Scripture

It’s best if a woman learns quietly and orderly in complete submission. Now, Timothy, it’s not my habit to allow women to teach in a way that wrenches authority from a man. As I said, it’s best if a woman learns quietly and orderly. This is because Adam was formed first by God, then Eve. Plus, it wasn’t Adam who was tricked; it was she—the woman was the one who was fooled and disobeyed God’s command first. Still, God, in His faithfulness, will deliver her through childbearing as long as she remains in faith and love and holiness with self-restraint.

1 Timothy 2:11-15 (VOICE)

The Gist

Allison takes a deeper look at a verse she has been overlooking (on purpose) for years to find out what she believes Scripture says about women teaching and leading in ministry.

Historical Context: This letter was written by Paul to Timothy, who was leading the Church in Ephesus. At the time, the city was dominated by the Cult of Artemis (Greek goddess of childbirth and fertility). Scholars believe the women leaders were trying to influence and blend their ideas with the church.

The Word Definitions Count:

Hesychia "silence", authentein "authority", and askein "to teach"

Two Sides: Traditional: believe the text is black and white - that Pau's instructions should be universal and across the board. The other side (Egalitarian): says Paul wrote the letter to address this specific local crisis (The cult of Artemis) and not laying it down as a timeless universal biblical law.

MOST INTERESTING argument for the Egalitarian way of thought for Allison is how many more of Paul's letters in which he spoke of women as leaders and affirmed their roles in ministry, sometimes even putting their name before men.

Acts 18:26, 1 Corinthians 11:5, Romans 16:1-16, etc.

Digging Deeper

Is there something in God's Word that you have been ignoring or going with the flow on, depending on who you were around? Something that maybe you are nervous about or avoiding because you might not like the answer?

Are you willing to take it on with God, dig in, and allow Him to speak truth to you?

Where to start: get a good commentary and Bible with extensive endnotes/footnotes. Start with the historical context, enter into the time period, and consider when, why, and who wrote the letter. Then pick out the words that stand out (mine were silence/quiet, authority, teach) and define them with their Greek or Hebrew meanings. Consider the author and compare their other writings (if they have them) to see if you find a theme.

Paul's writing showed me a theme of honoring and affirming women in ministry rather than dismissing them from it. That's what led me to believe this letter was written to a specific situation, instead of an overall Biblical theme.

Scripture

So own up to your sins to one another and pray for one another. In the end, you may be healed. Your prayers are powerful when they are rooted in a righteous life. James 5:16 (VOICE)

The Gist

We don't talk much about confession in the protestant church. James isn't saying we should confess every fault/sin to every person, but instead to certain situations:

• Where reconciliation is needed
• where your heart/conscience is burdened
• where a trusted friend can listen and help us receive grace and gain power over shame/guilt.

We avoid confessing for several reasons: exposure/shame, loss of control, lack of safe listeners, and theological confusion, but there is a lot of good that comes out of confession. It heals the body and soul, sin loses its power, authentic relationships happen, prayers become specific, and we experience the Gospel physically through being fully known and not rejected from the listener.

Digging Deeper

Is there something you would confess to God privately but can't imagine saying out loud to another person - what does that gap tell you?

Bonhoeffer said, "If the demon that is named is the demon that loses its power." What in your life needs to be named?

Who are you performing wholeness for, and what would it cost you to stop?

These questions are meant to clear the ground and create the conditions for confession, not demand it.

Scripture

I could speak more of faith; I could talk until time itself ran out. If I continued, I could speak of the examples of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and all the prophets. 33 I could give accounts of people alive with faith who conquered kingdoms, brought justice, obtained promises, and closed the mouths of hungry lions. 34 I could tell you how people of faith doused raging fires, escaped the edge of the sword, made the weak strong, and—stoking great valor among the champions of God—sent opposing armies into panicked flight. Hebrews 11:32-34 (VOICE)

The Gist

No, it isn't a typo. We didn't mean Rise and Shine, we really meant Rise and Found! After reading once again about all the unexpected Heroes of Faith or Champions of God, we were reminded of how none of them felt capable, prepared, or strong enough. BUT God chose them and equipped them.

The phrase: Found strength rising out of weakness stood out. This episode, Allison & Melissa talk unscripted about which word stood out, drew them in, and what God revealed. You won't want to miss what they discovered and share in this episode.

Melissa: Found

Allison: Rising

Digging Deeper

Found strength rising out of weakness. What world draws your attention? Found? Strength? Rising? Weakness?

Find a quiet spot, sit, and linger with this question and see what God reveals to you. Be sure to share with a friend.

Scripture

It wasn’t long after this when Jesus entered a city called Nain. Again all of His disciples accompanied Him, along with a huge crowd. 12 He was coming near the gate of the city as a corpse was being carried out. This man was the only child and support of his widowed mother, and she was accompanied by a large funeral crowd.

13 As soon as the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her.

Jesus: Don’t weep.

14 Then He came to the stretcher, and those carrying it stood still.

Jesus: Young man, listen! Get up!

15 The dead man immediately sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother,

Luke 7:11-15 (The Voice)

The Gist

We take a look at the deeper meanings found within the Luke 7 story - what it says about us and what it says about Jesus that His compassion gifted this widow an uninvited and unrequested miracle.

Every other healing in the gospels involves some form of approach - someone coming to Jesus, reaching for Him or His cloak, crying out, or sending word. But here, in this story, Jesus crosses the distance on His own initiative.

Jesus: Notices the one, is often moved before He acts, comes to us, and restores us.

