Many scholars and laypeople believe Ecclesiastes is not, and cannot be, connected with any of the books of the Bible. Yet, in our hearts, we know this must not be true. When people do try to fit it into the rest of Scripture, they will typically try to connect it in one of two ways. 1.) Ecclesiastes is responding/reacting to the entrenched teaching, “If you do this, this will happen” of Proverbs.” and 2.) Ecclesiastes shows us our need for God by the Solomonic Preacher giving us a life lesson in what not to do.

When talking about manhood or womanhood from the Scriptures one should begin at the very beginning.  Last month in an article we looked briefly at motherhood/womanhood and what the scriptures say about their role as covenant ally, particularly from Proverbs 31.  In this article for the month of June, we will be investigating fatherhood/manhood and will be seeking the Word of God to glean an understanding of what God reveals to us about what it means to be a man and a father.

Dear brothers,  I write this to you who are considering if the Lord's purpose for you is to serve in the church as pastors and elders. It is a good and right thing that you desire to serve the Lord as elders, pastoring the people of God. This is a weighty thing, not lightly to be considered, and certainly not lightly to be entered into. As a result of the great responsibility and weight of this calling and work, I write to encourage you should the Lord choose to use you as elders and pastors, and I write to you to guard you against some of the temptations and traps that lay ahead of you as you pursue this noble task (1 Timothy 3:1). 

Last week we launched June’s theme of husbands and fathers by giving an overview of what the Bible has to say about fathers. This week we turn the focus of our attention from a broad overview to a specific expectation of God for husbands - that husbands would “love your wives”  (Ephesians 5:25, Colossians 3:19). In this expectation there is great blessing, command, instruction, and goals for husbands to pursue wholeheartedly.

During the month of May, we examined what God’s Word has to say about mothers. Throughout June we will be examining what God’s Word has to say about fathers. To get started with this month’s topic of fatherhood we will give a brief overview of what the Bible has to say about fathers. 

Women are often looking for specific passages in scripture that pertain exclusively to them. Many answers to these queries will reference two biblical passages: Proverbs 31, and Titus 2. We looked at Proverbs 31 earlier this month, so today we will take a look at Titus 2. Titus is a WONDERFUL book that I encourage you to read and study. There are a few verses (Titus 2:3-5) that explicitly give instructions and descriptions for women to pursue Godly living. While these few verses in Titus 2 do provide a clear picture of how women following Christ can grow in Godly living, these verses lose much of their meaning when removed from the context of the whole book. To grasp hold of the goodness, wisdom, and helpful instruction given for women in Titus 2, we need to look at the book of Titus as a whole.

One of the strangest moments summarizing the lost state of unbelievers today occurred during recent US government proceedings. During those meetings, a person of great academic education and career success was asked to define what a woman is. The answer was unhelpful and downright a rejection of objective truth. The present value placed upon ambiguity, fluidity, and ever-shifting definitions is a recipe for disaster for individuals, families, communities, and whole nations. Rejection of truth is now often the barometer for trustworthiness and enlightenment. It is as though to appear to be a person who knows something nowadays, a person must demonstrate all of the intellectual permutations of what that person has gone through, what tribes that person represents, and what assumptions that person wants to avoid by giving anything close to a definitive statement. Decisions and definitions seem to be rooted and guided more by personal experiences and preferences than by any appeal to objectively observable principles.

The Bible, specifically Proverbs 31 truly reflects the dignity that God created the woman to have when He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and formed his covenant ally from his rib.  On the sixth day, God created male and female in His image, Genesis 1:27. 

Trigger Warning This post Talks about Miscarriage 

There is something about being a mom that I never fully grasped until I was well, a mom. That was the idea of having joy and pain at the same time. I had often heard of this concept but never truly experienced it. The first time I experienced joy and pain was the moment after our first daughter was born. There was such joy in holding our slippery bundle of joy that we had prayed and waited for so long. And yet, among the joy was the physical pain from giving birth. I think this is a feeling that all mothers can understand—the feeling of joy and physical pain.

Summer is here once again, and kids are returning home from school. I have heard many times the fear in mothers voices as the wonder what they will do with their children all summer. This summer, I challenge you to Enjoy and Thrive with your children home.

When you sit down to read a passage in scripture, it’s good to have some questions floating in your mind. You can systematically work through these, or develop your own list of questions as you study God’s Word. Here is an example of an Interpretive discussion list for you to consider as you seek to grow in your relationship with God and his Word.

An AMAZING wholesome book for the entire family! Check out our review of this new family read-aloud.

God doesn't need to conform to our feelings, or our biological ability to mutilate our bodies. God has made and declared what is good. It is good for men to be manly, and good for women to be womanly. Each culture WILL look slightly different, but that doesn't change the created order of God, and sometimes even cultures (like Western hyper-sexuality culture) as a whole can reject these created distinctive - the fact that Androgynous is a description of a blurred attractiveness of a person, neither fully male or female is evidence of this present sad state. 

Waiting is an immense time of trial, whether waiting for something exciting or something that could be sad. Waiting on a diagnosis, waiting to hear if your child is healthy, waiting to find out if you need to move for a job, waiting to hear from the doctor, waiting and waiting. Waiting in itself can be a hardship, not to mention what the results of that waiting might be. Some things suggested to do while waiting are to keep busy, and not think about the topic. Some find that distraction through watching a show, talking to a friend, or reading a book can ease the suffering of the wait. None of these things are bad but as Christians, we should approach waiting differently than the world. Distraction is not our only weapon, nor is suffering in the midst of waiting for something beyond God’s use for growing or blessing us. Throughout scripture we find people waiting, and we are told to be still and wait patiently for the Lord.

The biggest thing I've learned since being married is that it's not about me. Being a mom is not about me. I quickly learned how selfish of a person I was for wanting my own time. I couldn't believe how much taking care of a family and a new baby took so much of my time.What people don't realize is that marriage, motherhood, and parenthood is one that requires us to be selfless. No, no one is calling us mothers to be martyrs but I truly believe that if people have the desire to be mothers or even parents, we're CALLED.

Among the many practices of the Christian life (such as gathering for worship, meditating on God’s Word, serving the needy, forgiving, and seeking forgiveness) There are two very basic practices in the Christian life; receiving God’s Word, and then speaking with God. Receiving God’s Word of course comes through reading, or hearing the scriptures. And speaking with God occurs in prayer. As soon as the topic of prayer comes up, questions are not far behind. Questions like “If God already knows, why pray?” or “What are the outcomes of prayer?”. It is appropriate to ask questions about prayer as we learn from Jesus' example in answering the first disciples about how to pray (Matthew 6:5-13). In today’s piece, we examine how prayer is linked to the work of Christ, and the role of the prophet. 

This week is Holy Week and we wanted to share with you some of the sermons and posts we have done in the past for this time. As Christians, we celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection every Sunday, but also know that many like the reminders and celebration of Holy Week. We hope that each of you will take time this week to read your scriptures. pray and be in worship with others. Happy Holy Week.

From the writer of Galatian's understanding (Paul the Apostle) Jesus Christ is not only a man, but is someone and something more than just a man. It doesn't take long, just a few verses in Galatians to see how Paul understood and believed that Christ Jesus was divinely God. In Galatians 1:1, at the very beginning of the letter Paul writes "Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father".

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.1 Peter 4:7-11 NIV

At one point the question was very directly, boldly, and pointedly asked by the father of the home who was not a believer: “So why Christianity? Why not some other belief? Why not Buddhism, or Islam? Why did you decide ‘this must be true for me’?”