Delighting in the Doctrines of God
Complementarian churches should be places where both men and women are engaged in robust ministry. What does that look like?
Essential and Indispensable: Women and the Mission of the Church
Calling All Competent Complementarians
How Can Women Thrive in the Local Church, by Keri Folmar
Women & God: Hard Questions, Beautiful Truth, by Kathleen Nielson
Scripture God Salvation Christ
Get the 4-Volume Set.
Is Complementarianism a Man-Made Doctrine?, CBMW
Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning, 9Marks Journal
How God Speaks to Us Today, Tim Challies
Complementarian Spirituality: Reformed Women and Union with Christ, by Natalie Brand
God’s Design for Women, by Sharon James
Men and Women in the Church, by Kevin DeYoung
Scripture God Salvation Christ
Get the 4-Volume Set.
A young pastor’s wife sat across from me in tears, wondering how she would partner with her husband in ministry with three little ones in tow. She had a head for theology and a heart for women, but two babies had slowed her down in the last few years and now she was pregnant with her third.
I can remember the days of wanting to partner with my husband while running after little ones. When I was a young assistant pastor’s wife, I asked an older, wiser woman how to have spiritually encouraging conversations after church with tired and hungry kids clinging to me. Her answer wasn’t filled with the practical advice I expected. “Sometimes you just have to go home,” she said.
Often pastors’ wives feel like what we do is trivial compared to our husbands’ eternally significant work. It’s not just young kids that slow ministry wives down. Chronic pain, rebellious teens, or sick parents can drain time and energy. Or we may just be introverts who need time alone with our thoughts. Our husbands are at it full-time—studying the Bible and theology, preaching, discipling, sharing the gospel, and more. And what are we doing? There may not be much on our to-do list that feels very important.
Our family took a drive up the coast of California one summer. Out of all the beautiful scenery we saw, the most amazing was the Redwood Forests, home to the biggest trees in the world.
A redwood tree is quite a sight. The first giant we saw was a famous tree whose girth was wide enough to drive a truck through. As you can imagine, it was huge. But driving through a single tree doesn’t compare to the experience of driving into the redwood forests. Hundreds of towering trees with enormous, deep red trunks surrounded by beds of lush ferns created spectacular scenes that made us feel we had entered into a magical fairyland. We explored in and through the trees, enjoying the quietness, interrupted occasionally by the melodic click of an insect or frog. We marveled at how great and beautiful our God is. He spoke these majestic redwoods into being, along with the hawks that nest in their branches and the chipmunks that run at their feet. The beauty and wonder of the forests must pale in comparison to him.
Continue reading “Faith Like Redwoods”