The direction you are walking doesn't determine whether Jesus can find you! This unrequested miracle strips away every transactional framework we quietly attach to God's goodness. We can subtly believe (without saying it) that miracles flow to the spiritually prepared, those who have prayed enough and just right, believed enough, and positioned themselves correctly. This story of the widow dismantles ALL of that!

Digging Deeper

Is there a place in your life where you have accepted a loss as final - something you have given up on or stopped asking about because the procession is underway? What would it look like or mean to let Jesus meet you there - not because you pursued Him, but because He sees you and is moved?

Scripture

Paul, an emissary of Jesus the Anointed commissioned by order of God our Savior and Jesus the Anointed, our living and certain hope), to you, Timothy, my true son in the faith.

Here’s a statement worthy of trust: Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King, came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them all. 1 Timothy 1:1-1, 15 (The Voice)

The Gist

In Part Three of this series, we discuss the gap between how we see ourselves and how God sees us.

We take a look at:

How we see ourselves and why we see ourselves that way

How God sees us and why

Why our hearts resist what God speaks over us and

What closing the gap between the two actually looks like in our daily lives.

The gap isn't between who we really are and who we should be - The gap is between our filtered self-perception and His unfiltered eternal knowledge of us.

Digging Deeper

Whose voice first told me I was less than? How old was I - and am I still living under that assessment as though it were authoritative?

When I picture myself, what do I see first - my failures and limitations, or the image of God in which I was made? What does that tell me about whose mirror I am standing in front of most often?

God names Gideon "mighty warrior" before Gideon had done a single brave thing. What might God be naming in me that I have not yet grown into, and am I resisting that name?

The gap often closes not in a moment of revelation, but in a long practice of returning - returning to truth when the old voices speak. What anchors, practices, or words from Scripture could become my returning places when the gap widens again?

Scripture

But this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (The Voice)

The Gist

In Part Two of this series, we dive into one of the most spiritually sophisticated heart blocks/traps there is: unworthiness mistaken as humility.

True humility says: "I am not the source."

Unworthiness disguised as humility says: "I should not be here at all/"

We discuss: why it's difficult to catch, the fears and obstacles that hide underneath it, and what God is actually looking for when it comes to humility and us trusting Him to work in our weakness and insecurities.

Digging Deeper

When I say "I'm not worthy of this," am I expressing genuine dependence on God - or am I protecting myself from the risk of stepping forward?

Am I confusing the feeling of inadequacy with a word from God? Who told me I was too small for this?

If a beloved friend looked at me in the eyes and said, "I trust you with this," would I argue with them or receive it? Why do I argue with God?

There is a difference between "God loves me anyway" and "God trusts me with this." Which is harder to hold? What does that reveal?

Scripture

Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship. 2 Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.

Paul urges those who read and hear his letter to respond to the good news by offering their bodies—eyes, ears, mouths, hands, feet—to God as a “living sacrifice.” Paul knows well enough that sacrifices end in death, not life. But the sacrifice of Jesus changes everything. His resurrection steals life from death and makes it possible for those who trust in Him to become a sacrifice and yet live. But how do we live? We do not live as before, wrapping ourselves in the world and its bankrupt values. We live in constant renewal and transformation of our minds.

3 Because of the grace allotted to me, I can respectfully tell you not to think of yourselves as being more important than you are; devote your minds to sound judgment since God has assigned to each of us a measure of faith.

Romans 12:1-3 (The Voice)

The Gist

Allison drops a doozy of a question on us from her scripture meditation.

Is it easier for you to believe in God's love for you than the trust/faith He has in you?

God's Love for you - is something you receive that flows to us and costs nothing but surrender.

God's trust/faith in you - this means God looks at us, fully knowing us - and says, "I'm sending her." It requires us to agree with His assessment of what He's placed inside us.

Heart Blocks to trusting in His love and trust: Unworthiness mistaken for identity, fear of visibility, past experiences used against us for future promises, and the gap between how we see ourselves and how God sees us.

Digging Deeper

Unworthiness as identity — Where have I mistaken the feeling of unworthiness for the truth of who I am, and what would shift in me if I agreed with God’s assessment instead of my own?

Fear of visibility — What part of being “seen” feels unsafe to me, and how might God be inviting me to trust that His gaze is protective rather than exposing?

Past experiences as barriers — Which past experiences am I still allowing to predict my future with God, and what would it look like to let His promises speak louder than my memories?

Gap between God’s view and mine — Where do I most resist believing what God says about me, and what fear sits underneath that resistance?

Agreeing with His sending — If God looks at me fully and says, “I’m sending her,” what keeps me from saying yes to His confidence in me?

Scripture

Moses (to God): 11 Who am I to confront Pharaoh and lead Israel’s children out of Egypt?

Eternal One: 12 Do not fear, Moses. I will be with you every step of the way, and this will be the sign to you that I am the One who has sent you: after you have led them out of Egypt, you will return to this mountain and worship God.

Moses: 13 Let’s say I go to the people of Israel and tell them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to rescue you,” and then they reply, “What is His name?” What should I tell them then?

Eternal One: 14 I AM WHO I AM. This is what you should tell the people of Israel: “I AM has sent me to rescue you.”

Exodus 3:11-14 (The Voice)

The Gist

Today, we discuss the in's and out's of failure and how to learn to celebrate it.

Digging Deeper

What if success is not the outcome but the willingness to try?

What act of bravery did this failure require that I haven’t acknowledged yet?

What did this failure teach me that success never could have?

How does celebrating failure loosen the grip of needing to be impressive?

What can I genuinely thank this failure for?

How might God be using this failure to redirect, refine, or free me?

What does this failure remind me about where my identity truly rests?