One of the most straightforward passages about women in business is found in Acts 16:13-15:

“And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us.”

Lydia was a tycoon in her day. Forbes would probably have her in their top 100 women list. From the passage, we can deduce a few things:

1. She was very wealthy. Luke notes that she was “a seller of purple goods.” Today, we can wear clothes of any color, but 2,000 years ago, dyes were organic and some colors were very rare. Purple was among the most rare. She must have been very wealthy in order to afford her own stock.
2. She was very committed to her business. The passage notes that she is from Thyatira. This puts her around 250 miles away from home. Today, 250 miles is more than most want to travel for business, can you imagine the journey 2,000 years ago?
3. She was probably the CEO of her company. Luke makes no mention of a boss accompanying her on her travels. It does mention “her household,” so she did travel with her family, quite possibly with a husband.  She either rented a house in Philippi or owned one in the city. She was independent and handled her business on her own.

Luke records that this wealthy business woman was the first convert to Christianity in Europe and she greatly aided Paul on his missionary journey. God never commands women to reject the business world. God simply reminds women (and men) that their priority is first at home, not at work.

Another passage from the scriptures tells of the ideal woman. In this section, God paints a picture of an virtuous woman: one that is hard working, loves her family, and one that does business in the community. In this passage we see that an ideal woman knows such business practices as real estate, marketing, and buying and selling. And because of her business practices, she earns wealth. God says that a woman like this is to be revered and praised for her work.

So, are women to be kept home and discouraged away from a professional life? No, they are to work if they wish, as long as they keep their priorities straight. (Men are also commanded to keep their priorities in line: family first, career second.) God extols hard-working women: both stay-at-home moms and business tycoons alike. The key word is priorities.

More posts to follow.

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Posts in this series:

1. Introduction
2. Women in Business

While I personally do not know much about Patterson or his stance on these matters, she states them as follows:

“He takes a stance on women I find a bit offensive. He believes women are best suited as mothers and grandmothers, and the whole ‘You lead honey, and I’ll follow’. He has also expressed that he doesn’t think women should preside over men in high positions in church over men.”

I would consider myself a theologically conservative baptist, and still I don’t know much of what Patterson believes on the theology of the role of women. So, since I didn’t know know his beliefs, I did a little research and found a great article that seemed to state his beliefs from his own mouth. Looking at what she wrote and what this article states, that’s probably the one she read.

Since I do not know Patterson or feel the need to defend his beliefs, instead, I will be sharing, expounding on, and defending my own beliefs on what the Bible says about women. But first, there is one thing that you must know about my beliefs: the scripture is the highest authority and all my thinking and theology rests on it. I see the Bible as the perfect, inerrant Word of God and applies to all people of all times and cultures for the purposes God intended.

So, before we delve into women’s roles in the family, the church, and beyond, let’s lay out a few general principles about women (and men) found in the Bible:

1. Men and women have equality in God’s view. This includes salvation, service*, and even in the revelation of God’s plan.
2. God is neither male or female; He is spirit. He does however, refer to Himself as a male to help mankind understand Him better.
3. God has a special place in His heart for women. God hates injustice, but especially injustice to women. The Bible is full of commands and stories about God caring for women.

There you have it. Three general principles about women from the very Words of God. From here, we will look at specifics like women’s roles in family, in government, in business, and in the church.

Back to my friend: she later stated that Patterson’s view of women was “old fashioned.” His view may be old fashioned, but you will see that God’s view and calling of women is quite “progressive” (I use that term very loosely), more progressive than even our view in 2010 America.

To my friend and everyone else who may be following and even  joining in on our discussion, let’s keep an searching mind and an understanding heart as we tackle this touchy subject.

More posts to follow.

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*We will talk about exceptions in a later post.

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Posts in this series:

1. Introduction
2. Women in Business

It began by helping my good friend and worship pastor, Chuck Sullivan, move some things from his office for a garage sale. He’s moving in about a week, and we are all sad to be parting with him, but God has big dreams for his family and for Central, and we certainly don’t want go get in the way of those…

Next up was a wedding rehearsal at the church I surrendered to the ministry in. The great couple getting married was actually my brother-in-law, Ryan, and his (now) wife, Christa. The place was decorated like a magazine cover and the rehearsal was super smooth.

From there, I scurried back to Prescott for our local High School graduation. I was a little late due to the wedding rehearsal, but I was super proud of my four Prescott graduates! (I am really proud of my Spring Hill graduate, but she graduated the night before!)

After snapping some pictures and shaking many hands, I headed back to the church to set up for Project Graduation. Project Graduation is a night for seniors filled with tons of fun and even more prizes immediately following graduation. After chowing down at our local Mexican restaurant, Los Agaves, the throng headed over to the church for some basketball and table games. (I definitely DJ’ed from my iPad!) There’s nothing better than beating some grads at Spades!

After some rest, I woke up the next morning and got ready for my first wedding. As I got ready, I broke a shoelace on a pair of shoes that had already had a broken shoelace. Then I dropped my only appropriate tie into the toilet. Thanks to some crafty shoelace work and paper towel action on the tie, I left Prescott almost on time. (I had to cut the shoelace to get the shoe off at the end of the day, but, hey, they got me through!)

The wedding went great! We took pictures, ate several times, and I even did a bang-up-job on the wedding! No, everything went well and Ryan and Christa enjoyed their beautiful wedding almost as much as they are enjoying their honeymoon! They are super, hard-working people who will have a great life together and I am very proud to be in their family.

