plans, or make those pesky phone calls. I don't think I could live without that time. I feel apologetic to all our sisters in oppressed situations or primitive conditions who could not and cannot sit down for one moment, never mind one hour. But I can't afford to die when I'm 35 if I can help it, since I have the opportunity, I take it. Even God rested on the seventh day. A couple of things I have been thinking about very recently have been helpful to me. Along with everything else I've mentioned, the Bible also teaches that children are a blessing from the Lord, but almost everyone I know acts like they are a burden. Why? I think that, for one thing, they should be pulling their own weight a little more around the house. Even guys as small as mine can stack diapers, set and clear tables more or less, clean up their own messes, and of course, pick it up and step and fetch it. In fact, they sometimes enjoy "getting to" do a grown-up thing like wipe a window. Having three preschoolers is still definitely an investment. You sacrifice at the beginning and hope for a greater return in the end. But I think children become a burden if you have no notion of why you brought them into the world. Through our kids, we can make this world at least a marginally better place fifteen years from now than it might otherwise be. The flip side to that is that not everything your kid does is your fault. Since I've become a parent, I've realized that parents have lives. They don't just beam down from outer space to be the Good Mother and the Good Father. Even if you do The Right Thing, your kid may go out and blow it all by his own choices, and that's why I don't want to ever lose myself in my kids. I'm the only one whose choices I can make. When I was little all I ever wanted was to be a mommy. I always figured that being a mommy was just the cushiest job around. Boy, was I wrong. This is one tough job, but for me, it is the best one I've ever had. I figure I'll probably grow up when I'm about 45. I'll still have plenty of time then to go to school, teach, travel, volunteer, and all the stuff I've put off limits for now. But I would hate to be one of the people I sometimes hear about who achieved all their personal goals, but abandoned their family in the process. I just can't see myself throwing away my own kids for the sake of anything, not even an orphanage or a rescue mission or something else really noble. So I still have a lot of unfulfilled dreams. But I hope that when I'm 85 I'll look back and say, "I had it all. I didn't have it all at once, but I had it all." The Value of a Woman The Value of a Woman by Ruth Bloomer THE VALUE OF A WOMAN By Ruth Bloomer Pittsburgh, PA. "How to handle a woman?" is the question sung by King Arthur in the musical, "Camelot". The answer was "to love her - simply love her." But the question that might be asked by the '90's woman might be "How can we handle live?" The now familiar, "You've come a long way, baby", prompts us to ask, "From where?" Many years ago, there was such a thing as chivalry. Men did open doors, men did defer to women with an "after you", men did not do or say certain things because there was a lady present. When did it all change, where did the change begin? The cry for equality of the sexes has echoed down the corridors of time for many a generation. Finally, the cry was partially heard when women were granted the right to vote. But, even then, many inequities continued to be prevalent in society. The wage scales tipped heavily in favor of the male when equal work was being done. Most of the time, women were directed into certain jobs, with meager wages being offered. A slight but noticeable edge for women occurred during World War II. At this time, a majority of the male work force was defending our country overseas, while at the same time women kept the home fires burning ... in many instances they began them, since they were responsible for carrying the major part of the financial load. However, when Johnny came marching home, women were once again put back into their pre-war stereotyped positions and the men once again became the sole breadwinners. The inequalities continued to increase and eventually women were introduced to Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. At last, the American female would be liberated ... or would they? As the feminist movement progressed, it did not turn out to be the "Great Panacea" that people, especially some women, thought it would be. Frustrations and anger became evident as many American women soon realized their ideals and values did not coincide with the Friedans and Steinmens, but rather clashed in total opposition. Voices were heard especially from the Christian community. Voices that were diametrically opposed to the women's liberation movement. If a woman chose to stay at home, raise her family and fulfill her role as mother and wife, the "bra burners" would rack her over the coals, trying to make her feel inferior and guilty for the choices she had made. Looking at the Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, we see time and time again where women are mentioned in Jesus' ministry. Think for a moment of Mary and Martha. It was unheard of for a woman to listen to a teacher, yet Mary sat at Jesus' feet and was not rebuked by Him for doing this. A major dialogue took place between Jesus and the Woman at the Well. Not only is Chapter 4 of John powerfully relevant, but it's truths contain some of the primary beliefs in living the Christian life; i.e. Jesus, the Living Water; His elevation of women by His discourse with her; treating a woman as an equal by taking the time to not only talk with her, but asking her to supply His need of a drink of water; loving a woman in spite of her adulterous life-style; forgiving, but never judging a woman's current "POSILQUE" situation. And at the end of her story, her life had been completely changed and she began a new life as one of the first missionaries, spreading the gospel and witnessing, telling others what Jesus had done for her. Think for a moment of the Easter story. What a key part women played in it, from the foot of the cross to that first glorious Easter morning. When the disciples forsook Him, the women remained to mourn. When dawn arose on that first Easter day, the women were the first to go to the tomb. Always, always, Jesus treated women with love, dignity and respect. The Author of the Golden Rule truly showed how much He valued women in a society where the female was placed on the same social level as that of a garbage collector. Liberated? Thank God, He took care of that issue 2000 years ago and is still doing it today. When sociological situations are less than perfect and the inequalities abound all around, He is not to blame. He