Women Cannot be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/7

                                                                               Read Part One HERE  

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daugther when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

Hello, everyone.... I would once again like to introduce a woman from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress using Miriam as the one to introduce her... "Hello, Miriam again.... How time flies... It is only a few days ago that I introduced my friend Mary Magdalene to my pastor friend you have gotten to know so well... Today I would like for him to meet my friend Lydia.... "Hello Pastor... Miriam here... Please allow me to introduce a friend of mine named Lydia."... "Thank you, Miriam, for introducing me."... "Yes, Pastor, as you have already heard from Miriam, my name is Lydia... You may have heard of me.... If you have then you will know that I was a successful business woman... However, though I was successful in business I lacked peace in my heart... One day I was in Philippi, Macedonia for business... On the Sabbath Day I had gone to the beach to join a women's prayer meeting... That day a visitor joined us.... His name was Paul... You may well know of him... If you do then you will know that he used to be a very religious Jew named Saul....That he was in fact, a Pharisee... As a Pharisee, he should have never spoken to us, women.... For that would have been against the rules.... But he spoke to us that day... Because, as he told us, he had had an encounter with the Lord Jesus...And because of that encounter his life had completely changed... That meant that his view on women had completely changed as well... My heart was so touched after his preaching... Peace entered my life.... I then asked Paul and his companion Silas to stay with me.... They were delighted to do so... That day my home became the meeting place of the believers... We continued meeting long after Paul and Silas left town.... Many more believers joined us over time.... We became a thriving church in Philippi.... Everyone had a role to play in accordance with their giftings... It was so wonderful to see all believers fulfill their calling regardless of their nationality, status in life or gender as taught by Paul...You may like to read my story in Acts 16:11-40... I have heard rumours that over time Christians began to teach that the Apostle Paul limited the role of women to some extent just because they are women....However, I can assure you that Paul approved of the ministry of women and did not put any limits on it, apart from when some women needed to be corrected  first before they could teach...You look a little doubtful perhaps... Don't woryy, Pastor, I am sure Miriam will have some other women friends in mind for you to meet in time to come to help you understand how much Paul supported andencouraged women to function in theit God-given callings be it as co-worker, deacon, overseer or even apostle."...

Read Part Eight HERE

 

Women Cannot be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/6

                                                                                Read Part One HERE

 In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

My Comment

I would once again like to introduce a woman from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using Miriam as the one to introduce her..... "Hello everyone, it is me again, Miriam....I thought it is time to introduce another friend of mine to our pastor friend... You know, the one who has a daughter who could not be senior pastor... I thought this time I would bring along my friend Mary Magdalene... I met with him... I asked him how he was and then introduced Mary Magdalene to him... The conversation went as follows: "Hello pastor, good to see you again... I trust you are well... I hope you have enjoyed meeting my friends Judge and Prophetess Deborah, Prophetess Hulda as well as the Samaritan female Evangelist from Sychar.....Today I would like for you to meet my friend Mary Magdalene."... "Hello pastor, as Miriam has already told you, my name is Mary Magdalene... I am called Mary Magdalene because I am from the town called Magdala.... However, I left my town to follow Jesus... I know it was very unusual in my time for women to leave home and to travel with Jesus... But that is what I did... And I had some other women friends such as Joanna and Susanna who travelled with Jesus as well... Jesus did something for me that no one else had been able to do... He delivered me from seven demons... I was so grateful!!... Then the day came that Jesus was crucified... My women friends and I watched Him suffer and die on that Cross.... I have to say, apart from John, I did not see any of the other male disciples... Three days later I went back to the tomb to take care of His body.... I was so shocked when there was no body.... I ran to Peter and John....They came and realised as well that Jesus' body was not in the tomb....They then went back home... I could not... I had nowhere else to go.... I then had two angels speak to me.... They did not understand why I was crying... I then saw another Man.... I thought He was the gardener.... He then spoke my name... I right away knew He was the Lord.... He had come back to life!!... I wanted to hold on to Him... But He had to see His Father....However, He gave me a task....I had to go to the other disciples to tell them He had risen....That is what I did!!... I have heard a rumour that some in the Church believe that I was a prostitute.... Please do not believe that story...I never was a prostitute... And part of the Church has given me the title of Apostle to the Apostles...No doubt, that is because, as I said, the Lord sent me to the disciples, including the eleven Apostles, to preach the Good News of His Resurrection as you can read in John 20:1-18... Can I ask you if you see me as the Apostle to the Apostles?"....