After the Ashley and I crashed until the alarm beckoned us early on Sunday morning. Sunday’s service was great, really everything from Small Groups, to the worship service, to the preaching; it was all good!

After church, I scarfed down some rehearsal dinner leftovers and quickly headed out to set up for our Community Memorial Day Service held at our local football field. Not thinking, I left without sunscreen and returned home as red as the jeep I drove home.

The Community Service went extremely well and I think it was well attended for our first service of this kind. We were honored to have a local color guard present the colors, our local congressman, Mike Ross, to remember the troops, and an Arkansas chaplain to give the evening message. The night exalted the sacrifice our soldiers have given and remembered those who have fallen to secure our freedom. I am grateful I am an American.

And to end the weekend, Ashley, two college-aged sponsors, and I took 23 (ish) youth to Walmart for a scavenger hunt. How’d that go? Let’s just say I get to keep shopping there. No, they were great, respectful teens who had a ton of fun while still leaving the store like we found it.

The winning team got to pick where we ate. The place they picked was already closed, so we went to Dos Loco Gringos. (If you know Spanish, that really is the name of the restaurant!) Luckily, we all were seated in the same section! The highlight of the night was our waiter’s big spill. He put 25 beverages on a single tray and dumped them all between my wife and one of my youth! I’m not going to lie, it was quite funny. It was also quite sticky.

After the mishap, we got our replacement drinks and spicy Tex-Mex and were on our way back to the church. The ride home was nothing out-of-the-ordinary: lots of laughs, lots of folks texting, and the guys talking about being half-goat (I’m not really sure why).

Arriving home, Ashley and I watched the last of the Suns – Lakers game and went to bed. We purposefully neglected to set an alarm. I’m sure you understand why…

Stewardship.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.

It’s a word that seems quaint in the twenty-first centrury. I mean, really, what is a steward?

Simply put, a steward is a person who manages the property and resources of someone else. An overseer of sorts.

The Bible instructs us to be “good stewards of God’s varied grace…”

When we think about it, everything we have is given to us from God.

Our health. Our wealth. Our intellect. Our time. Our relationships. Fill in the blank, it’s all from God.

So that’s how we are stewards. God has given it all to us for  us to use for our joy, others good, and for God’s glory. So as we use and enjoy the things that God has given us, we must not only be thankful, we must also be good stewards. Not good managers of our own things, but good stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

About two weeks ago, I found time to grow a tomato plant.

I put the seeds in the soil, added water, and put the tray in the sun. Now, I’m no master gardener, but I know I wouldn’t see any sprouting action that day, so I went outside.

One day later: no sprouts.

Three days later: no sprouts.

One week later: no sprouts. Disappointment begins to set in.

Ten days later: no sprouts. Frustration mounts.

Thirteen days later: no sprouts.

Seriously? No green leaves? Not even one? I thought this thing was foolproof: dirt + seed + sun + water = tomato plant.

Then, on day fourteen, today, it happened. Not one sprout, but three!! I am super excited about all the tomatoes I will be eating this summer!

God has been using this as a parable to teach me about ministry and life, but more on that upcoming…

My wife has no real addictions. Except for eating sweets.

Growing up, sweets weren’t a huge thing in my family. Sure, we liked sweets, but we didn’t have them at every meal. At Ashley’s parents’ house on the other hand, dinner’s not done until pie has been eaten.

So, Ashley decided to give up sweets for February.

It was a long, hard month, but she made it. I generally didn’t tempt her except for a Snickers Bar, asking if she wanted ice cream at Sonic (several times), pleading with her to get fried ice cream at our local Mexican restaurant, eating homemade cinnamon rolls and doughnuts every Sunday morning at church, having ice cream and root beer floats in youth one night, and the occasional taunt while she was watching Food Network. Other than that, I was supportive!

Today is March 1, and she started the day with pancakes loaded with syrup. Abstinence is over, and I think she understands better what it means to be addicted (and not have any support at home)!

I love it because I get to talk to everyone that I didn’t get to talk to during the week. I hate it because everyone is wanting to talk to me at the exact same time.

Take today for instance, I had one person asking a theology question, one talking about my new facial hair, one talking to me about mobile phones, a couple telling me about their engagement, and one that wants to talk scrapbooking with my wife.

Whew!

I love all those people and would love to be able to have meaningful conversations with each of those people on each of those subjects, just not all at the same time.

What it really all comes down to is this: I feel like each of them was shortchanged time with me. And I don’t want people to feel that way. Because that stinks.

Any suggestions on how to make this time more profitable?

Yesterday, I decided to go and help out. Two wonderful volunteers had an awesome lesson and some great crafts planned to go with their lesson.

We began by counting to ten on our fingers. Why you might ask? Because that’s how many sick lepers were healed by Jesus Luke 17.

God spoke to me through what happened next.

I had read this story many times and even heard a sermon about it recently, but the gravity of this story hit me while I was sitting in a tiny chair surrounded by children. We were still holding up ten fingers, then we put nine of them down, because only one came back to thank Jesus.

Only one came back.

Only one expressed his gratitude.

Sure, they were are thankful and joyous that they were healed, but only one expressed gratitude to the One that healed him.

As the lesson continued with coloring and with lots of glitter (yes, I was picking red glitter from my shirt the rest of the day), my spirit continued to be convicted about my own thankfulness and worship.

Sometimes we forget to be thankful. But we need to be more than just thankful, we need to be worshipful. This is was Jesus desires.