COVENANTS: food for thought

  

     PEOPLE FALSELY BELIEVE MARRIAGE IS AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN GOD, THE MAN, AND THE WOMAN (what God has joined together let no man put asunder). PEOPLE BELIEVE IF THEY GET MARRIED, GOD JOINED THEM TOGETHER. Where did this false belief come from? How did/do God join a man and a woman in marriage? The joining of a man and a woman in marriage is actually a COVENANT AGREEMENT between the man and woman. BUT most modern marriages do not have a COVENANT binding agreement. So, by biblical standards, is a non-covenant marriage even legal in the eyes of God? ARE YOU BIBLICALLY MARRIED TO YOUR SPOUSE? Brace yourself for this one.

     I have always tossed around how I felt about people saying marriage is between man and God. As we know all people who get married are not Christians, so how could marriage be between God and man? Marriage is an agreement between a man and woman and sanctioned by God because he commanded it in the Bible many people will state. In the book of Genesis, 2:24 the man is instructed to leave his father and mother and be united (cleave) to his wife and they will become one flesh (the fact Adam had no parents to leave from is a discussion for another day). How they were to unite was not given in detail.  I just could not believe all marriages are ordained by God, so I did some Bible research on marriage. 

    If we are to believe a marriage includes God in the agreement or sanction of a marriage, we must look at how God made agreements with man in the Old Testament. God made agreements with man through covenants. Looking at the word covenant it is defined as a formal binding agreement - a contract. The term "covenant" is of Latin origin (con venire), meaning a coming together. It presupposes two or more parties who come together to make a contract, agreeing on promises, stipulations, privileges, and responsibilities. The biblical words most often translated "covenant" are berit [tyir.B] in the Old Testament (appearing about 280 times) and diatheke [diaqhvkh] in the New Testament (at least 33 times). The preferred meaning of this Old Testament word is bond; a covenant refers to two or more parties bound together. 

    God made a covenant with Noah after the flood instructing him to build an altar, to take some of the clean animals and birds to be sacrificed as a burnt offering and with this sacrifice God promised that never again would he curse the ground. Covenant part 1: "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Covenant part 2: "Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth... this is a sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth (Gen. 9:1-16).  In this covenant agreement a sacrifice was offered, blood ran from the sacrificial offering. 

    Abraham and God made a covenant that required a shedding of blood as in the Covenant of Circumcision. Circumcision was required of all of the Jews: "As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram: your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations." God requested that every male among him be circumcised as a sign of the covenant between them. (Gen. 17:1-14). This spilling of blood led also to a name change. 

    There is a pattern of spilling of blood in a true covenant agreement. Fast forward to the last ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. "The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus and then those of the other, but when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spere, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." (John 20:33-35). We know Jesus had already spilled blood as he was whipped before he was on the cross, but in this covenant agreement; allowing man to come directly to God in prayer and worship, blood had to be spilled and Jesus truly became the Saviour of man.

     So, there are several instances of blood being used as the binding part of a covenant agreement. Now to marriage. Blood is spilled in the marriage agreement. The woman is supposed to remain a virgin until her wedding night. The marriage was only valid if there was proof of the spilling of blood. "If a man takes a wife and after lying with her dislikes her and slanders her and gives her a bad name saying, "I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity," then the girl's father and mother shall bring proof that she as a virgin to the town elders at the gate...her parents shall display the cloth before the elders."(Deut. 22:13-29) 

    The cloth being referred to is the cloth placed underneath the couple on their wedding night which was the custom. The cloth should contain the stains of blood from the breaking of the hymen (a membrane which partially closes the opening of the vagina and whose presence is traditionally taken to be a mark of virginity) which each virgin should have intact on their wedding night. If the woman was not a virgin she was to be stoned. Virginity was so important as the covenant tie between the man and woman until there were even more rules. "If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives." 

    As in the covenant with Abraham there was a name change, the woman's name changes also with the spilling of blood in marriage because they are now one flesh so you can't have the two last names. This may be the reason the man traditionally proposes to the woman, because man was instructed God to unite with a wife so, she joins with him taking his last name. He does not unite with her taking her last name.

    In all of these instances of marriage, we do not hear God making a statement of his part of a covenant agreement as with all of the other covenant agreements he made with others. It is the two marrying parties who make agreements to one another to leave their families and to become one until death. The agreement is done over a sacrifice of blood between the two of them. If a woman is not a virgin upon marriage, there cannot be a covenant agreement between the man and woman. 

    So, to my own satisfaction, through my own biblical study, I have come to the conclusion, under threat of being a heretic, that marriage is a covenant agreement between a man and a woman and not between the couple and God. 