was and is the Great Liberator! We are the ones who have imprisoned ourselves because of our sinful natures, our selfish ways and our unwillingness to submit to His authority. His words bring us comfort, not condemnation. His love is unconditional and unending. He has liberated us. With and through Him there is no difference between male and female. All are equal at the foot of the cross. Liberated? Indeed we are. God has set us free! We acknowledge that fact. But have we freed ourselves? Because of the world, because of our poor self-images, we are still bound. Bound by our fears, bound by our poor self-worth, bound in many instances by our circumstances. If the Son has set us free, are we not free indeed? If we are His children we will never suffer that judgment which sends us to eternal condemnation. He is never our judge. He is our Savior. He does not condemn, He forgives. Our self worth comes from one far greater than ourselves. It comes from one who was willing to leave a heavenly kingdom to come to a planet where its inhabitants would in time reject and then kill Him. But He did this because He loved us and He believed we were worth saving ... that we truly were valued by Him. Can you handle life? As a woman, freely liberated through Christ, (yes, the truth will set you free!) the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Are we worth it? The "Yes" echoes again. Two thousand years ago a man gave us the formula, "Treat others the way you would want to be treated." And that's with love, dignity and respect. Biblical Department New In Christ New In Christ - How to Practice Forgiveness "New in Christ" is a regular MORNING STAR column written primarily for people who wish to learn more about the basic teachings of Biblical Christianity. The editorial staff at MORNING STAR encourages all readers to freely use this information to help new Christians grow in their walk with the Lord. HOW TO PRACTICE FORGIVENESS A Study Based on Matthew 18:21-35 By Reverend Chester N. Shew How do you respond to mistreatment and injury? In the world today there is much mistreatment of our fellow man and each of us finds ourselves on the receiving end of mistreatment from time to time. How do you respond? The first urge is to respond with anger, hostility, bitterness, and with an effort to retaliate. This is Satan's way of destroying you, your home, your family, and your fellowship with others. All of us have to admit that when we are mistreated, it is difficult to have the mind of Christ and demonstrate the Spirit of Christ toward our abusers. While every human being experiences mistreatment from others, how we deal with it will, to a large degree, determine our total well-being in life. Mistreatment may come in many forms. Some have suffered mistreatment and abuse from their parents or perhaps by others who are in authority over them. We have all heard the horror stories of parental abuse and mistreatment; but Christ, in His reference to mistreatment, was carrying it further. Every pastor has dealt, at one time or another, with the problem of abuse and mistreatment in the marriages of his congregation. Marriage gives the ideal fertile ground for mistreatment. There is no other relationship in life that has the longevity and closeness of relationship that marriage has. In the marriage situation, we have many opportunities to be threatening to our mate. Aside from abuse in marriage, pastors are often confronted with children who abuse or mistreat their parents. All who have raised children know how much the actions and words of a child can hurt. As they grow older, sometimes parents are mistreated by their offspring. We have occasion to experience hurt and mistreatment from thoughtless siblings as well. In my very own family, I have had the unfortunate opportunity to experience this firsthand. My elder sister has not spoken to me in many years. This is a very painful situation that I am unable to come to grips with at times. There are many other circumstances, too numerous to mention, that one may find themselves in where hurt and mistreatment come their way. Peter seems to have had some experience in being hurt and mistreated. His question to Christ in Matthew 18:21 was, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin (mistreat, injure) against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" The Lord Jesus Christ was very swift to answer and very specific; Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:22) Was the Lord saying literally that the number of times would be 490 times? Or perhaps he was trying to get across to Peter something far beyond that? He is teaching through this passage that we should not be vindictive nor revengeful, we are not to seek the retaliation that comes from human nature. We humans tend to strike out when we are hurt or maligned. We tend to live by the law of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Christ instructs just the opposite. Let us note that Christ did not suggest that we suppress our hostile feelings and just ignore hurt and mistreatment. This would just compound the problem. We would not only be mistreated by others, but we would be mistreating ourselves. We have the right to feel hurt and we have the right to be angry when we are treated unjustly. If we were to suppress all the negative feeling we get from mistreatment, we would soon explode like a volcano! When we are hurt or mistreated we could retreat into ourselves, wallow in self-pity, become discouraged and curl up and die in despair. We can let our hurt fester into a full blown problem. We can draw back from everyone with the pretext that in this manner we will not be hurt. Then what are we to do? If we are not to strike back, if we are not to wreak vengeance or pity ourselves or draw away from everyone, what are we to do? Christ has the answer to that as well. The Lord specifically suggests and teaches us the obligation to give to the person who has hurt us the gift of forgiveness. Because we have a natural tendency to retaliate, we find it difficult to be forgiving. Some may suggest that to forgive is to invite more abuse and mistreatment, and that the abuser will interpret it as a sign of weakness. We may also feel that the one who abused us should first be worthy of our forgiveness; but this is not His way. We must remember that forgiveness is always an undeserved gift. If we were to wait until that individual who has harmed us was deserving of our forgiveness, we would never reach the point of forgiveness. As a result, we would harbor feelings of anger and hostility toward our abuser, and perhaps the entire world. We must also keep in mind that if forgiveness was given on merit, no one would ever experience the forgiveness of God: "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6) We could not and would not reach the point where we were worthy of God's love and forgiveness. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect example of the teaching of forgiveness. While He hung upon the cross of Calvary, His precious Blood streaming upon the ground, Jesus forgave. His forgiveness was not only for the ones who drove the nails through His hands and feet and pierced his brow, but for those who, with libels and curses on their lips, placed Him there. God must have a reason for wanting us to be forgivers. He must have a rationale for us forgiving. When the Lord suggested that His disciples practice forgiveness "seventy times seven," He was thinking of their well-being. He knew the anguish and hatred that would build and fester in their hearts. With perfect insight, He knew such emotions would grow like a cancer in our souls if we neglected to forgive. As I stated earlier, we are to forgive because we are forgiven. In Matthew 18:23-27, we read the parable of the servant who owed his master ten thousand talents. The master had no reason to forgive him nor did he have any legal obligation to forgive him the huge debt, and he could have taken much vengeance upon the servant. He forgave him instead. The point of the parable is that the forgiven servant was obliged to forgive his fellow servant as well. This he did not do. Paul admonished the Ephesians, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32) As the unforgiving servant in Matthew would not forgive his fellow servant, we need to consider the terrible cost of having an unforgiving spirit. Our daily living of a Spirit-filled life is short circuited and we dwell in the misery of our hurt. We find that we withdraw into ourselves and fail to seek the forgiveness we need from God. We become embittered and cold. If we allow it to continue, we will become suspicious of everyone. We will have closed the door through which we fellowship with God and receive His forgiveness. Forgiveness is a gift-a gift we received freely from a merciful God and a gift we are to give with a Christ-like Spirit. Our forgiving those who have harmed and mistreated us brings a healing to the broken heart and to our injured spirit. If we accept God's free gift of forgiveness, then we should give the gift of forgiveness with no strings attached. Christ forgave in a manner that left no doubt in the receiver's heart that he was forgiven. Another reason for our giving the gift of forgiveness is found in the book of Second Corinthians 2:10-11: "To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." We are to forgive so that Satan will not get a foothold or a beachhead in our lives. The unforgiving spirit in a Christian or in a Christian church is the devil's playground. There are probably many readers who tremble with the pain of hurt and mistreatment. Jesus speaks to these and says we are to forgive "seventy times seven." This strong statement we are to take literally. The balm for hurt is forgiveness. Every time we hurt we should forgive again. I am sure that some will misunderstand this point. They think that if you do not forget you have not given the gift of forgiveness. In reality, it is impossible to totally forget a hurt or mistreatment. But if we forgive and forgive repeatedly, for all intents and purpose, we will forget the hurt and mistreatment to a point that we no longer harbor hatred and feelings of retaliation. God's forgiveness to each of us is a free gift with no strings attached. God's forgiveness to each of us is full and complete. God's forgiveness to us is forever. He will not, someday, come back to remind us of our sins. God's forgiveness is offered to each of us personally. On the basis of His forgiveness, we can be forgiving toward others. If you have been holding a grudge against someone, you can give yourself a clean heart and a clear conscience if you will ask the forgiving God to help you give the gift of forgiveness to the one who injured you. You also have in this the opportunity to defeat Satan in the forefront of his attack. Bible Study Bible Study - Chicken Little Is In the Church This issue features a study of 2nd Thessalonians, Chapter 2. This is the second part of a three-part series. Future studies will include Psalms, and books from both the Old and New Covenants. CHICKEN LITTLE IS IN THE CHURCH (2 Thessalonians, Chapter 2) Most people are familiar with the story of Chicken Little. This little chicken was walking along, minding his own business when he was hit on the head by some debris thrown over a fence. Now being the giant intellect that he was, he immediately realized that a piece of the sky had fallen, and concluded the world was coming to an end. Chicken Little ran around telling all of his neighbors what had happened. He roused them into a state of panic as well. Now everyone was sure that the world was coming to an end. There have always been "Chicken Littles." Some built bomb shelters in the '50s. Today, they say California drivers will destroy the planet through pollution in the next ten years. Well, the church at Thessalonica apparently had their own "Chicken Littles." These individuals "knew" that the Day of the Lord had arrived and the world was coming to an end. They believed in the adage for dealing with difficult times: "When in danger, when in doubt; run in circles; scream and shout!" And, possibly there are a few "Chicken Littles" in today's church. In this study, the specific issue of the Day of the Lord will be examined. Scripture teaches why Paul pointed out that the Day could not have come to the Thessalonians, and why it still hasn't arrived. Also, regardless of ones view of prophecy, the call to the church remains unchanged. This being the case, the church's responsibility is clear. Christians are to carry out the call to make disciples. Believers are comforted by the promise of the Lord's return, but as demonstrated in the Parable of the "Ten Minas," (Luke 19) they are to occupy, that is to work, until Christ comes. Much of the first Chapter of 2nd Thessalonians is taken up with Paul's praise of these believers. But, having praised them for what was good, Paul goes on to point out some difficulties within the church. They correctly understood that Christ could return at any time. We too are to look forward to Christ's imminent return! But some misunderstandings had arisen. Apparently some person, or persons, had been saying that they had a word from the Lord. These individuals claimed that they had heard of, or seen, a letter from Paul. This letter supposedly stated that the Day of the Lord had arrived. But, Paul points out that the Day of the Lord cannot come until the Antichrist is revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Whenever the subject of prophetic systems is discussed, it should be noted there are several different views on how prophecy should be understood. God will work the details out as He sees fit, regardless of men's prophetic systems. What follows reflects the authors position about the method that is the most consistent with a literal approach to the interpretation of Scripture. Paul opens this second chapter with words concerning the coming of Christ and the gathering of believers to Him. It seems that the Thessalonians were confused because they believed that the Tribulation had arrived, but the Lord hadn't. They were experiencing tribulation -- therefore, shouldn't Christ have come for them? Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 - 11 that the church wouldn't go through the Great Tribulation. "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." Unfortunately, the Thessalonians had been led to believe that the Day of the Lord had arrived because of the suffering and persecution that they were experiencing. While they certainly were experiencing tribulation, as all believers do, this wasn't the Great Tribulation for believers are not destined for God's wrath. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5: Paul primarily focuses on why the Day of the Lord hadn't arrived. First, rebellion, or apostasy, must occur. This isn't simply disbelief, or even false teaching as seen in all periods of church history, but "a special and well-known one." This isn't "merely disbelieving but rather an aggressive and positive revolt." * (Read I Timothy 4: 1 - 3 and II Timothy 3: 1-5; 4:3-4 for specifics.) This is the apostasy that prepares the way for the final revolt against God. While, in a sense, this can be said of all false religion, the last great apostasy refers to a specific rebellion. The primary factor that distinguishes this rebellion is the revelation of the "man of lawlessness," the Antichrist. The Thessalonians couldn't be in the midst of the Tribulation, for if they were, Antichrist would have made his appearance. Another point is that if he is to be revealed, then this necessitates that he be in existence before the revelation. Be warned -- don't try to identify this individual. All through history the church has striven to tag specific individuals as Antichrist, from Antiochus Epiphanes to Hitler, from Nero to Henry Kissinger. And obviously, in each case the church was wrong. Paul says the Antichrist will not only rebel against God, but will receive man's worship. His actions will lead men to accept him as deity (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 11). The false prophet will compel the worship of Antichrist (Revelation 13:12, 14-15). It is this action that ties him directly to Satan, for desiring to be worshiped was Lucifer's downfall. From a contemporary perspective, for this action of Antichrist to occur, the Temple must be rebuilt. The fact this hasn't occurred yet, doesn't preclude Christ coming for His church. Believers are called to look for His imminent return. 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7: This next passage is somewhat obscure. At some point in time, Paul had told the Thessalonians who was preventing the appearance of Antichrist. Too bad Paul didn't record this information in the text. The restrainer is a personality. This restrainer continues to work against Antichrist until withdrawn. Many believers believe this personality is the Holy Spirit. But, how can the Holy Spirit be removed if people are to be saved during the Tribulation? Today the Holy Spirit functions through the believers that make up the church. Through the church the Holy Spirit functions as the restrainer. If the church is raptured before the appearance of Antichrist, the rapture itself will allow Antichrist to no longer be restrained. As already shown, the Thessalonians couldn't be in the midst of the Great Tribulation because Antichrist hadn't been revealed. Antichrist couldn't be revealed because the restrainer hadn't been removed. The restrainer, the Holy Spirit, won't be removed from indwelling believers. Therefore, as shown in the passages already noted in 1 Thessalonians, the church must be removed before the appearance of Antichrist. With the church removed the Holy Spirit, functioning as the restrainer through the church will no longer fulfill this role. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12: In this section, Paul reveals some other facts about this individual and the occurrences around him. No matter what he accomplishes, his destruction at the hands of Christ is foreordained at the Second Coming. When Christ returns with the Church, Antichrist will be defeated. But before that occurs, Antichrist will work great miracles, signs and wonders. For all those that believe that miracles today are still a validation of God's work, keep in mind that Satan has also performed miracles. Whether they are real or perceived doesn't matter. And, by the day of Antichrist, they will be tied to his work, as they are tied to the cults and occult today. Yes, God does still work miracles. But, is could be misleading to seek them out as a validation of His presence. The works of Antichrist will be evil by definition. They will deceive all who desire to find an alternative to the Truth of Scripture. It shouldn't therefore surprise Christians that many who follow the "messiahs" today don't want the truth. Even when their leaders are exposed, they continue to follow them. People are lost because they reject truth. They have no desire for salvation. As a result, God not only allows them to go their own way, but like He did with Pharaoh, He hardens them in their delusions, in their resolve to believe the lies. This is why people can continue to support the Mansons, Bakers, Hagens, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogis. Most who follow the cults and occult aren't simply mislead. They want to hold to their false beliefs and therefore will face eternal condemnation. And so, most of the world will desire to follow the false god, the false Christ, the Antichrist. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15: Finally, the Thessalonians did not have to fear these events because, clearly, the Tribulation hadn't arrived. And more importantly, they had nothing to fear because they were loved and chosen by God. They were encouraged to continue holding firm to what they had been taught. They were not to be side tracked by every fad that came along, by every teaching of those who claimed to be teachers. They were to put their trust in only the teachings which came from the Apostles and Scripture. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: Again, Paul closes this section with prayer that God would continue to encourage and strengthen them in all that they received and in all that they did. The important thing was their growth in faith and their demonstration of love. And as they stood firm before the Lord, this witness would go forth, and others would come to a relationship with Him. The lesson to take from this passage isn't which system of prophecy to accept. You should understand that suffering and trials in your lives, in the church and in the world are not proof that the Tribulation is imminent or has begun. Trials are simply the product of living in a fallen world, where the spirit of Antichrist is certainly active, a world where apostasy and rebellion against the Lord is the status quo. Believers must never fall into the trap of allowing circumstances to become the only basis by which to judge conformity to the will of God. In fact, it is your response to circumstances which often demonstrate the reality of God in your lives, for yourselves, and for those around you. This is how believers stand firm in trials, and how their demonstrated trust may lead others to an eternal relationship with a loving Father. Unbelievers will have the opportunity to learn of a Father who desires only that which is good for His Children. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). The local church must remember that its focus isn't to prepare for the fulfillment of prophecy, or to escape from the difficulties of life, or to tout their favorite positions, whether theological, political, or social, but to "... go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28: 19-20). The job of the church has never changed. And it won't, until the Lord comes, whenever that may be. Believers must go into the world, giving non-believers the opportunity to accept the gift of salvation, so the unsaved may avoid an eternity of suffering. The church must strive to create an environment where new believers can grow in their relationship to the Lord and in turn go out and reach others. This environment must be grounded on the word and teachings which encourage dependency on the Lord, for only then are disciples being made. Nevertheless, Christians are to look forward with great anticipation to that coming day when, "... the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). What a joy to know that one of these days you will see Him face to face. All your trials and tribulations will be over. You will have the joy of hearing your Father say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:21). Be in dependency on the Holy Spirit and strive to be worthy of hearing these words! * Charles Caldwell Ryrie, FIRST AND SECOND THESSALONIANS, Moody Press, 1959, pg. 103 Special Studies Special Studies - God is Revealed in the Covenant of Freedom The Bible is an account of God's relationship to man, a covenant relationship. We find this from the day of creation to the eternal relationship we can have with the Messiah. This is the sixth in a series of articles detailing the individual covenants found within Scripture. Last time we discovered the impact of the Abrahamic Covenant, when God revealed that it was time for man to relearn how to trust Him. GOD IS REVEALED IN THE COVENANT OF FREEDOM By Dr. Charles A. Wootten The next revelation of God occurs when He revealed Himself to Moses. God recalled His covenant with Abraham. Accordingly, He had mercy on His people, and therefore sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. "God spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name Adonai. I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. I have now heard the moaning of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the Lord. I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisement'" (Exodus 6:2-8, JPSA). God instructed Moses in the building of the Tabernacle, ordination of the clergy, details of ritual worship, and requirements of the Levitical law. An exciting statement on the revelation of God, as seen through the eyes of Moses and Aaron, is found in the Midrash. Here is an account of the interview which took place between them and Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked them, "Who is your God that I should hearken unto His voice?" They replied, "The universe is filled with the might and power of our God. He existed ere the world was created, and He will continue in being when the world comes to a final end He formed you and infused into you the breath of life. He stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. His voice hews out flames of fire, rends mountains asunder and shatters rocks. His bow is fire and His arrows flames. His spear is a torch, His shield the clouds and His sword the lightning. He fashioned mountains and hills and covered them with grass. He makes the rains and dews to descend, and causes the herbs to sprout. He also forms the embryo in the mother's womb and enables it to issue forth as a living being." (Exodus R.v.14). This is the understanding of the revelation of God. It was this revelation that was the undergirding of the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was given to the children of Israel 430 years after the Abrahamic Covenant. God heard the cry of the children of bondage and decided to set them free as He had promised. In this action, His redemptive purposes, His character and His way of life were revealed to His people (Exodus 1-5; Deuteronomy 5). The words of the covenant, more words than any other, involved the Law (Exodus 20-40; Leviticus 1-27; Numbers 1-10, 15, 18, 19, 28-36; Deuteronomy 1-34). The Law had three major divisions: Moral, Civil, and Ceremonial. The promises of the covenant were conditional on the same platform as the Abrahamic Covenant (see previous articles). As we shall see later, the curses were outlined in the Palestinian Covenant. Regarding the terms of the covenant, we find faith-obedience was replaced with legal-obedience. "You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the Lord" (Leviticus 18:5 [JPSA]) (cf Galatians 3:10- 12). Under this restriction, Israel could obtain the promise of life only by fulfilling the works of the Law to obtain righteousness (Deuteronomy 6:25; Leviticus 18:5; Romans 10:1-5; Galatians 3:21). Under other covenants they could receive righteousness by faith in God's promises (Galatians 3:11; Romans 4:1-5). A summary of the terms is: 1. The Ten Commandments, which showed man's relationship to God and man's relationship to man (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:1-21). 2. Legal obedience to God (Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 13:4; Jeremiah 11:1-10). 