Faithful Writers

Photo by Yaopey Yong on Unsplash The mantra often rises in secular society: “How could a good God create hell?” How could a benevolent divine being, capable of seeing how things are likely to pan out, create a scenario in which some (or many) of his precious children innocently stumble into a covered pit of molten lava and haunted house horrors and torture? The answer is simple — when you see what we’re actually talking about here, you’re going to wish for it, want it, and hope it’s really true. Hell is one of the best promises the Bible has to offer. I can prove it in three points. Imagine no hell below us The opposite choice is worse. Imagine being dragged against your will into the heavy embrace of a glorious being who completely overwhelms your independence, leaving you powerless and overcome by a love you didn’t want or choose. And not just in the afterlife. To get you to paradise, he has to completely subsume your will from birth so as to make sure you never err, preparing your sinless entry into eternity. As a consequence, you may only watch your life passively, never actively making a decision of your own until you are vacuumed up into an irresistible heaven that you never asked for. That’s a hard pass for me. I’d take the freedom to choose or reject God over a guaranteed entry into heaven that required me to lose my freedom, my autonomy, and my identity. Choice requires alternatives, and the alternative to forced union with God is the ability to reject Him. That’s what hell is. Hell is the consequence of rejecting the source of life. Eternal weed burning Secondly , one of the mistakes we make in considering hell is trusting Dante over Jesus. Dante, in his 14th-century work The Inferno, describes descending levels of hell in which luckless victims (mostly Dante’s political opponents) suffer endless horrific tortures. The Church has used that imagery as a tool for manipulation ever since. That’s not what the Bible describes. The most common image of hell in the teachings of Jesus is weeds that are gathered up to be burned. That’s not an ongoing thing. That’s a one -and- done. The language of conscious torment comes primarily from a parable of Jesus in which a rich man descends and a poor man ascends, and then they have a conversation. What readers miss is that one version of this parable preceded Jesus in the Babylonian Talmud, and Jesus takes this preexisting story and riffs on it to make his own point. It shouldn’t be taken as a description of metaphysical reality; it’s a story with a moral that matters. There is not much case to be made for a hell that is endless conscious torture. It’s final, and eternal in its finality. But it’s the end. Let justice roll down So, thirdly , in addition to the fact that hell is the final cessation of those who reject God, it’s the final promise of justice for those who have been abused, raped, tortured, exploited, trafficked, and discarded. Don’t you dare steal this from them. Their Father loves them too much to let the crimes against them go unchecked and unpunished . The rejection of hell is largely an elitist, privileged, developed-nation view of apathetic secularists who talk about justice while doing nothing about it. They recycle and vote, but they’re not doing anything sacrificial, and they don’t donate much financially. Outside of the wealthiest cultures, oppressed people don’t bemoan the possibility of a judgment day. They look forward to it. So hell is great, right? To review: Hell is the ultimate affirmation of freedom Hell is the cessation of those who reject life, not torture And hell is the final promise of justice in an unjust world All that to say, if you begrudge the Lord hell, you might be an enemy of freedom, justice, and the promise of a world where sadness ends. Maybe. I really like hell. Looking forward to it — I mean, not directly. If you disagree, text me when you get there and tell me I was wrong. First published in the Mustard Seed Sentinel publication on Medium. © James W. Miller