    Now, for the shocker. Many women who have married were not able to enter into a covenant marriage because there was not a blood sacrifice to make the agreement binding. In fact, I go as far to say that the legal husband, according to the teaching of the Bible, is the first person that a woman had sex with. SHOCKING!!!!!! THE VIRGIN A MAN FIRST HAD SEX WITH IS ACTUALLY HIS WIFE BY COVENANT AGREEMENT by Old Testament standards.    Isn't this a scary conclusion? No, I do not go around teaching and telling people this. It is just my own meditation and Bible study. But, as a mother of daughters, I shared this with my girls to show them the beauty and importance God put on marriage. All of his covenants, which he filled and continue to fulfill were sealed through blood. This first-time sexual experience, at one time in human history, was valuable. Today, it is of no significance or even thought about. Who values the first person they have sex with anymore? VIRGINITY HAS COME TO BE AS LESS BINDING AS A HANDSHAKE, YOUR WORD, OR A LEGAL CONTRACT. 

    I wish I had had an opportunity to value my virginity. I was told not to be promiscuous and only bad girls had sex, but I was not told how valuable and honorable my virginity was. I never was told that my virginity was my word, my bond, that I choose "you" by the presence of the spilling of my blood as the one I want to be with until death. If I had, I do not believe it would have been some sex starved boy who was thankful for sex, not necessarily for me for the rest of his life. 

    Couples stand before a minister and a church filled with family and well-wishers promising love forever. We give a ring as a symbol of our never-ending love in the place of blood. How serious would we take marriage if the couple said I give my blood word to you and you accept my blood sacrifice and will spend your life meeting that blood sacrifice I offer you. THAT'S SERIOUS. I don't know if this would affect the divorce rate any or the problem with teen sex, but I believe it would boost the girl's self-esteem and help the hormonal boy to learn this (sex) is nothing to play with. Maybe this is all wishful thinking, covenants and all. But I do not think it would hurt if the church changed its approach in its view of sex from "its bad" to it is a glorious gift, empowering women to love their blood sacrifice to a deserving man.

DON'T FORGET: purchase "When Will Eve Be Forgiven?" available on amazon.com and 

CLICK the right side of page to follow my future posts.

Black and White: Kids on Race

 

    "Mommy, I want my hair to be like my friend's hair." "You do? How is your friend's hair honey?" It's long and blows in the wind." "Is your friend a little white girl or a little black girl?" "She's white and she is so pretty. Her hair is soft and long and blows in the wind. I want hair like hers." 

    At the beginning of this conversation, I knew in what direction it was going to go. I wasn't prepared, but I was prepared. I had been there myself long ago. It is what happens to little preschool black girls all across America. Many people will not admit it and a lot of little girls know through covert signals they better not even ask their parents the question "WHY AM I BLACK AND MY FRIEND IS WHITE WITH LONG HAIR?" 

    Tonight, I watched Anderson Cooper as he so valiantly tried to tackle the race issue head on. He asked several young black and white children a group of questions using cartoon like figures of little girls ranging in color from white to dark brown. The kids were asked which kid was bad, ugly, dumb and who do adults think are bad, ugly etc. Overwhelmingly the darkest brown child cartoon drawing was considered ugly, bad, and dumb by both groups of children. 

    To say my heart sank is an understatement. One of my daughters was watching the show with me and we remembered her phase of wanting to have "good hair" when she was in preschool. I remember having the straight hair talk on three separate occasions because I had three daughters. I looked into disappointed eyes and began to explain why people had different types of hair. I reenacted what I believed it would be like for my African ancestors to have lived in the hot African climate, baking in the high noon sun and how wise God was to give them hair and skin for their particular need in their particular part of the world. I told them how amazing it is that we are encoded with that great gene that causes our hair to curl no matter where we choose to live. I drew pictures on the chalk board of the different shapes hair follicles have and which one was for black people. I explained to be my children they had this genetic gift passed down to them and they would pass it on to their children. I pointed out different races and made a game of finding the differences that made them belong to a particular group. Then we pointed out all of the similar characteristics we all shared. 

    Each one of my children remembers this point in their life, because it was fun. I did not try to tell them their hair was better or worse, because it wasn't. And not one of my girls was swayed, at that time, into not wanting flowing hair, but they knew the "why" and it opened up a window for a dialogue that would continue throughout their childhood. They understood some things make us different but more makes us the same. I told them it was fine to like the flowing hair and it was fine to like their kinky hair done up with rubber bands and bows. But when it came down to it, whatever hair they had; it was attached to the head of a person I knew was perfect in every way. I told them as they grow older, they will want other things changed about themselves. It was a normal part of life for many children. Black, white, red, or yellow you are you and I think that is pretty darn good.    We always talked about why and who may like or not like their features and the features of other ethnic groups. I let them know that their definition of what "pretty" is; is all that matters. I could not tell them what "pretty" is because it is different for each individual and subjective. But I made sure they were exposed to beautiful black, red, white and yellow people. Seeing and knowing that there is not one true standard of beauty helped them to find their own beauty. 

    My 5-year-old niece said, "I want hair like my friend Bobby." Why? "She is white, and her hair is long and blows in the wind." I saw a tear form in my middle daughter's eye who thought her little cousin was the most perfect, beautiful smooth dark brown skinned black girl on earth. I nodded a knowing head signaling to my daughter: "I got this," and the talk and demonstration was had again. 