3. The heart condition of love of God that enabled them to keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 6:4-6; 10:12,13,16; 30:6-8). Unless God changed man's heart he would never be able, by self-effort, to develop a perfect heart of loving obedience toward Him. Interestingly enough, there was no oath of this covenant. Examining the blood of the covenant, there is an extremely detailed description of sacrifices that typified the atoning work of Christ. The blood, as we recall, symbolized life and atonement (Genesis 4:10; Leviticus 17:10-14). The Law includes many voluntary and compulsory offerings. The offerings include three voluntary ones: the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering (Leviticus 1-7). The compulsory offerings are the sin and the trespass offerings. We can see in the reading of the Law concerning the blood of the covenant that: It has a voice (Genesis 4:10; Hebrews 12:22-24) It is life (Genesis 9:4-6; Deuteronomy 12:23) It is an atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:10-14) It is evidence of out-poured life (Deuteronomy 12:16,23,24) It is the evidence of judgment on sin by death (Exodus 12:13; Leviticus 16:15,16) The seal of the covenant is distinctly revealed as the weekly Sabbath Day (Exodus 31:12-17; Leviticus 19:30; 23:3; Ezekiel 20:10-26). This was a reminder that when the Lord had made the heaven and the earth, He sanctified the seventh day as a day of rest. God's day of rest is Man's first day of life. The goal of the Sabbath is Man's redemptive rest. It asserts the principle of freedom under God and of liberty under God's Law. The essence of the Sabbath is the work of restoration, God's new creation. The goal of the Sabbath is the second creation rest of God. Man is required to rest and to allow earth and animals to rest. This rest is necessary for God's restoration to work, and creation to be revitalized. Every Sabbath rest points to the new creation, the regeneration and restoration of all that things. God's work of restoration is from the ground up. The Sabbath has always had reference to the future. The pattern of the Sabbath is in the past, from the Sabbath of Creation. The entrance into the Sabbath is also in the past; for Israel, it was the redemption from Egypt. God's Sabbath for the Church is found in the Resurrection. In the next part of this series, we will take a pause to look at the symbols and types found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses. The purpose will be to find a greater appreciation of the covenants in the many small ways that God is revealed in them. Two greater names of God will also be discussed. Messianic Studies Messianic Studies: Jesus the Rabbi - Was He Orthodox ? The Messianic Studies column explores the world of the Messianic Believer. Like the church at large, Messianic Judaism contains much diversity. It is made up of numerous views as to what it means to be a Messianic Jew, who we are, what we call ourselves and what we believe. This column will be used to explore this variety, giving the reader a broader perspective of Messianic Judaism than found elsewhere, exposing those of us who are Messianic Believers to the wide spectrum of practice found within the movement. Hopefully we will succeed in helping our Jewish brothers and sisters to understand why we follow Yeshua as our savior. We also hope that what is provided here will give our gentile readers both a better understanding of their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as the Jewish roots of their own faith. In this month's column, we continue with part two of the transcript of an address by David Bivin given at the Christian Friends of Israel Teaching Seminar held at Christ Church, Jerusalem on May 26th 1987. ------------------------------------------------------------------ JESUS, THE RABBI - WAS HE ORTHODOX? Part Two - WAS JESUS OBSERVANT? Now we come to Jesus' observance of the law. We have talked briefly about His being Jewish, about Him being actually a rabbi - what we today call a rabbi, although that was not a title in His day. There can be no doubt that Jesus observed the written law in its entirety. The New Testament clearly states that having been born under the law He committed no sin. Jesus was never charged with breaking any part of the written law, and although His disciples were occasionally accused of disobeying aspects of the oral law, only one such accusation was brought against Jesus, and this was of course, that He broke the Sabbath by healing the sick. However, these Sabbath healings were actually permitted by rabbinic ruling, so the only way we can understand this protest about Jesus breaking the law, is to see it as the response of a narrow minded ruler of a local synagogue who was upset with Jesus healing on the Sabbath, but in the main rabbinic ruling this is permitted. A more pertinent question is to what extent Jesus observed the practices of oral law. In other words we can leave aside His performance of the written law and we can go straight to what extent He observed the oral law of His day. It may seem, at first glance, that there is a shortage of hard evidence in the New Testament concerning Jesus' religious observance. But one must remember that the New Testament was written by Jews and was written for Jews. The normal Jewish religious practices were so well known, both to the writers and to the readers, that it would have been considered superfluous, perhaps ridiculous, to explain in detail how particular commandments were carried out. That is why we have such a dearth of information about what Jewish baptism was. It was not done at all as we do it today. It was done as the Jews do it today. In fact, the earliest representation of Christian baptism in the catacombs of Rome shows John the Baptist standing fully clothed on the bank extending an arm to Jesus who is undressed coming above the water. He is helping Him up the bank. So the one who was baptized was not dunked under the water by some officiating clergy, but rather walked down into the water and gave His testimony and dipped Himself, just as it is still done today in every Jewish mikveh. The person officiating was there only to give his or her stamp of kashrut to make certain that, the hair of ladies for instance, was completely immersed and did not float to the surface, so that you did not have one hair that failed to get completely submerged. Non-Jewish readers often have a difficult time understanding what exactly is going on because the writers did not bother to give all the details of Jewish custom and practice. Nevertheless one is able to gather enough evidence from the gospels to conclude safely that Jesus observed the biblical commandments as they were interpreted by the rabbis in the oral law. An interesting example of this is Jesus' adherence to the rabbinic prohibition against using the unutterable name of God. The original understanding of the third commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain", was