The Persecution of Women in the Church

[Barb]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

Yeah...we are headed home today...Please pray for our safety...

Amen, Mother A...may God set a hedge around you, in Jesus Name!!

[Sister Alvear]

Thank you dear friend. Many forces fight us in this dark devil worshipping world..but we know Greater is he that is in us...
The police are all on strike in our state and we have been trying to get a police report for Michael's car since it was stolen...One police lady called me today and asked me to meet her at 2 our time and hopefully she can fill out the papers. They cannot not even look for a stolen car without the papers...and because of strikes I doubt if they will even look for it!

Our state really needs real missionaries the night is thick and dark..OH for more voices to tell the story.

[Trouvere]

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

Yes when the Bible calls women a weaker vessel,that doesn't mean inferior,it means women are gentler ,they are made diferent from men.
The church needs a woman's touch.

You are definately a southern gentleman.Good post!

[Sister Alvear]

In all our talk about women/women in ministry I would like for you to please note I am not saying in any way I do not believe that God has certain roles for men and women because I do.
I have mentioned several times I never heard GOD call me to preach but my thoughts and opinion are different from most. I have never been ordained by man and never plan to be.
My pastor is a man and I don't plan to change. YET in the overall plan of God many notable women have done God's work and fulfilled a divine purpose and against these I will never lift my voice. I stand in awe of great women for they had to do much to be considered great...I stand in awe of Sister Bobbie Wendell, Sister Agnes Holmes and other ladies (notice I said ladies) that have gracefully used the Bible as God's word and not a book to condemn men.

I have sat in meetings when men laughed and sneered at women just to make a point with some man made organization. I want no part of politics...it destroys...many good men and women have been destroyed by peer pressure by things that were so childish. Give a christmas present not give one, take a asprin not take one, ladies hair up, hair down and we ourselves in such sincerity have fallen into MORE SPIRITUAL THAN THOU" traps in our younger days...
Men are stong and I love the srength that our church feels from Brother Alvear. Women we are more sensitive...we see details while men seem to see the whole picture. God MADE us different to help one another...
I have seen preachers that their wife never prayed in the alter, she just sat there...he did everything...that seems a little out of balance to me. I have an office in our church and so does Brother Alvear my office is more than for hanging roses and pretty pictures on the wall. I am there to help Brother Alvear. We are workers together with Him that called.


More later gotta go to the police station...

And for that dear sister, I commend you and your husband. I do not believe that it is God's will for the preacher's wife to sit, doing nothing! I have also witnessed pastors who neglect thier wife's ability in favor of them hoarding all the authority. I even know of one who bypassed his wife's good taste in decorating in favor of his daughter's, simply because he was the pastor and had all authority. Please...I could go on, I'll simply stop at this. Scripture says, "Wives, submit yourself to your husband as unto the Lord", it does not say, "Husbands, submit your wives unto yourselves"! For Christ's sake, let's look at Jesus as our role model and not authority as to how we deal with our wives!

[Sister Alvear]

Unaffected modesty is
the sweetest charm
of female excellence,
the richest gem
in the diadem of her honor.
~Webster's Dictionary 1828

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

Two truths I have learned recently.


1. Unity is not uniformity.
2. Unity demands at least a skeletal agreement.

How did you learn this lesson?

[Nahum]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

How did you learn this lesson?

I had a great conversation with an elder recently. We talked about unity for a while. Those two thoughts are what I took from the conversation.

[DAII]

Originally Posted by Fireside

I don't know what apology you are talking about.

Daniel saying I owe you one doesn't mean I do.

Let me make you aware of something, sport.

I have not attacked you personally that I can recall.--just your beliefs and views. (Daniel and J-Roc will now be scouting feverishly through all my posts on the thread trying to find a place where I did so they can yell about it )

You have on at least a couple of occasions gotten personal with me--once just a few posts ago.

But I don't require an apology for that, because this is an internet forum, and I am not in the least thin-skinned anywhere.

Originally Posted by crazyhomie

I'm curious, do you pastor?

Originally Posted by Fireside

PSYCHOBABBLE

A match made in the Delta.

[Davidgene]

I didn't want to start a new thread since I'm new to the site, but wanted to find an existing thread to ask for your advice on a problem a friend of mine is enduring.

Recently, a lady friend of mine from back in the high school days of the 1970's reconnected with me and my wife. She attended the same Pentecostal Church I did as children and young teens, and I remembered her well from there and from school.

She recently went through a divorce after 30 plus years married to a profoundly abusive alcoholic, her words, not mine, and has spent the past few years reclaiming and recommitting herself to her family and to her faith.

Last year she started going to a UPC church in our hometown that has had it's share of bad history. The first Pastor was arrested and charged with molestation of the girls in his congregation, but died before he could face trial. The second and current pastor was charged with illegal conversion of church property, but things were settled out of court, and the membership is now split between two churches. So, in my opinion, this is a church with some pretty bad history. I warned her of the problems with the church building, and implored her to continue searching for a church outside the UPC.

She continued going to the church because, in her words, it felt like our old time religion. She had always been active in our old church, singing in the youth choir, and she never missed a service. She's hungry for the word, and wants to find her place in church. I was searching the UPC Church's Facebook site, and saw a man I recognized from the past, and he was one of the Music Ministers in that church. I'm a firm believer in religious conversion, and that Christ can perform miracles and save anyone, but my hackles were raised with this man. I have a personal history with him, and it isn't good.

Over the past year, he's integrated himself into her life. She kept telling him they were friends only, nothing more. But, he came to her this past winter, put down an engagement ring, and declared her to be his fiance, and that they were getting married this spring. He didn't ask her for her hand in marriage, he just stated it like it was a hostile takeover. She was shocked and intimidated. He then posted on his facebook wall that they were engaged, and started friending everyone on her friend's list, to include her daughters and grand daughters. He started yelling at her, threatening her when she didn't wear the ring to church, and started demanding she tell him when she left her apartment, who she saw, and how long she was gone.
She has saved phone messages and texts where he's threatened her with violence should she not respond to him.
She's scared to death, and finds herself in a problem because the church members are now planning her wedding, a wedding she doesn't want, and a marriage she's being bullied into.
I've talked to her and talked to her about the scriptures, but also about Battered Women Syndrome, and the necessary steps she needs to take to rid herself of this ...evil. She's scared to death to tell the pastor of the UPC she's been attending, because he's all for the marriage.
So...men and women of this forum, do you have any advice or observations?
I've prayed about this, rebuked this guy in the name of Jesus, prayed with her, but he will not leave her alone.
He's been married three times, and I find it funny that in the UPC bylaws that they recommend their ministers stay single should they divorce.
Am I missing something? My wife and I are at a loss, and we've implored her to take the necessary steps to protect herself and her daughters, but no matter what she does, he's there.