    At first, I thought it was very sad; my black child wanting white people's hair, but I had the opportunity to talk and teach my daughters to give them a firm grounding on what beautiful can look like inside and out. I look at them now, and we laugh. They can't imagine feeling that way once upon a time in their life. I question how does a child raised in a black household suddenly want to have white features? Is it the media's fault? Or is it society's fault? I don't know the answer. All I know is that it happens. So it happens, but it doesn't have to remain. I challenge all of you out there to help all of our young ladies, at an early age, to appreciate beauty in every ethnic group. Make it a point to show your daughters how lovely people are across the races.

Education has its price

 

    This is the last night before I face having an empty nest. My husband and I knew this day would come, but it seems to have come too soon. The last couple of months we have been reminiscing about when our kids were small. Once, while visiting a Baptist church with my three-year-old child, the minister hit the point of his sermon in which the climax was to begin. Organs started as he began to wipe the sweat from his brow and his voice became loud. With a shout he began launching into the "Amen-hallelujah" part of his sermon, when my daughter sat straight up in her father's lap and shouted: "THAT'S THE MAN WHO KILLED JESUS!!!" To say the least, we had to get her out of there because she was yelling for everyone to hear that she found the man who killed Jesus. We reassured her in the parking lot that the preacher had not killed Jesus to her satisfaction. Why she believed that we do not know except for the fact that that was her first time at a Baptist church, and she was not use to the dramatic flair of a Baptist preacher.    The other day while attending a funeral, the young well groomed preacher took the pulpit and asked the congregation to bow their heads as he prayed. I bowed my head and as I have done for the past five years, began to pray my own silent prayer: "Dear Lord allow my ears and heart to receive a word from you today. May I not critque the minister's words but be open to learning something new. Let not me be one of those who count themselves too righteous, but allow me to submit with a humble heart to the words of your servant and my fellow laborer. Amen." With an open heart and mind I began to listen attentively to the young preacher. Without fail I began to run his sermon through my mind: how I would have begun, how I would have approached the theme, which Scriptures I would have used, what background information he should have left out, and of course to know, unlike him, when enough was enough.

     I exited the church feeling a little crummy. Why did I continue to do that? Why can't I just sit in the pew and enjoy whatever the minister is delivering? It is as if I cannot control myself no matter how I try. I discussed it with my family and answered my own questions finally. When a doctor watches a medical program on t.v. he knows when the writers get things wrong. This is the reason so many doctors refuse to watch medical shows, because they go on and on about this or that not being right. When a musician listens to another musician, they recognize every missed note by a performer where the not so musically inclined has the freedom to just listen to the music being played and enjoy. I have gone to college many years to study God and the Bible and invested countless hours in study, so there should be no surprise that my mind kicks into overdrive when I listen to a sermon. My education in the field of religion has made it impossible for me not to notice a mistake. I am thankful to God it has nothing to do with my character. 

    I honor any minister that enters the pulpit. He is standing there saying I am responsible for the care of souls. What I tell you and what I do not tell you will be counted for or against me by God. That is a major undertaking and I have to acknowledge it and I owe the minister my attention. I do not believe there are too many ministers who completely stand in the pulpit with the intention of misleading others. Each minister and denomination believe that their beliefs are correct, and others have it wrong. With all this said, I have heard the most ridiculous ramblings in the pulpit. Education has its price. Once you know better you are expected to do better. 

    Religion has been opposed to the education of its ministers due to the fact that they are afraid that the guidance of the Holy Spirit will become irrelevant. But we see in the book of John Jesus promising the Holy Spirit: "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you (John 14:26). This Counselor, Jesus said would be with us forever as the Spirit of truth (v.15). To be put in remembrance of what Jesus said, you first have to KNOW what Jesus said and this can only be accomplished through diligent study of his word. This of course can be accomplished in or out of school. But if you are serious about knowing God and his will, school will not be abhorrent to a minister. 

    So back to my three-year-old and her exclamation of "THAT'S THE MAN THAT KILLED JESUS." There are many ministers unknowingly killing the word of Jesus. Some sermons are based on style and flare, others on control and ego trips. But, for those few who refuse to study and grow in their knowledge of Jesus, they may or may not be committing murder, but they are guilty of malpractice. For such a serious job of caring for souls, we require no proof of competency. Doctors and lawyers have to pass tests to prove they are knowledgeable and competent. Ministers do not. No man can approve another man's calling as a servant of God. But the servant should take it upon himself to make every effort and use every available tool to ensure that he/she is teaching sound doctrine.

Sex with eyes wide open

 From my book "When Will Eve BE Forgiven?" 

    In studying the fall of man, I have asked myself many questions. One question in particular was WHAT DID GOD MEAN THEIR EYES WOULD BE OPENED IF THEY ATE FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL? In most cases we just focus on the fact that Adam and Eve were disobedient. They did what they were commanded not to do. Then immediately we turn to their punishment. But hold on. They ate of the tree; so, what enlightenment did they now possess? Let's start with the punishment. He started at the guiltiest and continued to the least guilty: serpent-Eve-Adam. Let us start with Eve.