Read Part Seven HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/5

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

 

My Comment

Hello overyone, it is time again for Miriam to introduce another biblical figure to the pastor we have begun to get to know so well... This time she has brought to him the Samaritan woman. Their conversation went as follows: "Thank you, Miriam, for introducing me.... As you will realise from Miriam's introduction, pastor, I am not a Jewess but a Samaritan woman.... On the whole Jewish people avoid us but one day I met a Jewish Rabbi... I met Him at the well near my town where I had gone to draw water... And He spoke to me... He asked me for some water... I was so shocked when He did that... And I told Him so... But it did not stop Him from continuing His conversation with me... He began to talk about "living water"... I did not know what exactly He meant by that but I knew I would like to receive that "living water".... He next began to talk about my husband...I felt I should kind of be honest with him so I told Him I did not have a husband...To my shock He then revealed to me that He knew everything about my life even up to my present situation... But He did not condemn me for the fact that I had been married five times and that I was not married to the man I was living with.... He would have known that my divorces have not been my own choice since as a woman I cannot divorce my husband while husbands can divorce their wives for all kinds of reasons... The most amazing thing is that He declared to me that He is the Messiah!!... The long awaited Messiah was standing in front of me.... A Samaritan woman....I was so excited by this revelation I ran quickly back to the town square where I knew the men of the town would be gathered... And they listened to me when I told them what had happened to me... They listened and believed!!... I then took them to meet Jesus.... So that day I changed from having been a despised women, a woman who had been looked down on, to a female evangelist.... All because of Jesus... He changed my life... He restored my dignity.... I am now respected in my community... I am now being listened to... My story can be found in John 4..... I sincerely hope that you will introduce me one day to your congregation just as Miriam introduced me to you today."....

Read Part Six HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/4

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daugher when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

 

My Comment

Today I will once again ask Miriam to introduce a female Biblical figure to the pastor we have become familiar with... She is going to introduce Hulda to him... "Pastor, I, Miriam, thought you may appreciate getting to know another Biblical character... Her name is Hulda."... "Hello pastor... I am not sure if you even know of my existence since there are only a few verses about me in the Bible... You can read about me in 2 Kings 22:11-20... It is true, it seems I appear out of nowhere but I can asssure you that I was known by leading figures in Israel as a prophetess with a trustworthy record... That is why they turned to me for counsel when the king had need for guidance... The king was greatly comforted after he received my message...  And as a result, God's Covenant with my nation was re-established... I would like to encourage you to read the passage that speaks of me and my message for the king which, as I have already said, can be found in 2 Kings 22:11-20... God must have found these words important enough to include them in His Holy Word.. I trust they will become meaningfull to you as well.. And one day you may want to introduce me to your congregation.".... 

Read Part Five HERE

 

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/3

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

 

My Comment 

Perhaps you remember that in my previous post I introduced Pastor Robert Jeffress to an Hebrew woman named Miriam... In turn Miriam would now like to introduce another woman of the Bible to him... Her name is Deborah... let's find out how that conversation went... "Good morning, pastor... I trust you still know who I am... I am Miriam... I told you I would like to introduce you to other women in the Bible... Today I would like for you to meet Deborah.... I am sure you have heard of her... I will now allow her to speak for herself."... "Good to meet you pastor... As you have already heard my name is Deborah... I am a Hebrew and my main role was that of a Judge in my nation... I know that some people believe that I should not have functioned as a Judge because I am a woman....They believe that God could not find a suitable man in Israel and that is why He had no choice but to select a woman as a Judge.... Perhaps that is your view as well.... If that is the case then let me assure you that I was a Judge in my nation because God appointed me for this role and planned for me to be a Judge long before this happened... This is a principle based on a verse in a Book you will be very familiar with namely Ephesians 2:10... Moreover, I was a female prophet.... Our nation had been at war for many years.... But God had shown me the He would give us victory over our enemy so I spoke with our general Barak... He asked me to accompany him...And I did... I then gave him specific instructions on how to fight the battle as shown to me by the Lord... And, consequently, we had victory.... We then had peace in our nation.... Would it surprise you if I told you I did not ask my husband's permission whether or not I could go with Barak to the battle field?... Neither did I speak with my Rabbi about it...My husband knew, of course, of my plans... And he has been supportive in all that I have been doing... He knew that I was called by God to be the Judge in our nation for that time.... By the way my story can be found in Judges 4-5....Can I encourage you to read these chapters and meditate on them to help you understand how God views women and how He desires to use them for His purpose without placing any limitations on their roles?"....

Read Part Four HERE

WomenCannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/2

 

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jefrress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies....