It was refreshing to get valid questions from a reader who made sure I knew right away he wasn’t out for a fight, and they are genuine questions that are well worth the time to answer. I also knew I could not answer them to the best of my ability in a comment section. So we are here now, to do my best to answer and hopefully not confuddle anything. Here are this gentleman's questions in response to my article “ He died for all sinners. ” Screengrab The straight-laced, non-answer answer to the first part as to why die for our sins would be to retort back and say something along the lines of “Well, He died so we could go to Heaven.”  Like I said, a non-answer answer and doesn’t necessarily clarify anything if you are a non-believer, the curious, or a believer scratching your head trying to understand it. Wanting to know the reason behind the reason is perfectly normal; we don’t go to a car dealership and not pop the hood and ask a million questions first before we decide to buy the car. The reason behind the reason : So why would God, the creator of everything, need or want to do this? Why choose death for sins instead of something else?  I’ll be completely honest, entire books are dedicated to this one question, so there is stuff I will not be able to cover completely or even touch on. I’m just going to do this how I would in person, and take out the jargon and be human, because I, too, asked these same questions once. I wanted a teacher, not a preacher. To begin, it ultimately boils down to two starting points, from how I see it in my brain. (Others have different starting points, and that doesn’t mean any of us are wrong, just different.) Sin became a part of our lives. God cannot tolerate sin because He is just, and sin needs to be punished.  Sin can not and should not be tolerated; if God tolerated sin of any kind, He would have to tolerate all sin. If He did that, then good would no longer exist, sin would take over, and our understanding of good and bad would cease to exist completely and become a constant state of grey.  It had to stay black and white. If there were no firm line drawn between to two, I couldn’t even imagine what that world would begin to look like. He outright refuses to tolerate sin, and for good reason, sin leads to death. We are told this from the beginning in Genesis.  A death that is beyond just our heartbeat stopping, a death that results in all of us never being able to be within His presence again. A gap we are unable to bridge on our own. First, we need to recognize that God didn’t want puppets. I mean, what’s the point of a real relationship if you are in control of every aspect of it, including their thinking? There is no point, we get to choose of our own accord and will, always.  He created something beautiful and perfect that He wanted to share, then sin entered. (Oh, and yes, lots could be written on that topic, and I’d barely scratch the surface because of the complexity, super in-depth is best left to the pros who have spent their lives diving into that subject, I’m nowhere near that yet.) If sin had not entered our world, God wouldn’t have been put into the position He was put into. He easily could have snuffed Adam and Eve out and started over — or some like to think at least.  See, God connected with us  through the breath of life , which was exclusive and unique to us. He made a point of setting us apart from the animals He created by giving us a soul, that connection and purity allowed Adam and Eve to be in His presence. We are given a hint of this perfection in Genesis 3:8. If sin had not entered the world, we’d still be in Eden, walking and talking with God in His presence, like nothing happened; we would be in paradise without a moment's worry. What kind of God would He be if He had just snuffed Adam and Eve out? And this includes us, btw, because from the very beginning He knew us, He knit us together, and appointed us. That's an intimate gesture towards us. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 Would He have just left their souls, which are connected to Him, floating out there for all eternity, feeling the weight of sin with no possible way to be redeemed, no possible way to be reconciled , and no possible way to ask forgiveness? — I’m not even going to pretend that I fully understand the “why did things have to go down the way they did in Eden?” My thought on that matter is maybe it had to play out that way so the ones who chose God are truly, completely, and willingly with God as individuals and not puppets? Probably an unpopular thought, but it’s what I got, I don’t know the why, and that’s ok. It happened, now we have to deal. This is where those harder questions come in: Why send Himself to suffer and die for us? Why was death needed? Couldn’t He have done something else?  This is epically one of the hardest concepts to wrap the brain around, trust me, I’ve been there. So, here we are now with sin in the world that separates us from God.  For us to even enter Heaven, we have to be resurrected and transformed with new bodies . Also important to note, we actually get a new   Heaven and Earth (2); we need new bodies to be in our new Heaven and Earth. God will create a new environment free from sin for believers so we can once again be in His presence.   “ Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. ” Now, sin has to go somewhere; sin is a transgression against God’s law. The sin in the world has to be conquered and separated from us, so that we are no longer separated from God. That black and white situation I talked about earlier. To explain it as best I can, sin is a debt, a debt we can not pay on our own. Sin is too heavy, too dark, too unholy for a person (human) to carry to Heaven. Jesus (the Son of God) came to literally carry that debt; He took it upon Himself, into Himself, so that we are free of it when we die and meet Him in Heaven because He was the perfect “vessel” for lack of a better word, to take all sin, carry it, and destroy it.  This was an act of mercy and love for all humanity.  We are not left hanging, trying to carry our sins with us for eternity, constantly separated from God. Sin strangles our soul with its weight. We now have the chance to be free of our sins and be with Him  once again —  if we so choose . (more on that later) “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 Did you catch that? “In His Body.”  He carried the full weight of every sin in Himself. Our death (the worst then heart-stopping kind of death)  had to be defeated by His death. He paid that price ( atonement )  for us because sin has to be paid for, but the system was flawed; it is a transgression against God’s law, and God provided a way for us to be with Him again. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1 Now, what about Hitler? First, we have no idea what Hitler was thinking when he killed himself, so I’m not going to theorize on that. But what we can know for sure is that he was a sinner. A sinner like you and me.  As hard and unfathomable as it is, we do not have the right to deny God and His forgiveness to anyone. I’m sure if the victims of the holocaust knew Hitler repented, as in truly and completely repented, some would have an extremely hard time with that. How could God forgive a man like that, though?  Simple, the same way He did for you and me.  Here’s the catch, though, Hitler wouldn’t be able to just mouth the words “God forgive me for my sins and I give you mine and my wife’s life because I don’t deserve to live?” and expect to be in Heaven. Doesn’t work like that for anyone.  You want salvation? You have to mean it; otherwise, God will not recognize you on judgment day. “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”  Matthew 7:20–23 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32–33 Repentance is the only way anyone is getting into Heaven.  “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,” Act 3:19 Jesus’s death wasn’t some blanket atonement packet for everybody to get into Heaven; you have to repent, you have to want to follow Him, you have to want to change, you have to have faith in Him, His death, His resurrection, and His atonement for believers. We want God to forgive us for our sins, and cherish knowing we will see Him on judgment day and hear, “ I Know You. ” We may not like it, but we have no right to deny this to anyone if they have chosen Him.  We are also told to forgive those who have sinned against us. Ephesians 4:32 , Matthew 6:12 , and Luke 17:3–4 . As well as told “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. ” 1 John 3:15 . This can be hard, even painful to accept, and many will turn away just because of this last section alone. But we truly do not have any right to deny salvation to anyone. If you believe you deserve it, so do they. We have no right to point fingers at someone else’s sin and deem it as worse than ours, and therefore, they are to be denied Heaven because it’s what we want and what we believe. Salvation doesn’t play favorites, and neither does God when someone turns and comes to Him. We don’t have to like it, but you do have someone who can help you come to accept this, and that He loves us all. ☝ I hope I have done as well as I can in answering and didn’t go too squirrely. There is no way to cover the vast points that could still be included, but I hope this helps at least answer a few questions and get you in the right direction for further study. I also recommend reading Why Jesus Has To Be Both Divine and Human To Atone for Humanity’s Sins   by Mary Lou Cornish . Her article further expands on what I have not or only skimmed the surface of. © Jane Isley Sources: (1) simplybible.com (2)   In God’s presence once again —  Revelation 21 Got Questions: What is the meaning of atonement?   Soul and womb —  Psalm 139:13–16 We must confess our sins —   1 John 1:9 No one comes to the Father except through me. —  John 14:6 “But made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18 New bodies: Philippians 3:21 , 1 Corinthians 15:42–44 , & 2 Corinthians 5:1–4 Additional reading sources that touch on points in this article: He died for all sinners. Our Heavenly Inheritance Communion Thursday The modern Western Church: more sanitised than Sanctified