    God goes on to explain at this point and time, the woman’s desires will be for her husband, and he will rule over her. In Genesis 1:26, God had given man rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground. Eve had not yet been created and it was not until after they ate of the fruit of the tree (Genesis 3) that Adam’s and Eve’s relationship changed. The woman and man lost equality in the garden.    When Adam was put in charge in Genesis 1:26 the words "rule" and "dominion" were used. In the account of the fall, the woman’s desire changed, and Adam would have rule over her. The word “desire” is used three times in the Bible. It is a Hebrew word t’shuwqah (tesh-oo-kaw) meaning in the original sense of stretching out after; a longing: desire. This is the appropriate time to point out that there had been no sex in the Garden of Eden up until this time. We hear about sex in Genesis 4. Genesis 4:1 begins with: “Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.” In verse 15, we see that Cain lies with his wife and the Bible continues on with generation after generation.

     My children enjoy me comparing the animal kingdom in this respect to the human species. Indulge me for a moment without labeling me as a heretic. In the animal kingdom it is the male who must put on a show to get the female’s attention in the mating ritual. The beautiful male peacock has vibrant colors to attract and lure the female peacock. He struts around proudly displaying his beauty and arrogance. In the animal kingdom, the male must put forth the effort of courtship demonstrating his acceptability with his intended mate. Now look at the human race. It is the female who does the dance in regard to the mating ritual with the male in the human species. She uses her body, clothing, makeup, and now cosmetic surgery to lure and entice her intended mate. This switch in the rules of attraction is a great example, possibly, of how Eve’s desires are now for the husband. 

    In the Baker Theological Dictionary, the word “desire” covers a wide range of human wants, emotions, and cravings: “It can describe natural desires, which include hunger for food, sexual longings, and desire for God. It can also describe unnatural desires or cravings, which include such things as greed and lust. Most of the time they are ascribed to man, and these desires come under the scrutiny of God… One final word of importance is the root shwq and its derivative tesuqa. It is translated as “desire” or “longing.” This term is found only three times in the Old Testament: Genesis 3:16, 4:7, and Song of Solomon 7:10. 

    In Genesis 3:16 the term is negative in nature, occurring in a context of sin and judgment.” So, there is no sexual activity going on at first in the creation account until chapter 4. We know that the enlightenment that the tree would give could not be that they would be able to understand things better because God gave Adam a command and he was able to understand it in Gen. 2:16-17. Adam could already think and speak as evidenced by him naming all of the animals in Gen. 2:20. And the Bible tells us specifically that Adam and Eve lived together naked and without shame in Gen. 2:25. So what good and evil would Adam and Eve become aware of from eating from the tree? 

    Chapter 3 answers this question. Gen. 3:7 states after they both ate of the tree, they noticed they were naked. Later they would hide from God out of fear, because they were naked Gen. 3:10. Finally God asked them who told you you were naked and then God himself made them coats of skin and clothed them Gen. 3:20. It was after this their individual punishment was given and we hear about sex in the following chapter.    My conclusion is simple. The knowledge that was obtained from eating of the forbidden tree was the knowledge of sex. While discussing this newfound revelation of mine with my daughters; I wondered out loud why would God not want us to have knowledge of sex? In Genesis 1:28 God told them to be fruitful and multiply. The command not to eat from the tree came after he told them to be fruitful and multiply. Genesis 2:8 singles out the Garden of Eden and this is where the two trees were located: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Are we to assume there is a distinction between procreation and having sex when one desires? 

    Back to the animal kingdom. Animals do not have sex on demand or by choice. A female comes into heat at the appropriate time, then she is fertile and then she can conceive. Humans on the other hand can choose when to have sex and the woman does not have to be fertile. So, is this the eye-opening thing that was learned from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Later God would expel and seal off the Garden of Eden to keep the humans from eating from the tree of life "And the Lord God said, behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil, and now lest he put forth his hand, and take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" (Gen. 3:22).

     Adam and Eve had the power to create life at their will, unlike all of the other plant and animal life. They could decide when to create life or not to create life, a power that only God had. Of course, the miracle of conception and birth still demonstrates the power and majesty of God, but the humans could now decide to create life when they wanted to as well. Of course, this may not be the true outcome of eating from the forbidden tree. But I do know it has something to do with sex. For centuries the church has counted sex as something dark and sinful and I know from reading Scripture that God did not say the sexual act was bad. Out of the context of marriage it was a sin. And we see that God intended for humans to procreate which needed sex to occur. So, the knowledge of sex in itself was not the evil of the world.    We may never know what Adam and Eve came to know. But the serpent already existed so there was already evil on earth; thus they did not unleash evil with their disobedience.

Universities are the Enemy (J.D. Vance)

WHY IS COLLEGE EDUCATED J D VANCE AGAINST UNIVERSITIES? I'll tell you why.

