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Life In The Body

Apr 27 2018
0

Biblical Womanhood: What Is a Woman?

By | Gender & Faith, Life In The Body, Women | No Comments

What a woman is.

She is an image-bearer. It was the first day of a class I was teaching on the role of women in the home, church, and society. Driving in to the seminary where I teach, I thought through the material I planned to cover, and honestly I feared that some of what I’d prepared to say was too elementary for graduate-level students. Many of them were raised in church and have heard messages all their lives. Did they really need to hear again that Genesis 1:26–27 teaches that both male and female were made in the image of God? Nevertheless, I determined I’d better make sure.

So I repeated what I assumed they all knew. And sure enough, a woman present was thrilled when she heard my words! She was made in the image of God? And not only that—she did not have to marry to fully

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Feb 26 2018
10

Abuse: Rise Up, Church!

By | Gender & Faith, Justice, Life In The Body, Women | No Comments

Today I have a guest writer whose story you need to hear: 

<<I’m not even sure if the Hebrew is correct.

But it doesn’t matter.

It means something to me.

This is where girls would have scars from cutting themselves in attempts to escape the pain of abuse. But by the grace of God, and by His grace alone, my wrist doesn’t have cuts. It says “Daughter of the King.”

There have been a few accounts and testimonies of abuse circling around social media lately, including the Larry Nassar case and sexual assault on campus in my hometown. And I want to help raise awareness for the sake of many victims and survivors of abuse who are being driven out of our churches.

My mom worked in the sex industry. I have seen, heard, and experienced just about every type of abuse. That kind of life was my norm. …

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Jan 20 2018
20

Seminary Online: Isn’t That an Oxymoron?

By | Life In The Body, Writing | No Comments

I confess, I’m a slow convert to distance education. But I’m coming around.

My reservations have stemmed from my commitment to embodiment. Genesis starts with God’s dignifiying of physicality in the first chapter, and that theme runs clear through the Incarnation to the bodily resurrection. Isn’t our faith unique in its appreciation for physical presence?

And if that’s the case, how can any kind of decent education happen without embodiment? How can people possibly learn about our God without engaging five senses in the content? Doesn’t the Eucharist include taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound? As does baptism. How can somebody grow in Christ without the senses?

Yet, as I said, I’m coming around….

Of course, I still believe face-to-face is best. After all, the elder John wrote, “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, …

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