unsplash This is Part 2 of a three-part series on the Sexual Revolution. For the first article, please see The Sexual Revolution Lies to Women . A Better Revolution The 1960s promised a sexual revolution. And it delivered — just not the kind most people expected. The fallout is now impossible to ignore: rising loneliness, regret, anxiety, and abuse, especially for women. Even secular voices like Louise Perry are sounding the alarm, wondering aloud if we’ve dismantled something vital in our pursuit of freedom. But what if the sexual revolution we actually need… already happened? Not in the 20th century. Not in a courtroom or a university. But in dusty towns under Roman rule — led by a carpenter’s son who never married and spoke to women like no man ever had. The Roman World Was a Sexual Free-for-All — But Only for the Powerful To understand how revolutionary Jesus really was, we need to look at what he was confronting. The Greco-Roman world was permissive — but only for those at the top. In Rome, consent wasn’t the rule — power was . Men could sleep with their wives, mistresses, slaves, prostitutes, and even adolescent boys. So long as they didn’t violate another man’s wife or take a “passive” role, it was socially acceptable. This wasn’t fringe behavior — it was expected . Slaves had no sexual rights . Prostitution was institutionalized. Infanticide — especially of baby girls — was routine. Women’s worth? Conditional. A Roman woman’s job was to marry, bear sons, and stay silent. If she were raped, she could be punished. If she were unfaithful, she could be killed. Meanwhile, her husband could keep concubines without scandal. In this world, sex was power — and those with none paid the price. Jesus Didn’t Just Restrain Desire — He Rewired It Into this world stepped Jesus of Nazareth. He didn’t start a riot. He didn’t run for office. But the culture-shock he introduced was seismic. He taught that lust in the heart was on par with adultery in action. He said divorce was a moral failure, not a loophole. He taught that sex belonged within lifelong fidelity between one man and one woman — period. Even more radical? These rules applied to everyone. No exceptions for power. No special treatment for men. He held the rich and religious to the same standards as prostitutes and peasants. In short, Jesus didn’t shame desire — He redefined it. And He did it not to control people, but to honor them . Jesus and Women: Dignity in a World of Disposability Jesus not only taught a new sexual ethic — He lived it. In John 8, He defended a woman caught in adultery from public execution. Not by denying her sin, but by exposing her accusers’ hypocrisy. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” They all walked away. Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.” It was grace without moral compromise — utterly unlike the cruelty of Rome. In John 4, he spoke to a Samaritan woman at a well — a woman with five past husbands and a live-in lover. He didn’t shame her. He offered her “living water.” And she became the first evangelist in her town. Time after time, Jesus treated “unworthy” women as worthy of conversation, conviction, and calling . It was revolutionary. Everyone Was Accountable. Everyone Was Honored. The most disruptive part of Jesus’s teaching wasn’t how hard it was. It was how fair it was. In a society where men got a pass , Jesus gave them a calling. He didn’t just tell women to be pure. He told men to stop objectifying them . His earliest followers carried this forward. Paul wrote that the body “is not your own” but “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” And in Corinth — a city full of brothels — He told Christian men not to unite Christ’s body with a prostitute. This wasn’t prudishness. It was purpose. It was protection. Jesus’s ethic wasn’t about repressing sexuality. It was about redeeming it . A Revolution That Starts in the Heart Jesus never stormed Rome. But his sexual ethic dismantled it from the inside out. It challenged the powerful. It protected the vulnerable. It required everyone — slave or senator — to treat sex not as conquest, but covenant. This was the true beginning of the first sexual revolution. But it didn’t stop with Him. The early church took Jesus’s vision and turned it into a community. That’s where we’ll go next. What do you think? Was Jesus a moral conservative — or a cultural revolutionary? If His ethics lifted the lowly and challenged the powerful, what would it do in today’s world? Share your thoughts — especially if you disagree. © Nathan Cole Originally published on Medium .