If you have listened to J.D. Vance, then you are aware the Yale Law School graduate has used sharp criticism of elite higher education to help establish his MAGA bona fides and build a national brand. The author of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, published in 2016, Vance has written and talked about how education is key to opportunity and how higher education helped to lift him out of poverty. Vance, a former Marine, graduated from Ohio State University and Yale University School of Law. But, when it comes to others, university professors are “the enemy,” and he proposed legislation to restrict the consideration of race in admissions decisions. He does not believe YOU need higher education. NO LIFT FOR YOU.

he is not alone. The Right, or Republicans have a long history of disparaging higher education even though many of them holding offices are highly educated. During Vance's 2022 Senate campaign, his first run for office, Vance changed his tune on higher education, saying that universities are dedicated to “deceit and lies, not to the truth.” Why did he go to a university for so MANY years if he only learned lies? Maybe his HIGHER education has made him the ONE to tell you not to BE or BECOME educated. Even though he IS educated, this educational downfall, pitfall has not prevented him from becoming a Republican vice president nominee in 2024. 

I first wrote this post after listening to AFR (American Family Radio), where I heard for the hundredth time a standard Christian view which irritates me to no end. The statement: COLLEGE BRAINWASHES OUR KIDS.

In 2022, the reason this statement came up was due to a poll that was taken showing that people with college education tend to view President Obama more favorably and people with a high school or lower education tended to not favor President Obama. The radio hosts stated this was not because those with a higher education were smarter than the other group, but that they had gone to college (any and all colleges) where the professors have secular/liberal beliefs. These professors then in turn have 4-6 years to indoctrinate the kids to think liberally like them. In essence, most people with higher education are brainwashed by secular society. I FOUND THIS CHAIN OF THOUGHT TO BE RIDICULOUS AND INANE. If I am not mistaken, most parents have 18 years to rear their child before they send them off to begin their life. How can 18 years of CONSERVATIVE guidance be tossed to the wind so easily? How does a child, who clearly understands their family's values decide to throw them all away because a stranger has presented opposing (according to Christians) mores and concepts? A large number of Christians have been told over and over that colleges are liberal, and their teachings were in-line with 'woke' doctrine. Send off your child to become a doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, or engineer, and the university's MAIN focus is to indoctrinate your child with 'liberal' ideals. And fearful CHRISTIANS believe it. Even if they have been to college themselves and were not indoctrinated. The Right have become the anti-education at any level party, as evidenced by Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis, who put restriction on history being taught in schools which opened the door for new Florida standards teaching students that some Black people benefited from slavery because it taught useful skills, approved by the State Board of Education in July 2023. WHAT KIND OF EDUCATION DO REPUBLICANS PREFER? 

Must ALL universities be done away with because Republicans are fearful of the education their soon to be adult children may have an opportunity to learn? And really, are Christian parents actually suggesting that their kids are susceptible to every new person they encounter? If their children are so easily swayed, then why do they let them go to universities or out into the world at all? They may be persuaded to do or be anything. It is almost as if Christian parents believe Christian children have a brain of mush and whatever they come into contact with they will believe it without questioning it or thinking about whether it is true or not. CAN CONSERVATIVE CHILDREN THINK FOR THEMSELVES OR NOT? CAN THEY CHOOSE RIGHT FROM WRONG WITHOUT PARENTS LIMITING THEM? It seems by the complaining that colleges brainwash Christian children, they can't think for themselves. OR CAN THEY????

STORY TIME. My oldest daughter who is 26 and a professional has met and made friends with dozens of people of different ethnicities. One of her male friends, who declares he is a Christian, came to her one day and said: "Yesterday when we were in a group, I was going to make a remark about _________ (who was of Hindu descent), but I realized if I said something racist about her it would have more than likely offended you or at least made you think I would talk about you in the same way; so I did not say it" With that he walked away. 

My daughter said something interesting. Her friend came from a rather elitist background. A family of well-educated parents, grandparents and siblings. He went to the private academies and private colleges. His fishbowl was made up of like people. It was while pursuing his career goals he had been exposed to other ethnicities on a consistent basis and thus befriending my daughter. This is the profound revelation my daughter came away with: as you branch out into life around people unlike you, you find that they are just like you and once you make friends with one person that is different than yourself, it begins to change your actions which in turn influences how you treat all people-across the board- that are different from yourself. Your fishbowl gradually turns into a pond, lake, and finally an ocean.So, maybe when Christian parents control the environment in which their kids are reared, limiting exposures to the bare minimum for recognition's sake; they are presenting the ONLY thing the child can believe or adhere to. Once the Christian or Republican child has freedom of choice and exposure, then they recognize what they were once told was not acceptable, has more commonality than they were led to believe. People did not attack, kill, maim, or hate them (remember most Christians say they are persecuted in the world and when this does not actually happen the child may start to believe their parents were not being completely truthful with them which causes bitterness on the kids' part). 

Is The Republican, Christian, Conservative effort to LIMIT education an effort to not embrace those as they see and speak of as OTHER which usually are people of color? Is J.D.Vances' stance against universities and higher education just a PUSH to ensure a possibility of returning to an America of the past which he and MAGA believe was GREAT? Is the only way to maintain conservative beliefs is to erase any offering of something different? Are parents wanting FORCED Christianity, Nationalism, and Conservatism? YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR.

