I’ve written about my late Mum here before. She has an amazing story to tell. But today it’s National Woman’s Day and this coming Sunday it’s Mothers Day – so today I want to tell you why my Mum is one of my heroes – as a woman and as a Christian.

Was she a ‘mature Christian’? I’m not sure. She attended church regularly and served the church community we were a part of. But I wouldn’t call her a ‘mature Christian’ by any stretch of the imagination.

Was my Mum perfect? Probably not. She had her insecurities and problems. She didn’t always get things right.

So why, despite her imperfections, is my Mum a spiritual and female hero?

On April 1st 1985, when I was 8 years old – funnily enough, during Holy Week – my mother had a severe asthma attack. She ended up in a deep coma. Doctors said she was unlikely to survive, and if she did she would essentially be a vegetable

But my Mum did wake up. She was no vegetable.

However, Doctors said she had lost her short-term memory. Although she would regain a large amount of it and otherwise was perfectly normal, she would never be quite the same again.

But when my Mum first came out of her coma one of the first things she did, was ring my Dad (proof her long-term memory was fine). Here’s the conversation:

Mum: “I’m back!!!”

Dad: “Great. Where have you been?”

Mum: “Oh, I’ve been walking with Jesus by Galilee and He’s sent me back”

I first heard this story when I was 8 years old. And I am convinced if I hadn’t heard this, I may not have set off on the spiritual journey which (more…)

As you’ve probably noticed, this month I’m taking a break from posting new material. There will be more on my reasons and the outcomes of this next month, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

But in the meantime I simply wanted to share with you some of my most read posts from the last 18 months or so.

For each post I’ll share a link to the post along with a small excerpt to give you a taster. I hope you are really blessed by these posts, and I look forward to sharing some new material with you very soon.

Abstinence: A dirty word?

Sex. So often it’s a taboo subject for Christians. I know I’ve never really written on the subject before (more…)

Today I want to talk about God as both male and female. To begin, here’s a recent well-known quote from prominent complimentarian preacher John Piper:

“God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother. Second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male. From all of that I conclude that God has given Christianity a masculine feel.”

When we create, it is the art, the writing, the poetry, that comes from the deepest, truest part of us that tends to be the most powerful. It is difficult for any of us to create something if there is not an element of ourselves in it.

What we create in essence comes from deep within us, it is part of who we are.

Think of all the art, stories and poetry that has moved you most. It is the work that is true, authentic. Something of that person which connects with all of us.

Now we are all created in the image of God. So by definition we are all in part a reflection of who He is.

Though the rest of creation – animals and plants and everything else – may reflect something of God, fact is (more…)

Barack Obama this week spoke publicly on the subject same-sex marriage. He made clear his endorsement of same-sex marriage and championed the push to make it legal.

It’s a big issue being discussed in popular culture and the church right now.Different people both in and outside the church are taking stands on opposing sides – and there are some very cruel and unloving words being said by some, on both sides.

The thing is, all of this discussion on the rights and wrongs of same-sex marriage completely misses the point.

It’s not the right discussion to be having in the first place.

There’s a much bigger and more significant discussion we should be engaged with. One that goes to the root of the issue.

A discussion on what marriage is. (more…)

When Jesus rose from the dead, the first person to see Him was important. They would be the first person to preach the gospel, to teach people the good news that the Son of God had been raised from the dead – indeed, to tell Jesus disciples He had been resurrected. Such an amazing privilege, and a huge responsibility – whoever that person was would be remembered for the whole of history.

Now some theological standpoints would say this role – to teach the gospel, the give the message of Christ to His people, would of course have to be a man. Of course it’s a man, only a man would be trusted to teach the gospel for the first time.

It has to be, if the traditionalists and complimentarians are correct in their theological beliefs. Otherwise their views would simply fall apart wouldn’t they?  Anyway, at that point in history, in that culture, a woman’s testimony wasn’t valid in a court of law, so there’s so chance it could be a woman.

Could it?

Hold on a moment.

Let’s have a look at scripture for a second. In Luke, we see it was three people named Mary Magdalene, Joanna and another woman named Mary who were the first to see the empty tomb and tell the disciples of the resurrection. In John, Mary Magdalene is the first one to see Jesus risen and tell the disciples.

So what do these three people have in common?

That’s right. They are all women. (more…)

Today we have another guest post, on an area that’s come up a lot on the blog in recent times, the issue of gender, and particularly our perceptions of women. It’s by Jo Royal, an Assistant Pastor and blogger from Basingstoke. She has a lot to say on the issue, let us know what you think…

————————————————————-

She’s a very strong woman!’