“If you use the word “Christian” anywhere in conjunction with your name or introduction to another person. You are voluntarily signing up for higher expectations, whether you like it or not.”   ~ Me I was reminded of this recently, and it challenged me to examine Scripture. We are warned about judging others while ignoring the plank in our own eye ( Matthew 7:5 ) , but He never said we shouldn’t discern or hold fellow believers to His  higher standard.  He also doesn’t say we must maintain relationships with those who profess Christianity yet act with duplicity that causes harm or confusion. The Double-Minded Heart James 1:7–8   “For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. ” Psalm 28:3   “[…] Who speak peace with their neighbors, While evil is in their hearts .” Matthew 23:28   “So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. ” Scripture Makes It Clear When a person reveals instability of character, saying one thing and doing another, trust is broken. And instead of repentance, pride can often take over. Ego, defensiveness, and self-justification pour out fast. That is a heart not of God, but of this world. A torn heart. The Greek word for unstable  in James 1:8  is akatastatos , meaning unstable , restless,  and disorderly . That paints a vivid picture: a person whose thoughts, motives, and actions are never fully aligned. Someone likely swayed by every emotion or circumstance.  That kind of instability produces impulsive reactions and fractured relationships. It’s not a trait of Christ, and it’s not something we should allow to take root in our lives. Yes, we screw up at times, but trust me, there is a cast-iron pan hitting you somewhere in the head when you screw up. You feel it, you see it, you can even taste it. It is up to you to listen and be taught by God to walk away from what the world deems “right” and do better.  You mature. Anchoring Your Soul  A double-minded, unstable person is restless because their internal foundation is unstable. Those who are anchored in Christ are steadier and, at the very least, feel that cast-iron conviction hard enough to shape up.  One of our callings as believers isn’t only to walk in alignment with God. It’s to do the work to get there and to fight to stay there; it is also to hold fellow believers to the higher standard that Christ set forth for us. How We React Reveals Who We Are I’ve found that when you truly live your life for Christ, things just naturally occur in a person. It becomes instilled in you, whether you are new to it or not. Especially in how you respond to feedback. When your heart is in line with Christ, I usually see one of two things: You recognize feedback for what it is, appreciate it, learn from it, apply it, and move on; or You feel the sting, step back, have a convo with God, learn from it, and then move on. I remember my interactions with people.  They shape how I move forward with them. I trust their words and their love for Christ, but when instability becomes painfully clear, trust is lost. It’s not that I hold onto anything negative against them and dwell on it; it’s that that interaction shows me exactly where they are in life with God, and what they need prayer for.  It also shows me that I may need to step away from that harm and hold them to a higher standard, which is what they signed up for when they proclaimed Christianity. Final Thought Moment When others act double-minded, don’t let their instability shake your integrity. Stand firm, call it out respectfully, respond with grace, and walk away if you must.  The world will always be pulling at our loyalties, but a surrendered heart will always find its balance in Him. © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider   supporting my work . Your gift supports the ongoing operation of Faithful Writers. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

I’ve been plagued lately with sadness at what I see happening within many churches.  To me, they are no longer churches, just fancy buildings full of people who have not just lost their way, but purposely go their own way, and think they can convince God to go along with it. Many debates have already happened, and even more will continue as people pursue themselves and increasingly push God aside in pursuit of life, liberty, and the lies they want to hear. The same people who can quote Psalm 23  without a moment's hesitation with a faithful adoration are willingly choosing to ignore other parts of the Bible. Both the leaders and the congregants are equally guilty.  “This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).”  “But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?” “You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.” “You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.” “[…]But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you. “Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:”  I don’t need to elaborate, explain, or break down the language. God couldn’t be clearer.  If you can not bear this, you are not of Him. If you are angered, you are not of Him. If you cannot hear Him, you are not of Him. Ignorance is not bliss. No one is stopping anyone from reading their Bible and having courage in God to stand faithfully to His words. Reference Verses and recommended reads: Bible Gateway; NIV Psalm 49  & Bible Gateway; NIV Psalm 50 A Few Headlines from Mainline Liberal Churches , by Jeff Hilles. © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

