A few years ago, a friend in the process of divorce encouraged me to write on the topic of pariahs in the church. These are the believing women around us whose life circumstances make us uncomfortable – the Ruths and Naomis in our culture. Maybe they lost a child to death or are estranged from one in rebellion. Maybe they could never get pregnant in the first place. Perhaps their husband left them for another woman, or maybe their husband died. Perhaps they never got married and are heavily involved in their career. Whatever their life story, the thing that makes them feel like a pariah to others is that they don’t want a pariah’s life circumstances as their own.Perhaps their story plays to our fears for our own, and therefore we reject or avoid them.

Read the rest of Biblical Womanhood for Pariahs by Wendy Alsup.

I’m kind of a jerk. For as long as I’ve been able to think about myself, my heart, my life, I’ve known that I’m a sinful person. I’ve never doubted the reality of my depravity. And if there ever had been any doubt, being married and having children and immersing myself in a local church has provided all the proof I, and they, need.

I’m just plain better than you. Somewhere deep inside I believe it’s true and too often I live and act like it’s true.

But lately I’ve been considering one simple and disturbing aspect of this sin: I’m better than you. At least, this is what I believe in most of life’s situations. I’m just plain better than you. Somewhere deep inside I believe it’s true and too often I live and act like it’s true.

Read the rest of I’m Better Than You by Tim Challies.

Last week I received a response to an earlier blog post titled, “Lesson’s from Sarah’s Story”. The writer asked a question regarding that well-known passage in 1 Peter 3 where Peter is highlighting Sarah’s submission, even though it was to something that would lead her to sin.  I thought it would be helpful to review once again what Peter is saying in this passage.

Here is her question:  I appreciate this perspective on Sarah and Abraham. In my years as a married woman, I have always heard Sarah extolled for her submission as well as set forth as an example of how we should submit even if our husband was in the wrong. I love how you brought all of Scripture to bear in this topic.

My question is, what submission is Sarah being praised for in I Peter 3? A counselor has told me that I Peter 3 is referring to the times Sarah went along with Abraham in saying she was his sister. The counselor asked me what other instances this could have been referring to? I don’t know how to answer that. Why is Sarah given to us as an example of submission when she submitted to Abraham’s request that could have led her to commit adultery?

Read Leslie Vernick’s great answer in Does God Want Me to Submit to Mistreatment According to I Peter 3?

Where there is talk of “biblical submission” or “Keepers at Home”, there is no way around throwing most main-stream thinkers into a hissy fit (excuse my Southern idiom), while they jump up and down to correct this antiquated notion.

And the funniest thing of all? After all the efforts to convince the masses that we are not in this box they’ve put us in, when once we attempt to live our lives to prove it, we become a “hypocrite.”  ”You say one thing and do another”…”No, actually I’ve been saying what you refuse to hear and I live out those beliefs as well.”

Read the rest of Homemakers that Live in Homes, Not Boxes by Kelly Crawford.

My parents frequently bought me plane tickets home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, hoping I would come visit. One Christmas Eve, my mother stood at the gate peering down the jet bridge in anticipation for her son arriving to spend the holiday at home. But as the last passengers exited the plane, she realized I was not on the flight. So she drove home, then returned several hours later to check the next flight—with great expectation. As the pilot and crew exited the plane after the last passengers, she knew I was not coming home for Christmas that year. It was more than obvious I was totally unreachable and completely hopeless. But through Christ, she committed not to focus on the hopelessness, but instead upon the promises of God.

Read this powerful story of persevering love: A Gay Son’s Tribute to His Mom.