My Comment

I have decided to introduce a number of women from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress.... I will start with Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron... I wonder what she would have said to him had she overheard his conversation with his daughter... I am sure she would have interrupted his conversation along the following line: "Excuse me, pastor, I could not help but overhear your conversation with your daughter. If I am right then you do not believe your daughter can have a leading position in the church because she is a female. ... Please forgive me for my rudeness for I have not told you who I am.... My name is Miriam.... Perhaps you have heard of me.... I am a Hebrew who lived in Egypt.... I have two brothers Moses and Aaron... My brother Moses was brought up in the palace of the Pharao until he was 40 years old.... He then spent the next 40 years in the desert.... But then God called him to lead our people out of Egypt... I am sure you are familiar with these facts...However, are you aware that God called me to be a leader beside my brother even though I am a woman?... Apparently, it was not a problem for God that I was a woman when he called me to be one of the leaders... I am, therefore, a little puzzled that you have told your daughter she cannot be senior leader in the church.... I fully understand, of course, that my example alone will not convince you to change your mind about this subject.... But there are many other women in the Bible who, like me, have had leadership positions.... You may like to meet some of them as well.... I am sure they would like to meet you to discuss this very important topic... By the way my story can be found in Exodus 2:4-9; Exodus 15: 20-21; Micah 6:4."

Read Part Three HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/1

 

In this post I will begin a series of posts related to Dr Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Dr Jeffres advised his eldest daughter when she was 11 years old (she is now in her thirties) that she could never be "head" or senior pastor just as he would never be abe to give birth to children.

He has, moreover, stated that his reason  his daughter and, in fact, any woman, cannot be "head" or senior pastor is because of one line out of 1 Timothy 3:2 Now the overseer must be.... the husband of but one wife...."

My Comment

Dr Jeffress' statement to his daughter when she was 11 years old does not make sense since he will no doubt acknowledge that pastoring is a spiritual gift and calling while giving birth to children is a biological function and is not related to anyone's spiritual gifting and calling.

His reason that women cannot be pastors because of one line out of 1 Timothy 3:2                              "Now the overseer must be.... the husband of but one wife...."   

Does not make sense either since in 1 Timothy 3:1                                                                                           "Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task"   

Paul makes it very clear that men and women can be overseers because the word "tis" is used for "anyone" which is a generic term.      

 As for the overseer having to be the husband of one wife only, in Jewish culture men could have more than one wife as we know from the Talmud "She is restricted to one husband while the husband may have many wives." So Paul addressed that issue. He does not have to address that issue with women since they could only have one husband at a time.

Read Part Two HERE

Jeremy Gardiner; because of Church Practice: Head Covering P/16

                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I will contine to share on the Head Coverings Movement founded by Jerememy Gardiner

He has written the following article: "Why Head Coverings? Reason No 4: Church Practice."

 

Jeremy Gardiner: "Head covering is authoritative apostolic teaching." 

Jeremy Gardiner: "All churches from Corinth, to Antioch practiced head coverings. All these churches have a mixture of Jews and Gentiles fellowshipping in them and are from different cultures. Yet, they all hold to the same Christian doctrine regarding head coverings. How can such unity be accounted for except the church's understanding of head coverings as a command for all Christians?

Jeremy Gardiner: "The Church in Corinth 150 years later. Tertullian wrote "The Veiling of virgins" in which he argued that all women are to be covered.... This teaching remained the standard practice of the majority of  Church History. As RC Sproul Sr noted: "The wearing of fabric head coverings in worship was universally the practice of Christian woman until the 20th century. What happened? Did we suddenly find some biblical truth to which the saints for thousands of years were blind? Or were our biblical views of women gradually eroded by the modern feminist movement that has infiltrated the Church of Jesus Christ which is "the pillar and ground of the truth"? Head coverings are not some new strange doctrine. This is an old doctrine, based in the Bible and understood by the majority throughout the history of the Church. Head coverings were practiced in all churches and we are the exceptions today. It is time to change that."

My Comment

As for the issue of head coverings, some religious leaders in the church in Corinth wrote that women are to have head coverings as we know from 1 Corinthians 11:4-5. However, Paul corrected them and made it clear that churches do not have such a custom as we know from a correct translation of 1 Corinthians 11:16                                                                                                                                        If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no SUCH practice - nor do the churches of God.                                                                                                                                                    Jeremy Gardiner then follows the pattern of  the Protestant Reformers, Theologians, pastors and leaders we have already studied by quoting Roman Catholic Church father Tertullian who, as we have already mentioned, came out of a pagan culture and brought into the Church their view that women are considered inferior. One of the pastors Jeremy Gardiner mentioned is the now-deceased minister R.C. Sproul Sr. He, apparently, blamed the modern feminist movement that women began to stop wearing head coverings. In the case of R.C. Sproul Sr head coverings would be in the form of hats. However, hats do not cover the heads of women for they do not fall down from the head as the original text mentions....It is clear, therefore, that this Head Coverings Movement founded by Jeremy Gardiner is not based on Scripture but on man's incorrect interpretation of Scripture regardless whether this head covering consists of a hat or a veil....

 

P.S. This is my last post on the Head Coverings Movement. .