Adobe Stock When the Hustle Meets Faith There’s a silent war inside every believer who dreams big, the tug of war between grace and grind. Between “Let go and let God” and “Work till you drop.” Between trusting His pace and fearing you’ll be left behind. We were raised in a culture that glorifies hustle. If you’re not working late, pushing harder, or chasing more, you’re “not serious.” But grace whispers a different truth, which is the fact that your worth isn’t proven by exhaustion, and your destiny doesn’t depend on sleepless nights, and the Bible reminds us that we’re not running on self-effort. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” — Philippians 2:13 The Pressure to Prove Yourself Still, it’s hard to rest when the world rewards performance. Hard to breathe when every scroll screams “you’re falling behind.” We might not want to believe it, but we end up grinding out of fear, not faith anymore. We push, not because God said “go,” but because silence feels unsafe. But here’s what grace keeps teaching me: God never asked you to burn out proving a point He already settled on the Cross. When Grace Leads the Grind Grace doesn’t cancel work, it purifies it, it reminds you that diligence is worship, not survival. That rest is not laziness, it’s trust, and you can still show up with excellence without losing your soul in the process. When grace leads your grind, peace replaces panic. You still work hard, but not to earn, to honor. You still dream big, but this time you don’t do it to compete; you do it to serve. You stop moving like someone trying to be chosen, and start moving like someone who already is and will always be. And when you start to wait instead of rushing, Heaven steps in with strength the hustle could never give. Take a look at this: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” — Isaiah 40:31 This is the promise of God to those who can wait. Heaven doesn’t appreciate so much haste. The Real Victory This is not to encourage laziness, but the goal isn’t to choose one over the other. The real victory is actually learning to grind in grace, to show up, stay faithful, and still sleep soundly knowing Heaven’s pace is enough because sometimes, the bravest thing you can do in a world obsessed with hustling is to rest like someone who knows they’re already loved. © Favour

I’m a Christian student at SNHU, currently majoring in Anthropology, minoring in professional writing and serving as Managing editor of Faithful Writers. My biological CPU also often breaks down, glitches, and crashes often, making life interesting and different from an average healthy person. My entire health journey since I was 11 is a testimony to God and His love, power, and mercy. He gave me the love for learning and an interest in other cultures and ways of life. He has made it clear that there is no singular right way to live for Him, everyone is different, from different backgrounds, with different spiritual gifts. My goal is to bridge faith and scholarship by writing articles that bring Christian values into conversation with anthropological concepts. There's more than one way to serve Him, and I think we can learn a lot by seeing how people from different cultural backgrounds do just that. Maia Vashti

For over 40 years, Gary has served as a life coach and relationship counselor, helping countless people achieve success in their relationships and create lives that “thrive rather than just survive.” While they admit the phrase carries a touch of cheese, they stand by its truth with a smile. A creative communicator and inspirational speaker, they are deeply satisfied and thrilled that their talks and written stories have motivated and inspired audiences and readers alike. Gary also serves as one of the editors of Faithful Writers, where they help nurture and support other voices sharing messages of faith and encouragement. Gary L. Ellis on Medium and on Facebook Gary's Spiritual Encouragement on Medium Gary's Backyard Church on Medium

© Jane Isley If you missed the first part, you can click here. Today, we are starting with that infamous “no men available” comment. I’m no Biblical scholar, but I do awesomely possess the ability to read and write. I see unmistakable evidence in Chapters 4 and 5 that there were men available. We learn that there were quite a few, in fact, and among them were leaders and princes.  But didn’t see any direct or indirect references to a lack of men or unwilling men. Did you? This is where this bad theology happened, not just with what happened during that Bible study, but for generations, this has been a thing. From what I have figured out, the “ no men available ” was based on a male “interpretation” of Judges 4 and 5. Since she was a woman, it somehow just had  to be a punishment. It’s literally just a made-up theology because this is somehow, and I still don’t understand this, a threat to men? Not only is this extremely insulting to both  men and women, but it is a worse insult to God . You’re really going to question God and throw in some frazzled fluff to support your opinion, I think not. I also fail to understand why man’s counterpart in God’s creation plan isn’t actually allowed to be a counterpart in God’s church plan, according to men. Think about that one.  A “forgotten” verse, or as I call it, “cherry-picking” your way to Heaven. “Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.”  Judges 2:16 If I were in person right now, I’d be repeating that verse with some spiciness in my voice.  This was said in Chapter 2, before we meet Deborah and the others. This verse does more than just confirm the Israelites' cycle I talked about in my first article. It shows us that God had a plan and that already included raising up  Deborah.  