Last week, this statement cropped up in three separate conversations regarding different women.  Strong women.  And each time, I cringed.

I used to be a ‘strong’ woman.

I lifted weights at the gym regularly, practiced Judo weekly, and had a pretty good success rate with arm wrestling.

There’s nothing wrong with being a strong woman.

But, this wasn’t what they meant, was it?

No, the focus of their strength had nothing to do with their muscles, but their character.

What is a strong character? (more…)

As a follower of Jesus, it would have been irresponsible to conclude this series on masculinity without discussing how the life of Jesus should influence our attitudes to masculinity, and indeed, femininity as well.

It’s a theme that will continue in some of my posts on a more irregular basis in future – I hope to have another guest poster posting on it soon – as it’s a subject I’m passionate about, that’s very important to our discipleship journey.

I find it very frustrating when some pastors (and I won’t name names, but most of you will know the ones I mean) come out and say Jesus had to be this this tough guy who could beat someone up.

But it’s just as frustrating when he’s portrayed as some wimpy loser, a total walkover, man in a dress. The Jesus-is-my-boyfriend, all-smiles ‘nice guy’. The picture sums this image up perfectly.

Frankly, neither version of Jesus seems manly, neither is the kind of man I want to be and neither is a Jesus I can follow.

Jesus wasn’t simply a ‘tough guy’ who would even consider beating someone up and put violence first, nor was He a total pansy, wimp and a walkover, all smiles all the time – and neither are what, in my eyes, a real man should be.

(more…)

Today, for part 2 of our masculinity series, we have a guest post. On a subject like masculinity I felt it would be interesting to get a female perspective, so today we have a post by @God_loves_women – a prominent womans advocate, tweeter and writer. She is married and lives in the UK, and prefers for safety reasons to keep her identity confidential.

—————————————-

As a woman, writing a blog on masculinity, I am not sure what qualifications I have.  I have a father, a brother, a son and I am married to a man.  So perhaps that is where I should start.

My husband had been single for over a decade when we got married and had read every relationship book going.  A favourite of his was “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” by John Gray.

I really appreciated his commitment to growing himself and his relationships but (there’s always a but isn’t there…?) I really struggled with the fact anytime he did anything that bothered me he would justify himself by saying, “It’s because I’m a man.”  (more…)

After writing a lot on relationships and the role of women in the last few months, I felt it appropriate to share a little on the issue of masculinity. So in the next few weeks we’re going to be having a series here on this issue – including a guest post next week, with the female perspective on masculinity.

When writing on masculinity there’s always a danger that you can be accused of being under-qualified. In the church even more so – as a single man in his 30’s it can be easy, both culturally and in a church context, to be seen as not a ‘real’ man because I’m not married.

This kind of sums up the point I want to discuss – that a lot of what we have been reliably informed is what makes a man a ‘real man’ is not actually Biblical, but just cultural traditions which have come through misinterpretations and misunderstandings of scripture.

This post covers both singleness and masculinity – partially because so often the subjects are linked, especially in a church context and partially because that’s largely my experience – often I’ve felt that because of my singleness, that somehow I’m not a real man, not as masculine as married men – that is partly my perception, but also partly down to the attitudes and language of some people I have met or heard speak on the subject. (more…)

There’s been a lot of debate and discussion on the role of women on the Twitter/blogosphere recently, most of it healthy. All the time as I have been reading – and there have been excellent posts in the last week by both Vicky Beeching and Anna Blanch on this subject, amongst others, and indeed I myself posted on the Biblical role of women earlier in the week.

But to me there was something missing.

I felt a man’s perspective on gender issues was just not there. You see, I think we should all absolutely be championing women in leadership, and that the Bible is pro-women, and it’s absolutely right that women find their voice. I made that clear in my post earlier this week, with some theological background.

I just know, from my own experience as a man, that one danger of going to far with feminism can be that men no longer know what it is to be a man. They grow up without a clear definition of masculinity. We are told to ‘get in touch with our feminine side’, and then criticised for not being ‘man’ enough, all the time trying to be men and be positive about masculinity, without being anti-women or sexist in any way.

I think this is a serious problem, especially in church where people have different perceptions of the role of both men and women. I’m an egalitarian, I believe the question isn’t gender when it comes to leadership and teaching, it’s about character, gifting and calling. If you have those, then your gender, although part of who you are, is not relevant.

Your gender should never preclude you from any role.  (more…)