Beth Moore: A Letter to My Brothers

My last several posts have really focused around the topic of women and their place in Christian ministry and leadership (which I believe they should have full access to – read my previous three posts for full details here, here and here). I was going to shift gears but one of our leaders Kelly Cameron passed this blog from Beth Moore onto me (if you are not familiar with Beth she is a well known and outstanding Bible teacher that is quite popular) and it really moved me. I think it so clearly outlines the challenges women face, and why we need to be vocal about seeing change (especially us men). In many ways, my heart is saddened that something like this even has to be written in 2018 but I applaud Beth for speaking out and join her in being hopeful that it will be part of the change that is coming.

A Letter to My Brothers by Beth Moore

Dear Brothers in Christ,

A few years ago I told my friend, Ed Stetzer, that, whenever he hears the news that I’m on my deathbed, he’s to elbow his way through my family members to interview me about what it’s been like to be a female leader in the conservative Evangelical world. He responded, “Why can’t we do it before then?”

“Because you know good and well what will happen,” I answered. “I’ll get fried like a chicken.” After recent events following on the heels of a harrowing eighteen months, I’ve decided fried chicken doesn’t sound so bad.

You can read the rest of the post here.

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Should Women Preach? Can they Lead? Dealing with some of the “Tough Passages” in the Bible.

Today in my message at Toronto City Church I talked about why there are no ‘glass ceilings’ in the Kingdom of God and that women can function in any area of leadership and ministry. I shared twelve different scriptures/passages that spoke of women in ministry including pastoring, teaching, prophetic, apostolic ministry, deaconship and more.

As I mentioned I wanted to write a bit about some of the so-called ‘tough passages’ from the Bible that at first glance could seem to suggest that women should not be involved in all of these areas. I’m not a ‘buffet-Christian’ where I believe we can pick and choose what verses to believe and what ones to ignore and so it’s very important to me that we address these passages in a solid and balanced way.

Message Notes: DNA 02 – No Glass Ceilings in the Kingdom: Women and Ministry

#02 – No Glass Ceilings in the Kingdom: Women and Ministry

I       INTRODUCTION

A)  As we step into a new season we want to continue to ‘get back to the basics’ and focus on our DNA – who we are called to be as a church family.

B)  DNA is the fundamental and distinctive characteristics or qualities of someone or something. We want to take time in this season to focus on the fundamental and distinctive characteristics and qualities of TCC.

C)  We are growing, there are many great things going on but we also have a lot of work to do. We need to stay HUMBLE, HUNGRY and FOCUSED

D)  We want to continue to focus on our mission as a church family and dig deeper into the distinctives of what God has called us to do.

E)   Our Mission: To be a spiritual family where every person encounters God’s unconditional love, is established in their identity and equipped and engaged for their purpose

Some Thoughts Regarding the “Billy Graham Rule” and Friendships Between Men and Women.

This coming weekend at Toronto City Church I’m going to preaching on “No Glass Ceilings in the Kingdom: Women in Ministry” as part of our DNA Series; where we explore our mission and foundational elements of who we are as a church. My wife is away on a missions trip (for two weeks… pray for me people) so while she usually preaches on Mother’s Day, I’m up. I’m going to use the opportunity to teach on woman and ministry and why we embrace women having full access to participate in every aspect of Kingdom leadership and ministry. (My notes for it will be posted here on Sunday and you can listen to the message here early next week)

While it doesn’t relate directly to my message, I came across an interesting article recently entitled “It’s Not Billy Graham Rule or Bust” by Tish Harrison Warren that really got me thinking.