To ignore this verse is quite telling of those who do so. The person’s opinions and feelings should have come to a screeching halt with that verse. But I guess it’s ok to alter things a bit since he is a pastor after all, he thinks his pulpit gives him the authority to teach bad theology that caters to his personal feelings. To quote Maia Vashti “Even if there was a supposed lack of qualified men, that wouldn’t have stopped God from finding a man if that was His requirement for that role. She was who He wanted and what Israel needed at that time.” What about Barak? I do have to talk about him a bit; that guy gets picked on quite a bit.  I found that some really enjoy arguing about Barak’s response in  Judges 4:8  and make assumptions. They say he was either afraid, lacked faith, didn’t like that she was a woman, or was timid. There are a few things to consider before running with these, as though they are facts. I’m about to get a bit more technical, but I promise to keep it short and to the point. 😊 His response has been automatically assumed to mean that he was in some way angry, was faithless, or afraid. We are not told. Therefore, we should assume his reasons based on one response. His request was actually a reasonable one. She was, after all, a military leader. All the Judges were, that was a part of their role, and if thought through. Shows his respect for Deborah and God, and her relationship with God also. (Moses asked something similar of God to btw) He knew he would not get credit, and in a moment, I’ll show you his reaction to that. A verse to remember while considering all the above. “What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak,  Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms , worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,”  Hebrews 11: 32–33 Ah, yes, Barak’s reaction after they won, knowing he wasn’t going to get credit. Chapter 5 is devoted to the  Song of Deborah and Barak . Where both  Deborah and Barak sing that Jael (a woman)  is blessed for what she did. Barak knew he wouldn’t receive credit, yet he sang blessings to Jael along with praises, honor, and thanksgiving to God. He sang, inspired by the Holy Spirit.   Doesn’t sound like a man who was upset about things to me or wasn’t blessed.  Who was chosen by God to lead, whose part of their deliverance from Sisera was not an issue with God. Why is it still an issue to some? I want to state: I’m not attempting to insert an answer as to why he wasn’t the one chosen at that time to lead, but to show we can’t debase him or presume anything either. We have to look at everything as a whole, not just his one response. That’s how we wind up with so many issues in the first place. Part 3 is on it's way and here is part 1 if you missed it. © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

© Jane Isley If you haven’t been following along, here is part 1 and part 2 . If you have, awesome, and we'll be finishing up today. “The Mother of Israel “ What an honor. In  Judges 5:7 , we see something that can’t be unseen, yet somehow is blatantly ignored by many who push that “no men available” nonsense. “The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.” It takes a lot of balls and a very bad theological jump to claim that Deborah was a punishment and an embarrassment to men and Israel just because she was a woman. Look at what our Lord said about her. If that is how you truly see it, you are not in line with God; you are in line with your own personal issues, and that is the only thing embarrassing here.  Men and women are physically different, but we are spiritually and mentally equal.  If you do not agree with this, then I need you to show me, with facts, how both genders do not have  the same ability to learn, teach, discern, or be called on by God. Here are the facts, despite anyone’s feelings on this matter. God raised up those Judges, each and every one of them.  Judges 2:16 Israel went to all  the different Judges during this period. As stated above, “they were the legal voices for the people.”   They were not seeking out her  words or her  opinions, nor do we see that anywhere in the Scriptures. The people accepted her as a Judge despite her gender. It wasn’t common, but that still is the case in our era with quite a few fields of work, so it does not merit a gender-only-based argument. A comparison of the Hebrew word “shaphat” used in  Exodus 18:13  with Moses and  Judges 4:4  shows us that Deborah and Moses were doing the same job. God had zero issue inspiring the authors to write. If she was a punishment, don’t you think He would have made that clear? When it comes down to it, those who hold this opinion: She can prophesize for the people, but can’t make a judgment for the people? What is at the root of your opinion? Is it because she was a woman who had a God granted authoritative role, and you have a negative view of women? If not, why just her then? Is it a case of parroting what you were taught and not searching out the Bible for yourself, laziness, ignorance, or the case of satisfying a personal agenda? What is your Biblical justification for the belief that Deborah was a punishment? Israel had peace for 40 years because of her guidance and relationship with God. And nope, you can’t use the fact that Israel screwed up after her as justification either, because their constant screw-ups are clearly established before her and after her. © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.