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Why Christians Need to Break the Rules

I have a thing about “rules.” Like most individualistic Americans, I’m not a huge fan of them. But like most Good Christian Women, I’m really good at following them. Like that time they were doing road construction in West Duluth. My husband and I lived, worked, and worshipped in that neighborhood for several years. It’s […]

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How to (Not) Raise “Worthless Daughters”

Today I’m honored to have Judy Douglass guest posting. I hope you will find her words as motivating as I do. “Thank you, Mother, for raising a worthless daughter.” These words, part of a lament of a bride going to meet her husband for the first time, summed up the experience of women in China […]

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Rape Drugs, Roadside Stands, and Human Trafficking: There Are No Innocent Bystanders

I’m thrilled to have the insightful Tim Fall guest posting today. “Enjoy” seems like the wrong word to introduce this post with, so…read thoughtfully? Tomorrow, I will be posting about some new resources available from the Evangelical Covenant Church to prevent, recognize, and combat human trafficking. Un-Innocent Bystanders Earlier this month my son and I […]

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Holy Harmony, Batgirl! #Mutuality 2012

I never did get around to posting my Friday Favorites for this week, but each and every one of them (and then some!) are on this list! Rachel Held Evans has been hosting the Mutuality 2012 synchroblog, and the articles have been AMAZING, to say the least. She’s included links to all 188 of them […]

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Making Space for the Feminine Voice

  Women are natural communicators. No one doubts this, really, and a quick, unscientific glance at the blogosphere confirms the female desire to enter into the conversation about important issues impacting our world. But why are so many of these bubbling female voices still running underground, or being siphoned off into their own little “women’s […]

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Abraham, Abiding, and Jesus in My Heart: Heresy and Hermeneutics, Part 2

I was four years old when I led my first person to Christ. I know I was four because I couldn’t read yet (I explained the gospel by offering commentary on the Jesus pictures in my Children’s Bible), and she wasn’t in diapers, though she was younger than me. That was a very narrow window […]

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Heresy, Hermeneutics, and Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing: Part 1

I’ve been thinking about controversy among Christians a lot lately. A writer I follow on Facebook is accused of promoting a “dangerous” liberal theology. Ironically, his theology isn’t liberal at all, just rooted in a historical Christian tradition the accuser wasn’t familiar with. Which must make it “liberal,” right?   A Reformed book reviewer labels […]

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The Princess (Syndrome) Must Die: On Poisoning Schoolgirls’ Bodies and Minds

This article makes me so mad I could spit. For the third time in two weeks, the Taliban has been accused of poisoning little girls, spraying down their schoolrooms with toxic chemicals to discourage the education of women. This time, 160 girls were admitted to the hospital after experiencing headaches, dizziness and vomiting. As horrible […]

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Controversy, Bible Bullets, and Godly Conversation (repost)

Quick: what’s your opinion on gender roles? The debt ceiling? Gay marriage? Politics? War? Predestination? Before you blurt it out–stop. Just stop. Think for a moment about the words that are about to leave your mouth. Are they kind? Thoughtful? Honoring to God? Think about the person who is asking you the question; their background, […]

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Pharisees, Forbidden Fruit, and Failing the Litmus Test of Faith

I find Eve’s conversation with the serpent fascinating. Horrifying, but fascinating. So many human doubts and insecurities summed up in a few devastating sentences. Today it was Genesis 3:4 that caught my attention. The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must […]

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Walk With Me: Lessons Learned While Stranded in O’Hare Airport

Right now I’m sitting on a bed at the La Quinta O’Hare, foot propped up on a puffy white pillow, a small trash bag filled with ice from the vending area draped over my swollen, sprained ankle. It all started last night as I was (attempting to) catch my 10 p.m. flight home from a […]

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“You Are More Than…” Best Mother’s Day Sermon EVER!

Edited to add: Due to popular demand, I’ve put together a short read about Mother’s Day for women who need a little solace, and pastors who need a little help. Check it out here, or by clicking on the cover to the right. Mother’s Day sermons are notoriously awful. Sentimental tripe that leaves some women […]

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The Proverbs 31 Woman, Theology, and Me, Part 3

In Part 1, I talked about my early understandings (and misunderstandings) of the Proverbs 31 Woman. In Part 2, I shared some of the things I have learned about the theology underlying Proverbs 31. And in Part 3, I’m going to make my point (I promise). First of all, to wrap up my previous posts, I think […]

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The Proverbs 31 Woman, Theology, and Me, Part 2

In Part 1 of this post, I talked about my early thoughts about the Proverbs 31 Woman: from my childhood perception of her as a wise, kind instructor that I should emulate, to the law-ridden measuring stick of Christian womanhood that I could never live up to (and was regularly hit over the head with). […]

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The Proverbs 31 Woman, Theology, and Me, Part 1

It’s going to be a busy week around here, so I’ll be reposting a three-part series I wrote last summer, on my old blog. Enjoy! I’ve had an ambiguous relationship with the Proverbs 31 Woman over the years. When I was a baby, my Auntie Lynn gave me a plaque that hung in my room […]

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