12.06.2009
Church On The Patio!
Posted by Beth at 6:03 PM 0 comments Links to this post
12.01.2009
Gender Fundamentalism
Secular culture has a gender fundamentalism as ingrained as the religious kind. The rules about masculinity and femininity that have too often been assumed within American history (or that are currently being dictated from popular movies and books!) seem to me as damaging as any dogma coming from churches.
Posted by Beth at 5:35 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: culture, femininity, gender, gender labels, women
11.29.2009
Faith or Fantasy - Hope or Illusion?
This has been severely challenged recently as I have watched people close to me struggle in painful and devastating situations. Families exploding, pastors falling, addictions running rampant – its just too much. One day I was sharing with a friend and, in my frustration, I think I used the word fantasy. Maybe my faith and hope and the way I feel about the church is all just a fantasy. My friend listened graciously and later, he sent me this:
“What is faith but for some unknown reason to believe in what we don’t see”
Needless to say, I needed this perspective - to be reminded that my hope and faith are not rooted in the circumstances of this world.
Posted by Beth at 10:05 PM 0 comments Links to this post
11.19.2009
Where Do You Get YOUR Ideas About Gender?
Where do we get our ideas about gender? I often feel the need to stop and define the terms when the topic of masculinity and femininity come up because people are all over the map. Some believe that women and men have clearly defined roles while others believe that there is no real difference between the sexes except maybe a little biology!
Posted by Beth at 10:43 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: biblical womanhood, christian feminist, Female Voice, femininity, feminism, gender, gender labels, girly, identity
11.13.2009
Devaluing the Feminine
Why use the word feminine to describe something he didn't like?
Same song…different verse.
Truth is we still esteem masculinity over femininity in this culture. This is the most subtle and insidious form of misogyny because we don’t often see it. Women as well as men routinely spout off a string of adjectives that they find distasteful; emotional, weak, clingy, needy, irrational. Forget for a minute whether these are even truths about femininity.
The clear message? Feminine=bad, Masculine=good. And, most of us carry around these sexist attitudes in one form or another.
Naomi Wolf talks some about this in “The Beauty Myth”, when she says the perfect body is associated with traditional masculine features; hard, lean, strong. We have systematically been trained to fear anything soft, round, squishy. We fear fat, despise our own bodies and routinely favor masculine over feminine characteristics.
This became obvious to me years ago and I vividly remember when I began to connect the dots in my own heart about this. After years of working with women in the Church I realized I was hearing the same sound bites from women lips; I don’t get along with women, I prefer the company of men, I have never had many women friends, I hate women’s events, women are so_______.
Do we hear what we are saying? “ I don’t like the way God made me as a woman.” “There is something inherently distasteful about the feminine.” Why are we okay with this? Why do we not challenge this in the church? We have the best chance to get it right – to help women and men think rightly about the other and ourselves.
Ohhhhhh…so much to say!
Posted by Beth at 12:15 AM 4 comments Links to this post
Labels: christian feminist, femininity, gender, gender labels, women
5.06.2009
Vineyard Conference
This week, I am very proud of my tribe.
In a day when it is popular to sound hip talking about alternative methods and forms of church - often outside of denominational constraints - I am proud to say I love the Vineyard.
Being part of a family is messy. We never know how our mom may embarrass us or what jam Uncle Bob may get himself into. But we love them anyway. We are committed and bound to our families because of deep and profound love, our genetics and our history.
I have been a part of the Vineyard since 1990. I was hooked from the moment I attended my first conference in Anaheim, where I heard like-minded, ordinary people get up and talk in a way I understood and deeply appreciated. They were expressing a passion for the church and a desire for authentic spirituality that I craved. I quickly grew to love and identify with this group of people. I have experienced various waves, transitions and even extremes in my years in the Vineyard. But I have always sensed a deep devotion and passion to follow God and a readiness to repent and change courses when necessary.
I don't think I can really ask more of a relationship.
This week, while attending the National Leadership conference, I am reminded of why I am a part of this community...this tribe...this family.
The theme of the week is heroic leadership and the first few talks have stirred me.
Bert Waggoner (National Director) started the week on a strong note, using the story oif Esther to remind us that heroic leaders:
- Have a compelling value of God's people that drives us. He reminded us that building the church is good and right and worth it.
- Take risks. He encouraged us to free ourselves from what powerfully holds us back and to live our lives for an audience of one
- Are captured by sacrificial love that allows us to say, "If I perish, I perish". This love only comes from the experience of love.
Cheryth Fee Nordling gave a powerful talk which focused on the fact that this will kill us! There was way too much to share here, but a few things include:
- We are children of the resurrection and as his image bearers, we are to enact justice
- She challenged our entitlement mentality that is choking the American church
- We must stop side-stepping death and trying to resuscitate ourselves
- Do we treat our relationship with Jesus as a friend with benefits?
And last night Don Williams reminded us that we must stay on course with Jesus' agenda for ministry which starts with receiving power from the Holy Spirit.
I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds.
Posted by Beth at 7:56 AM 3 comments Links to this post
Labels: Bert Waggoner, Cheryth Fee Nordling, church planting, community, Don Williams, The Vineyard, Vineayrd Conference
5.01.2009
Last of the JAM favorites
Okay, so JAM was officially over yesterday. But I couldn't let this time go by without sharing two of my absolute favorites with you.
Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins - 1950
Do yourself a favor...turn the volume up, close your eyes, and enjoy Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
Beautiful!
Posted by Beth at 7:30 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, JAM, jazz, John Coltrane, Miles David




