Tell us a little about yourself I am a twenty-one year old sunset chaser, story collector, and scripture champion. I was born and raised in South Australia and am now in Sydney for study and work (who knows where God will take me in the future though!). What's your favourite bible passage and why? “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does
As a female student and teacher of the Bible and someone who seeks to interpret and live out what it teaches faithfully, as well as an ordained minister and preacher, I often get asked how I interpret what the Bible has to say about women and preaching. This paper comes out of a class I have taught sharing some of my perspectives on that question. While I have studied and thought through these passages over some time and in some depth, I don’t pretend to have them fully figured out or have the final word on how to read them.1 I hope that I hold my perspectives with thoughtfulness and integrity, but also with grace and humility. What I do seek is to have is a consistent hermeneutic for how I
PSALM 42 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. 5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. 6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will reme
I'm 21, nearly 22. And I am studying a Bachelor of Arts - majoring in social justice and sociology. I love what I am studying - and am so excited for what future lies ahead. I love reading, music, cool weather and the wind in my hair. What's your favourite bible passage & why? I tend to love verses about how things on this earth are only temporary, our pain here is fleeting, and through it all, God and our saviour are forever and our everlasting comfort - e.g. 1 Peter:23-25 I also love Colossians 3:1-3 -"set your heart on things above" because our lives our now with Christ above, not on earth. How do you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus? I think it's really really important to have a
This is a strange, hair-raising, passage. Certainly a challenging bit of Scripture, but one that I think helps us to appreciate Paul’s concern that our behaviour does not malign our witness of the gospel. Good exegesis starts with understanding the passage’s cultural and literary context: The Church at Corinth Corinth was a multicultural society – a trade hub, a place of racial and religious diversity. The challenge to the early church was the sometimes delicate balance of freedom in Christ and the restriction of behaviours so as not to be a stumbling block to others receiving and growing in the faith. An example is the matter regarding food in the immediately preceding pericope of 1 Cor
Tell us a little about yourself I'm married to Adam. We have a delightful little girl, Eva, who will be three years old in May, and we are expecting identical twins in the middle of the year too. I've been working in communications for CMS (the Church Missionary Society) for over five years. What's your favourite bible passage & why? Romans 8:28: 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. God always has a good plan and purpose for his people. So no matter what happens in my life, God is seeking to make me more like his Son, Jesus Christ. How do you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus? Seeking to keep my eyes fixed on
The following reflection was written to accompany one of my creative projects at Regent College. The class is called Christian Imagination and focuses on the connection between Christianity and the Arts. As well as reflect on art work and write a theological paper, we were asked to produce something, to ‘make art’. This was my contribution. "… the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” Revelation 13:8 "If you offer a lamb, you are to present it before the Lord” Leviticus 3:7 … as sin offering (Leviticus 4:32) and friendship offering (4:35) for guilt (14:21) and atonement (5:6) … (among other references) "… the lambs will provide you with clothing” Proverbs 27:26 “… he was led li
Tell us a little about you My name is Jess. I am married to a wonderful man named Tim. I am a nurse/midwife. I love being with my family and I am a bit of a bookworm. What's your favourite bible verse and why? My favourite scripture verse is Ecclesiastes 3:1. It speaks of seasons both good and bad. Bad times never last. How do you fix your eyes on Jesus? I am constantly reminded of Jesus everywhere I turn. I see him in everything. Focusing on his beautiful creation keeps me grounded in him. What do you want the next generation of Christian women to know? I want the next generation of Christian women to be reminded of the fact that they are created in Gods perfect imagine. Therefor
Dear Equip, I was there last Saturday. I was listening intently. I don’t doubt that you all spoke from the Bible, and your preaching was in good faith. Your love for God and women was clear, and your faithful hard work was evident. I was thrilled to see so many Jesus followers gathering to sing and learn. My concern wasn’t that you talked about hair or feminism or Kristen Stewart. And I accept that after searching the scriptures and wrestling with the hard stuff that you’ve landed with complementarian theology. Plenty of evangelicals do. But here’s the thing. Plenty of evangelicals don’t. The controversy since Saturday has been messy, and plenty of it unloving, which saddens me greatly. Mess
This question was put to me by a friend who is grieving with me. My beautiful twin sister has terminal cancer. God has graciously extended her life from the really terrible prognosis of one month, but he is yet to answer our prayers for her healing. Looking at God’s response to Job in the Bible helps us to answer this question about being angry with God. Job experiences unimaginable suffering: everything has been taken away from him, and on top of that, his friends have railed at him repeatedly about how he must be to blame at some level. Talk about adding insult to injury! Then God shows up in Job 38:1. In a storm, which is kind of Bible-speak for ‘God is really here’. But before God says a