A person's religion has to be their own. I cannot make or insist that my children be a Christian. They can go through the motions to satisfy me, but what good does that do me. It may make me look or feel better, look better to my friends and the church but it has not accomplished anything for God. I never cracked the whip on my kids when it came to religion. I told them about God, talked about Christianity daily; but I always let them know they had free will to choose to be a Christian or not and the consequences of both. We discussed the biblical and secular Creation debate and that they were the one to decide which one they believed. I did not create an alternate reality for them because I wanted them to always be prepared and able to live in the world, like all of us have to do eventually. I raised my kids with the full knowledge that God created them to have free will. As long as they were alive, they could choose evil or good and that their life choices were between them and God. I could not be the overseer or salvation of their souls. 

College is not for brainwashing. There is no torture room where they are stripping your child of all they once knew replacing it with Satan's message. If it were so, no one would send their kids to college. STOP BLAMING COLLEGE if your children stop believing the boogie man stories once they find there is no boogie man. Higher education doesn't remove the fear, it is actually SEEING there are not monsters like mommy and daddy said. At least, not like they had them believe. 

Face the real issue. It is the only way to continue a political party not offering a VISION for ALL the citizens of the country. Nothing more. Nothing less. A political party which insists on IGNORANCE or lack of education to flourish. A party making knowledge and understanding a TERRIBLE thing. You cannot own or control an EDUCATED person. It would be fine if Republicans didn't want their children educated, but it's EVERYONE'S child they want to be ignorant.

You have always heard you cannot change people; only the way you react to them. Women have been forever warned don't get married and think you can change him. Change doesn't come easy as evidenced by the turmoil our country is going through. People change because they want to change. 

It is like people believing the only way we could ever have a black president is because we are living in the end times or because he is the antichrist, or at least his hand maiden. This was said over and over during Obama's presidency. Those who want to believe such nonsense, believe it. Those who do not believe it has to be the end of the world for a black president to be elected don't. I have heard the one about college (indoctrination) and the president (not American) enough to be brainwashed, but I am not. Brainwashing is not as easy as Republicans would have you believe. But their repetitive insistence that universities are the enemy, has brainwashed the Right and Christians. Repetition is a brainwashing technique no matter how absurd. 

This is the end of my rant. I know rants usually tick someone off in one way or another. But I wrote these things because I was ticked off. Misery loves company. In the end if you believe colleges are brainwashing Christian children then prepare them for it. Tell them to research what they are told or learn only accepting facts. But it's not about FACTS, is it? Don't send them out to be sheep for the wolves. Talk with them about this concern. Talk to them about the entire college experience before they go and while they are in college. Believe it or not, there is more than you who can teach your child something for their betterment. P.S. I have been to college and never stopped believing in God and the Creation account in Genesis in the Christian Bible or any other part of the Bible. Science is not an enemy of Christianity, nor Philosophy. Not being grounded in God with a personal relationship with Him is the enemy. Political agendas cloaked in Christianity is the enemy. Not seeing other Americans as equals is the enemy.

Amazon Women Warriors and their contribution to Christianity

     Excerpt from my book When Will Eve Be Forgiven?" 

    During the time of Paul's ministry there was a strong dominant female influence in the nation. Women were not seen as weak, but as embodying what gave life and salvation. This influenced how Paul would evangelize the people of Ephesus. Why would Paul write to Timothy who was in Ephesus at the time: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But woman will be saved through childbearing---if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with prosperity.”

     I want to examine this passage paying close attention to what was occurring in Ephesus at the time Paul wrote to Timothy: goddess worship. It seems Paul wanted the masses to understand how a man and especially a woman could find salvation. In the Young’s Liberal Translation, New Century Version, New International Version, 21st Century King James Version, English Standard Version, and the Amplified Bible, the word “saved” is used in verse 15 of each Bible for this passage. The Darby Translation of the Bible uses the word “preserved” in the place of the word “saved.” The Message Bible elaborates more on the word “saved” in verse 15 with this sentence, “But this salvation only comes to those who continue …” What was happening during this time of Paul’s missionary journey making it important for him to emphasize the role of women in the church and daily living?

    Ephesus had a long history of goddess worship when Christianity arrived in about A.D. 51. For 1000 years, goddess worship dominated the region with many cults loyal to female ‘gods’. Ephesus began as a tree shrine by traveling Amazons, the beginning of goddess worship.    Amazons, a tribe of female warriors, are credited with founding Ephesus. These warrior women first lived in Caucasus and Asia Minor and were the founders of the city Themiscyra. They were governed by a Queen. Men were permitted in their presence only once a year to perpetuate their race. All newborn sons were killed. It is reported that their right breast was burned off so they could better handle their bows and arrows. Trees in general, as well as the world of trees, belonged to Artemis with the latter being the source of unborn souls. It was believed the fruit of the Tree of Life (like the second tree in the Garden of Eden) could give, depending on how it was obtained and when it was eaten, eternal life, great wisdom, or help during labor. Artemis was worshipped as a tree goddess. 

