“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world” (John 16.21).

“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children … “(Gen 3.16).

Happy Ending.

Nowadays, the Happy Ending could be relentlessly overshadowed by the trauma experience leading up. There are tools to address trauma, every single trauma, according to the Bible. Not helpful to deny trauma, nor is it helpful to end the story there, in a trauma induced muddle forever and ever. Process is a thing. A very individual journey – so no need to throw shade as each individual does their process. It’s real. There’s light at the end of the tunnel – at. the. end. of the tunnel. Light.

NT Wright sounds like Grandpa talking. He even begins his chat with a Grandpa story. Maybe every generation needs a biblical Grandpa guy for Common Sense guidance and assurance on the journey. All well and good.

However, my own personal caveat with all of these old white guy Christian leaders who have been around and in the inner circle forever is this: if they have a platform (like this guy does) and they are not using that platform to address the elephant in the church room making church a hunting ground for the vulnerable, (church predators like the Isle of Lewis dude et al, for example), what is wrong with you? Why is your ministry so empty of truth and reality? Who needs platitudes, meanderings, with Bible verses & studies, when predators roam and sometimes rule churches? Like your very own colleagues are predators…

https://thewartburgwatch.com/2017/09/29/blindsided-the-true-story-of-the-circumstances-surrounding-the-death-of-iain-campbell/

There is an audience ready for truth from the church platforms. All ears. Or, even share the platform with some from the audience who do not look like you – the old white guy theo-dudes. Bring in Christa Brown. She should be booked solid with speaking engagements worldwide to share her story, her wisdom, her insights.

The audience gets the same old, same old, week after week, decades, centuries, millennia. Old white guy dudes with quaint stories and Scripture verses.

Jesus did better. He risked all. He paid all. He prevailed. Thank God. Nothing quaint about Jesus. And he didn’t last here on Earth into white-haired old age. The world couldn’t stand His truth. Once in a while that person comes along, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for example. Or, Watchman Nee. Or, the ten Boom Family. MLK. etc. The world couldn’t stand their truth, either, so they either died young or ended up incarcerated. They’re in a better place. Would we be so bold. God help us live beyond quaint and cute.

Muff Potter: Katharine Bushnell

“Katharine Bushnell was a medical doctor, Christian writer, Bible scholar, social activist, and forerunner of feminist theology. Her lifelong quest was for biblical affirmation of the integrity and equality of women, and she published ‘God’s Word to Women’ as a correction of mistranslation and misinterpretation of the Bible. As a missionary and a doctor, Bushnell worked to reform conditions of human degradation in North America, Europe, and Asia. She was recognized as a forceful and even charismatic speaker.” -wikipedia

Bushnell advocated for equal representation of women on Bible translation committees.

One would also hope that there is equal representation of women on every Christian platform. Not to criticize Dee, but how many of the echurch speakers are male? white male? old white male? Pretty much one demographic? By and large this is prevalent throughout all of Christendom. Church lauds one demographic to lead, thus a weakness in church leadership results. Potholes. Are we all doing church to find our spiritual dad? grandpa? Jesus didn’t set up church like that. We’re not all children in church, with women being the eternal infants. Disciples are adults, meaning they have all made the grownup decision to follow Jesus, with agency, for themselves. Baptists won’t baptize infants but it seems they sure love to infantilize Jesus’ disciples, women in particular.

“What does it mean to infantilize someone?
to treat someone as if that person were a child, with the result that they start behaving like one.”

Every time there is a Christian voice or teaching, and it’s an old white guy, it’s like … “Oh, that guy, again.” Then, “Wonder if he’ll address the real issues going on in churches, like his predatory colleagues that share his platform …” Finally, “Nope, he’s not going there. Just same old, same old, with the dirt under the rug on the platform, the dirt that no one wants to address.” Moving on. Glad Jesus does not ignore the real situations in His church.

It’s a huge disconnect. We discourse all week about the real situations in church. Then we get to Sunday and NONE of this is addressed by leaders.

Bushnell’s God’s Word To Women can be found online here:

https://godswordtowomen.wordpress.com/100-lessons/

Please pray urgently for just quality of government in your & my countries (that’s not ad hominem) (politicians are busy) and safety of our affairs.

Believe God has good angels.

I have prayed Our Fathers and Glory Be’s and the prayer of Daniel 9: 3-21 (repentance by proxy for the superstitions and derelictions of our forebears and betters in “faith”)