probably that one should be careful not to break one's vows when one has sworn in God's name. However the rabbis eventually came to interpret this commandment to include using the Lord's Name frivolously or lightly. To avoid the risk of employing the Divine Name irreverently, the rabbis ruled that one should not utter it at all. The tetragrammaton, the yod hay vav hay (YHVH), the Divine Name, could be pronounced only in the temple, in the daily priestly blessing, and in the confession of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. When reading or reciting Scripture, one was not to pronounce the Unutterable Name but rather had to substitute Adonai (Lord). In time, this substitute, Adonai, itself came to have such a sacred aura that it was used only in Scripture reading and prayer. When it was necessary to refer to God in everyday speech, one sought other substitutes such as ha-Makom (the Place); ha Kadosh (the Holy); ha Gavohah (the High); ha-Lashon (the Tongue); ha-Gevurah (the power); Shamayim (Heaven) or ha-Shem (the Name). Ha-Shem is probably the most commonly used today in order to avoid using the name of God which would be sacrilegious. Even the less distinctive Elohim (God), which could refer to the God of Israel or to false Gods, was avoided in conversation. So serious was the prohibition against pronouncing the tetragrammaton that the rabbis included among those that have no share in the world to come; "He who pronounces the divine name as it is spelled". The avoidance of the tetragrammaton began very early, although there was no hesitation in pronouncing the sacred name in the biblical period. In the time of David everyone went around saying Y-M (however they pronounced it), but already by the third century BC "Adonai" was being substituted for the yod hay vav hay (YHVH). Jesus frequently used euphemisms for God, and His audiences would have been shocked had He not. The most common word for God used by Jesus was "Heaven". This occurs for instance in the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven", the term Jesus used for His community of disciples, for His movement. To those in the Temple who questioned His authority, Jesus asked: "Was the baptism of John from Heaven or from men?" In other words, was John's baptism of God or of men? In His parable of the prodigal son, Jesus had the prodigal say to his father "I have sinned against Heaven". As for making oaths, Jesus commanded His disciples not to swear at all, not even using substitutes for God's name such as Shamayim (Heaven). One other euphemism for God's name used by Jesus was ha-Gevurah (the Power). When interrogated by the High Priest, Jesus was asked for an admission that He was the Messiah. His answer, was a classic example of rabbinic sophistication: "From now on the Son of Man will be seated on the right of the Power." This of course hints at two different Messianic passages, Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110:1: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." Jesus also adhered to the Oral Law in His attitude towards such practices as sacrifices, fasting, almsgiving, tithing and blessings. Notice for example how He gave tacit approval to the offering of sacrifices in Matthew 5:23-24: "If you bring your sacrifice to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave it there in front of the altar, first go and be reconciled to your brother and then come back and offer your sacrifice". Jesus also commanded the lepers, whom He healed to perform the ceremony for their cleansing prescribed in the Bible. This ceremony included offering sacrifices as well as ritual immersion. He told the ten lepers to show themselves to the priest, and He specifically charged another leper to: "Show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded". Jesus also took for granted the fasting of His disciples when He commanded them to, "anoint your head and wash your face when you fast so that you won't appear to be fasting". Jesus was accused of not living the ascetic life of John the Baptist, which might give one the impression that Jesus did not fast a great deal. Those who accused Him however would not have known whether Jesus fasted or not, if he were practicing what He preached, which was to conceal your fasting. Certainly Jesus could not have criticized those who made a show of their fasting if He Himself did not fast. In telling the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, He was not critical of the Pharisee because he fasted twice a week. He was critical of this Pharisee because of his pride. It was inconceivable that Jesus did not fast on the Day of Atonement each year throughout His life "to afflict His soul". This was interpreted by the rabbis to mean a total fast of approximately twenty five hours. Scripture specifies exclusion from the community as the penalty for one who does not afflict his soul on the Day of Atonement, and states that anyone who does any work on that day would be "destroyed by God". It should also be noted that after His baptism, at the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus fasted for forty days. So Jesus was a faster. In the same section of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus criticized the hypocrites who fasted to be seen by men, Jesus also criticized those who made a public display of giving to the poor. Jesus must have been a generous giver Himself. We can assume that He was a generous giver, since He taught that one should lay up treasure in heaven, and that if one's "eye is bad", that is if one is stingy, "his whole body is full of darkness". "When you give alms" said Jesus - not "if you give alms". Jesus assumes that His disciples are almsgivers, and one may confidently assume that Jesus was as well, even without a specific New Testament example. Alms giving raises the related issue of tithing, and since tithing is as much a biblical commandment as giving alms, there should be no question but that Jesus tithed and gave to the poor. However, it is sometimes noted by Christians that Jesus criticized the Pharisees for being so pedantic as to tithe even the spices and herbs in their gardens, and it is therefore sometimes assumed that Jesus opposed such tithing. This is of course an error resulting from not carefully reading the text. It is similar to the misunderstanding some people have that money is the root of all evil, whereas Scripture actually states that the "love of money is the root of all evil." Jesus did not pronounce woes upon the Scribes and Pharisees for tithing mint, dill and cumin, but rather for keeping only such "lighter" or less serious commandments, whilst failing to keep the "heavier" commandments. In the written law, the commandment is that one is to tithe only on