    Eternal life in early civilization, did not mean immortality (as the tree in the Garden of Eden), but rebirth, the continuing survival of the soul. Diana means Artemis in Greek and she was the illegitimate daughter of Leto and Zeus, a twin sister of Apollo. The Greek goddess Diana is depicted as a huntress with a bow and arrow usually in her hand. Even though there is some blending of the two goddesses, Artemis of Ephesus had a different depiction and attributes that the people of Ephesus worshipped her for. The Amazons adored Artemis as a protector and leader. Artemis’ tree priestesses at Ephesus served under her title of Opis, meaning silent or awful. Virginity was strongly emphasized in the temple of Artemis. The only people allowed to enter the temple were men and women that were virgins. Married or sexually active women were excluded and could face death if they were not virgins. Artemis, especially when associated with Ephesus, is also defined as the destroyer, death bringer, and the guide between worlds and lives.    Her temple was more than just a religious shrine. It was the source of immense civic pride, an assurance of protection, a secure bank, a treasure trove of priceless artwork, and the center of the city’s thriving economy. The temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the World alongside the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassusos, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. At the temple, the goddess was commonly known as Cybele, Mother of all Creatures, Lady of the Beasts, Artemis of the First Throne, Queen of the Cosmos, Lord, Saviour, heavenly Goddess, and Greatest and Holiest. Her pine cone tipped wand represented her motherhood. Just as she brought all life into the world, she took it back into herself in death. A firm belief developed that Artemis and Cybele were the same goddess. The people just had different understandings of her. 

    Artemis was worshipped throughout the area. She had centers in Italy that were considered holy groves. A festival at her main Roman temple in Aventin, was held on August 13. On the Island of Kythera, Artemis of Ephesus was worshipped. Her connection to sex and reproduction was directly acknowledged. Celtic hunters paid a fine for each animal taken into a communal fund and used to purchase a sacrifice to Artemis each year. There is no record of Christianity in Ephesus before the arrival of Paul and his companions in about AD 51. Late in his life, Paul had made several curious references to myths and women in his letter to Timothy in Ephesus as in: 1Timothy 1:3, 4:7 and 2:13-14.

     Jewish stories of Adam and Eve had apparently merged with the mother-goddess myths so that Eve had become a mother-goddess. For that cult, all life issued from the mother-goddess, so they would naturally claim that Eve preceded Adam. Furthermore, wisdom came from the mother-goddess, so the revisionist version of creation would need to have Adam deceived by the serpent. This can be the reasoning behind Paul’s inclusion of how the woman was deceived by the serpent and the position of man as being before the woman and a position of strength and authority. Paul wanted to clear up any false teachings regarding the Christian creation account. The disturbance over Diana (Artemis) is one of the most prominent stories in the book of Acts (Acts 19:23-41). There were 33 temples in the Greco-Roman world where Diana was worshipped. For over 1000 years, Diana with her temple provided a focal point for rich religious, economic, and cultural life of her worshippers. The temple was the center of drama and worship. Craftsmen and silversmiths at Ephesus made their living crafting idols and statuettes to be sold to pilgrims and tourists coming to worship Diana. 

    Demitrius, a leading silversmith preached, “the sanctuary of the great goddess Diana will cease to command respect; and then it will not be very long before she who is worshipped by all of Asia and the civilized world is brought down from her divine pre-eminence.” She represented not only fertility, but resurrection in the shape of new birth, the eternal return of life to earth and, can be found in a number of early carvings such as the “Tree of Life.” Paul would have had to combat this idea of divinity in giving birth by the women in Ephesus and to make sure that childbirth was seen as a part of the Christian’s worship to God. Not only was Artemis the guardian deity of Ephesus, but she also figured as savior goddess in inscriptions. Inscriptions with “Artemis Savior” appears twice in Attica, once in Peloponnesos, three times in central Greece, once in Northern Greece, seven times at the Aegean Islands, including Crete, three times in Asia Minor, and three times in the broad area of Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica. 

    Her cult idol (depiction) can be described as a person holding a staff with an elongated body with legs bond together in a mummy like fashion. The upper half of the front torso covered with protuberances resembling human breasts. There is some debate as to whether the protuberances are actually breasts, eggs, or the testicles of the bulls sacrificed to the goddess. The testicles affixed to the goddess, according to modern scholars, as a way of renewing her strength so that she might better assist her worshippers. This may be one of the reasons she is referred to as “many breasted Artemis.” On her neck she wears a necklace of acorns. The oak tree was sacred to her and on her breastplate appears the signs of the zodiac. Because she was closely associated with death and the underworld, she became associated also with magic and astrology, thus the zodiac on her breastplate. A high crown tops her head with the turrets of the city of Ephesus. The lunar crescent became a symbol of virginity and adorns the brow of the Greek Artemis and Roman Diana because the ancient month was determined by the interval between one new moon and the next. This same interval also marks a certain recurring event in a woman, menses. Her skirt is decorated with rows of animals, an indication of fertility. On the sides are bees adorned with crowns and wings symbolizing the actual insects and priestesses. The use of bees is due to the fact that Artemis herself was known as the “Queen Bee” and her castrated priests were called “drones.” 

