Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/11

                                                                                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 like to introduce one final female Biblical character to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using Miriam as the one to introduce her... "Hello everyone... I have so enjoyed meeting with you these last few weeks.... Before I forget, I am Miriam.... And I have been introducing various friends to our pastor friend... Sad to say, this will be the last time I will be doing so for it has been a real privilege to have been given the opportunity to introduce some of my special women friends from the Book we all love so much.... The Bible... As for this time, I would like for him to meet  my special friend Junia.... I will let her do the talking."... "Hello pastor, good to meet you.... I have heard much about you from my friends such as Deborah, Mary Magdalene, Persis and Chloe.... Excuse me for being rude... My name is Junia.... I worked as an Apostle together with Andronicus... And we had a very close relationship with the Apostle Paul... In fact, we are his relatives... I believe there has been some confusion about my name in some of your Bible translations... But let me assure you that my name is Junia which is a female name... I believe, futhermore, that at least in one of your translations, the ESV, Andronicus and I are known "to the apostles" rather than "noted among the apostles."... I wonder if that is because I am a woman... However, the Apostle Paul had no problems recognising me as an Apostle because he saw me do the work of an Apostle.... A work that even caused me to be put in prison at a certain time in my life... I would like to invite you to study a correct translation of Romans 16:7 where you can read all about me."....

P.S. I hope you have enjoyed these stories of the pastor's meetings with some female Biblical characters to help him understand that women have served at every level in the Church...

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/10

 

                                                                               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" pastor just as he could not have babies....

 

My Comment

It is time for two more women to be introduced to the pastor we have all gotten to know so well... I will let Miriam take over from here... "Hello, pastor, good to meet you... Miriam here... I hope you very much enjoyed meeting Deacon Phoebe.. I am sure you agree with me that she was a remarkable woman having travelled all the way from her town Cenchreae to Rome to deliver the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome....Today I would like for you to meet two female overseers.... I will ask them to introduce themselves to you.".... "Hello pastor.... It is good to meet you.... My name is Chloe.... I was the overseer of a house church in Corinth....You can read about me in 1 Corinthians 1:11.... At that time we had some challenging issues to deal with.... Thankfully, the Apostle Paul wrote to us via a letter you will know as his first letter to the Corinthians....His solutions to the issues helped us deal with these challenges....You may like to know that I was not the only overseer of a house church at that time.".... "That's right pastor.... Oh, my apologies, for not introducing myself.... My name is Nympha...I was the overseer of a house church near Colosse.... You can read about me in Colossians 4:16... I believe that in some of your Bible translations my name has been incorrectly translated as Nymphas and the church was supposed to have met "at his house."... Let me assure you that my name is Nympha and consequently the church met "at her house.".... I have heard too that you believe women cannot be "head" or senior pastors based on your view of 1 Timothy 3:2 "Now the overseer must be....., the husband of but one wife".... However, pastor, you can know from the original text of 1 Timothy 3:1 that Paul writes "everyone who desires to be an overseer desires a good thing" refers here to males as well as females since he used the Greek term "tis" for "everyone"which is a generic term. My dear frend Chloe and I are, therefore,  proof that the Apostle Paul supported female "head" or senior overseers or pastors since we both functioned as such... Perhaps, one day you may like to introduce us to your congregation."....

Read Part Eleven HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/9

                                                                                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 

Today I would like to introduce another woman from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using once again Miriam as the one to introduce her..."Hello everyone, it is me again, Miriam....The other day I introduced some of Paul's female co-workers to the pastor who does not believe women can be "head" pastors....Talking about this pastor, I just learned that he bases his view on one line in 1Timothy 3:2 "Now the overseer must be....., the husband of but one wife."... Very interesting... I think I will mention it to some of the female overseers and will ask them to comment on it... For now I will ask my friend Phoebe to introduce herself to the pastor.... "Hello Pastor... As Miriam mentioned, my name is Phoebe... It is good to meet you... I lived in Cenchreae..... Perhaps you have heard of it.... We had a thriving church in that town... And I was a "diakonos" of that church....Moreover, I was a "prostatis" to many believers.... My understanding is that the term "diakonos" has been translated as "servant" in many of your Bible translations.... A better translation would be "deacon" or "minister" since I functioned as such in our church.... Moreover, the term "prostatis" has been translated as "help" in these same Bible translations... Hoever, this term in verb form has been used for church leaders to indicate these elders were guiding the congregation as  you will know from 1 Timothy 5:17.... Likewise, part of my functon in Cenchreae was to guide the church.... I am a little puzzled as to why the terms for my function are somewhat diministed in your Bible translations.... Especially, in light of the fact that the Apostle Paul entrusted his letter to the church in Rome to me because he had absolute confidence in me that I would represent him well before the church in Rome.... Perhaps you could introduce me one day to your congregation, pastor, as the Deacon from Cenchreae who guided her church just as you guide your church today."....

Read Part Ten HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/8

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

This time I would like to introduce a small group of women from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using Miriam as the one to introduce her... "Hello everyone, good to meet all of you... As you may guess, I am Miriam...I thought that today I would introduce some of my friends who have served as co-workers of the Apostle Paul to the pastor we have all gotten to know.".... "Hello Pastor, I trust you have appreciated getting to know the women I, Miriam, have presented to you... Today I would like for you to meet four women... I will leave the introduction to them.".... "Hello Pastor, good to meet you... Our names are Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis.... Perhaps you are not familiar with us.... But you can find us mentioned in Romans 16:6 and Romans 16:12... We worked with the Apostle Paul.. And he greatly appreciated our ministry as  his co-workers... It is true that Paul did not describe our ministry in details but it did involve Kingdom Ministry.... And through our minstry lives were touched and changed... It was done at great cost to ourselves...But we can assure you that it was worth it... We were so grateful to be able to serve alongside the Apostle Paul... Of course, we did not do so in our own strength... No, we did so because we were called and equipped for our task by the Lord... I trust our example will encourage you to allow women in your church to function in their particular calling be it as co-workers so that many lives may be touched and changed by their ministry as well."....

Read Part Nine HERE

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