grain, on oil and on wine. However the rabbis, (in the time of Jesus and just before), ruled that anything used for food had to be tithed. Jesus, when He speaks of this tithing of the herbs in the garden says: "This is necessary to do". His statement leaves no doubt how Jesus felt about tithing, and more important, how He felt about the observation, of the commandments as they were interpreted by the rabbis. Note also that a few verses previously, in Matthew 23:3, Jesus explicitly instructed His disciples to keep the oral law. "Do and observe what they (referring the Scribes and the Pharisees) command you." The third and final part of this message will be published in next month's Messianic Studies column. David Bivin has lived in Israel since 1963, when he came to do graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 1970 to 1931 he was director of the modern Language Division of the American Ulpan, and also director of the Modern Hebrew Department of the Institute of Holy Land Studies on Mount Zion. He is co-author of two books: "Fluent Biblical and Modern Hebrew", and "Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus". He is currently director of the Jerusalem School for the Study of the Synoptic Gospels, which is sponsored by the Centre for Judaic-Christian Studies. David Bivin also serves as an elder of the Narkis Street Baptist congregation in Jerusalem. Produced by: Christian Friends of Israel U.K. BM Box 2188, London Anee M'Amin Anee M'Amin ANEE M'AMIN is Hebrew for "I believe". Every month this column features the testimony of a Jewish believer in Messiah. This month we feature a story from the December 1991 issue of THE CHOSEN PEOPLE magazine. THEY WANTED TO STOP HIM FROM PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO JEWISH PEOPLE IN THE SOVIET UNION. Albert Israeli was shocked to see scenes right out of the first century - dramatic Jewish confessions of faith and violent public debates - on the streets of his homeland. On October 1, 1991, thousands of Jewish people from all over the world gathered in Kiev to commemorate the 1941 killing of Jews by Nazis as Babi Yar. For some, memories of the more than 3,000 Jews machine-gunned by the Nazis and left to die in the deep Ukranian ravine were still vivid. It would be either the best place to preach the Gospel ... or the worst. It turned out that the week-long commemoration became both for Albert Israeli, Chosen People Ministries worker from Israel. Albert, 33, was born in the Soviet Union. He left for Israel at 13, spent two years in Israel, and then emigrated to Canada in 1977. He came to faith seven years ago as a result of the witness of a Soviet Jewish believer. Since that time he has worked for Chosen People Ministries, at first ministering to the Soviet Jews in Toronto and now living in Israel where God is using him to reach immigrant Soviet Jews. From Tel Aviv to Kiev In late September 1991, Albert sent 500 pounds of Bibles and Gospel literature to Kiev to get there ahead oh him. Then he flew out of Tel Aviv airport. In Kiev he met our volunteers - Soviet Jews, many of whom had found the Lord through the preaching of Sam Nadler and Albert in 1990. By the time Albert arrived, thousands of Jewish people, primarily from Eastern Europe but others from France, England, and the United States, had already converged on Kiev at the site of the babi yar massacre. As hundreds of Jewish people listened, a rabbi stood up to challenge Albert, accusing him of misquoting the Hebrew Scriptures. Albert pulled out a Hebrew New Testament from his coat and began reading from it, demonstrating his fluency in Hebrew. But this did not deter the rabbi, who continued to debate Albert from the crowd. Finally, after a particularly intense exchange, the rabbi turned to leave, telling the crowd they would be cursed if they stayed. Two others left; the rest remained to listen for an additional hour. An Ugly Mood On the last Sunday morning of the huge week-long gathering, a young man named Igor tried to incite the Orthodox Jews against Albert. The crowd's mood turned ugly. Above the din, the chief rabbi of Kiev shouted that Albert was "trying to convert them." Hundreds gathered, and a riot broke out with the angry mob rushing toward Albert. They grabbed him by his coat trying to silence him by pushing him out of the crowd. "It looked like a hornet's nest," said Jeff Kipp, a member of a Minneapolis congregation who was travelling through Kiev at the time. Unharmed and having regained his composure, Albert invited those who were interested to a meeting a few hours later. SRO Crowd A standing-room-only crowd showed up to hear Albert speak later that same afternoon at a rented hall used for weekly meetings. Of the over 200 Soviet Jewish believers who regularly meet, 80 graciously left to make room for those who showed up to hear the Gospel. Still, almost 300 crowded the room to overflowing. Since it was the season of the Jewish High Holy Days, Albert spoke on the differences between the Sinai Covenant and the New Covenant. While Albert preached, other Jewish believers in the hall suddenly noticed that Igor - the young Jewish man who had started the riot earlier that morning - was there too! At the close of the service, when Albert issued an invitation, this same Igor abruptly rushed forward. "I was shocked to see him," Albert said. "I thought he was going to cause trouble." The believers froze, certain Igor would harm Albert. "But he fell on my shoulder and wouldn't let me go," said Albert. "He was weeping and in between tears asking God to forgive him." Igor refused to let go of Albert for a full five minutes. Igor's sudden conversion galvanized the meeting -23 Jews followed him to the front to accept Jesus as Messiah. The next day Albert baptized 17 new Soviet Jewish believers in a swimming pool in Kiev. At the end of the baptism, 4 more Soviet Jews watching the service came to faith. These new believers join the many other Soviet Jews who have come to faith over the last year since Albert and Sam Nadler first preached the Gospel at one Kiev church. Several weekly Bible studies are now conducted to nurture these new Soviet believers. Pray for Albert, his wife and children. Also keep Igor in prayer, that his Damascus road experience, like Paul's would redound much to the glory of God. The WORD for Today Pass Me Another Stone by Pastor Geoff Kragen Before this last Easter, (1992), many churches across the country were involved in The Chapel of the Air's "Fifty-Day Spiritual Adventure." This program was designed to help local churches become "The Family God Wants Us To Be." The material provided focused on dysfunctional behavior found in families and brought into the church. The article presented here is the second of seven messages given by