    The first idol of Artemis was carved out of wood and set in an oak tree at Ephesus by the Amazons. There are three marble copies of the cult statue that once stood in the temple on display in the Ephesus Museum. One of the statues is called Beautiful Artemis and it is from the first century AD. A second statue is called Great Artemis and it is from the second century AD. By understanding the history of Ephesus, one can understand the need to combat the worship of Artemis as the one who can save and protect women. Paul would have had the daunting task of introducing Jesus as the savior of all people, man and woman. Artemis was the goddess women turned to for protection and assistance with fertility issues and childbirth. There would also be the women who would want to remain perpetual virgins so they could have access to her temple without the fear or penalty of death. Replacing a female goddess, a stable source of revenue, would also be a challenge for Paul and his endeavor to spread the gospel. So, Paul’s battle was with a dominant female goddess and not with women at large.

Facts about women in ministry

 

Here are some facts about women in ministry and some resources for you to learn more on the subject.

 Q: Are more women enrolling in seminary? 

A: Women make up about a third of all seminary students, according to data from the Association of Theological Schools. That’s a big jump from 30 years ago when women made up less than a fifth of seminary students. Hartford Seminary Sociologist Adair Lummis suggests there are several reasons the increasing numbers of women. Social attitudes have changed, and women are increasingly accepted in all the professions. In addition, several mainline denominations changed their rules to allow women to be ordained. Still, seminary remains by and large a male profession. Twice as many men as women completed the master's in divinity degree, the most popular of the programs, in 2005, according to ATS figures. Want to know more? Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling, by Barbara Brown Zikmund, Adair Lummis, and Patricia Mei Yin Chang, (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998) or see http://hirr.hartsem.edu/bookshelf/bookshelf_book_excerpts.html#women. Also, consult the website for the Association of Theological Schools, http://www.ats.edu. Click on the 2005/06 Annual Data Tables.

 Q: Are more women serving in churches today? 

A: Yes, but just how many is hard to say. Some denominations, such as the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church USA keep accurate tabs on the number of women clergies. Other denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, which officially does not permit women to serve as senior pastors, do not, (even though there are small numbers of women pastors in the SBC). Not surprisingly, the United Methodist Church, the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination, had the largest number of clergywomen, 9,749, or 22 percent of its ordained clergy in 2006. But sociologist Jackson Carroll said women make up a disproportionately large percentage of associate pastors and may face unequal access to higher profile positions. Want to know more? Read Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling, by Barbara Brown Zikmund, Adair Lummis, and Patricia Mei Yin Chang, (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998) or see http://hirr.hartsem.edu/bookshelf/bookshelf_book_excerpts.html#women. Also, consult chapter 3 in Jackson Carroll’s God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations, (W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006). Also see What percentage of pastors are female? Number and Percentage of Clergywomen 1977 & 2000 Faith Group 1977 & 2000 American Baptist Church 1977=157 (3%) 2000=1,032 (13%) Disciples of Christ 1977=388 (9%) 2000=1,564 (22%) Episcopal Church 1977=94 (1%) 2000=3,482 (20%) Evangelical Lutheran Church Am. 1977 ..... 2000=2,358 (13%) Presbyterian Church USA 1977=350 (3%) 2000=3,715 (18%) United Methodist Church 1977=319 (2%) 2000=4,370 (17%) Conserv. Judaism 1977=0 2000=127 (9%) Reformed Judaism 1977=3 (.2%) 2000=346 (14%) (From chart in Olson et. al. Women with a Mission. (U of Alabama Press 2005.) p.8

Q: Why are women dropping out of seminary, or ministry?

 A: Schools and denominations don’t keep records on dropouts so it’s impossible to say with any accuracy how many women quit school or ministry. But Barbara Finlay, a sociologist at Texas A&M University, suggests some women opt out of ministry during their last year of school, realizing they will face uphill challenges to better-paying positions. Want to know more? Read Facing the Stained Glass Ceiling: Gender in a Protestant Seminary by Barbara Finlay (University Press of America, 2003, and Pastors in Transition: Why Clergy Leave Local Ministry by Dean Hoge and Jacqueline Wegner (W.B. Eerdmans, 2005). Also see Are more or less women entering seminaries today?

 Q: Is there a salary gap between men and women clergy? 

A: The salary gap that once existed between men and women clergy is narrowing. Whereas in 1991, women clergy earned on average 91 percent of men’s salaries in the same position, 10 years later that disparity had all but disappeared. Still, women face unequal access to senior pastor positions, which pay more. Sociologist Jackson Carroll found that among mainline clergy in their second decade of ministry, 70 percent of men were serving medium or large churches, compared to 37 percent of women. Want to know more? Read Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling, by Barbara Brown Zikmund, Adair Lummis, and Patricia Mei Yin Chang Also consult, chapter 3 in Jackson Carroll’s God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations, (W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006).