In the World and in the Church there is what I believe to be a War Against Women.
Women have been told for generations that men are more superior, but according to Jesus and the Word of God, this is not true.
Growing up, I attended church with my Father, who was a very kind man and not one that exercised any Lordship or authority over my mother.
When I became a Christian; a follower of Jesus Christ, I grew in my faith within the non-denominational, full-gospel circles and teaching, while also attending a Bible school that taught women are equal to man, and according to the scriptures are allowed and called by God, to teach and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in all areas of ministry.
I learned and heard the Gospel from both Gifted men and Women, whom God had called to preach in pulpits all around the world.
While living in the Northern part of the United States (Michigan, born and raised) I did not hear that women were to keep silent and that they were not permitted to teach or preach the Gospel, until my husband and I were both led by God to move south. Before our move, we visited friends in Florida, and it was there the Lord spoke to and revealed to us to move to Florida. When we returned from our trip, the Lord spoke to me and said we would start a church there, and gave me the verse, “You are the Light of the World, a City set on a Hill cannot be hid.” Matthew 5:14.
Upon our move in the summer of 2002, while my husband was walking and praying on the beach the Lord confirmed with my husband what He had spoken to me and said, “There is not a church in the town, I want you to start one.” And in January of 2003 we established the First church ever in the History of the the Town of Ponce Inlet, FL., Ponce Church.
It was then I began to hear this ungodly and unscriptural belief that women are not permitted to teach or preach, especially as a pastor. I cover this issue and address every bible verse that denominations use to silence women in my book: Love Awakens, in the chapter Woman Preach.
One of the main texts that I and other women for decades have heard in efforts to silence us is found in 1 Corinthians 14:26-39. In this letter to the Corinthian Church, the Apostle Paul addresses the church on HOW to USE their vocal Gifts during church meetings, and in his letter he begins by addressing BOTH men and Women, make note that as you read this context of verses you will see that Paul is addressing Both the “Brothers and Sisters”:
26 Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
27 (Brother’s and Sisters) No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say. 28 But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately.
29 (Brothers and Sisters)Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. 30 But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop. 31 In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. 32 Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.
Take Note: In the following verse, since the verses preceding this coming verse, Paul is speaking to BOTH the Brothers and Sisters on How to Use their vocal Gifts, given by God, we will see a verse that appears to be out of place or out of character based on what Paul had just been telling the Brothers and Sisters regarding church meetings, in the proceeding verse we will see that it was NOT Paul telling Women to be silent but in fact correcting this false teaching by the Corinthians.
How can we be sure? Because they say, “the Law says,” and if you conduct an in-depth study you will find that “the Law” NEVER SAYS WOMEN KEEP SILENT, NOR DOES THE LAW SAY THAT IT’S A SHAME FOR WOMEN TO SPEAK IN THE CHURCH.
Paul knew the Law VERY WELL, and in verse 36, we will see Paul Correcting the church for this unscriptural belief. You will ALSO SEE that after Paul corrects them, He finishes with, “Brothers and Sisters…”
34 Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says. 35 If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings.
(Paul Correcting the Corinthians) 36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
38 But if you do not recognize this, you yourself will not be recognized.
39 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But (Brothers and Sisters) be sure that everything is done properly and in order.
The following verses reveal clearly that Both men and Women are called to speak for God:
Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are ALL ONE in Christ Jesus.”
Acts 2: 2-4, 14-18:
2 On the day of Pentecost ALL THE BELIEVERS (both men and Women) were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, (tongues) as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
Recently I had someone say to me, “I believe that women can teach and speak for God, but I do not believe they can be a pastor.” This comment was new for me, because most have broadened this belief by saying women cannot speak in the church at all, regardless, both beliefs are unscriptural and incorrect.
When the person said this to me I was prepared, as I have addressed this issue many times over the years, I responded and said, first of all the scriptures tell us there is neither male nor female in the body of Christ. Then I said, in the Scriptures it says that God gave Gifts to “the church,” Ephesians 4:11-13, 11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ…
Then I followed with, Who is the body of Christ? He responded and said, “The Church” I then said, “What is the Church comprised of?” And as he looked at me I finished the question: “Men and Women” he agreed. I then continued and said, since the Body of Christ is comprised of Both men and Women, and since the Scriptures tell us there is neither male nor female in the body of Christ and since, God said, in the last days He would “pour out” His Spirit on “All people” and that “Your sons AND Daughters” shall Prophecy (Prophecy in the Greek means to speak the Divine words of God) then when God Gave Gifts to His Church, the Body of Christ, both men and Women, then Women CAN and ARE called and anointed by God to be, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers.
For those of you who may not be aware, Priscilla, since her name is written in front of her husband Aquila, and since Paul addresses them as Priscilla and Aquila (See Acts 16 and 18) Priscilla may have been the Lead Pastor of “the church that meets in their home.”
PAUL COMMENDS WOMEN MINISTERS: ROMANS 16:1-5,
I Commend to you our Sister Phoebe, who is a Deacon
(GREEK word for Deacon: Diakonos: meaning Minister) IN THE CHURCH in Cenchrea.
Since the Scriptures are Clear! Why then does it appear that there is a War Against Women?
I’m glad you asked. Recently (and I touched on this in my book: Love Awakens) the Lord began to show this more clearly to me, this is what is called, Revelation, where the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of Truth, begins to Reveal or shine a light upon the written word of God and God then allows you to see, more clearly, what He is saying.
When we look at the book of Beginnings, the book of Genesis we see that God said, “Let Us make man (mankind) in Our image.” Genesis 1:26-28. We then see that God formed man (Adam) from the dust of the earth, and then God caused a deep sleep to come over Adam and He creates Eve. Take note: He did not Create Eve from Adams foot, He created her from Adams side (his rib) and the two became One, God created them Equal. This is the first Marriage in the Bible.
In reading you will also notice that BEFORE the fall of both Adam and Eve (God said, Adams sin, Romans 5:12, When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.) there was Equality, God gave both Adam and Eve dominion over everything in the garden, but He did NOT give them Dominion over one another. For generations you’ll read and hear others say it was Eve’s fault, but if you look at the scriptures, God holds Adam accountable, and if you pay attention to the scriptures you see that “their eyes were opened” meaning sin entered, when Adam ate the fruit, it does not say their eyes were opened when Eve at it, it says, their eyes were opened when Adam ate it, let’s take a look: Genesis 3:6, The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment THEIR EYES were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Pay attention to this: Before the Fall, you will see that God did not say for man to Rule over woman, but you will see that AFTER the fall, after BOTH Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience, that God spoke to Adam, Eve, AND the Serpent; Satan. Here is where we will see that because of the sin, or the result of sin, that Satan, who is the author of sin, brought corruption not only through sin, sickness and disease and death BUT ALSO, corruption within the marriage, we’re going to see where Adam “accuses” Eve, also note that in Revelation 12, the scriptures say that the Serpent, Satan, is the “accuser of the brethren (brothers and sisters) and “accuses” them day and night:
The Man and Woman Sin
3 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
This is where the War against women began, this is not a war of flesh and blood, as spoken to us in Ephesians 6:10-13, but a war against the devil, ”
Finally, my brothers and sisters, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (tricks) of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
The Lord informs us that we are not wrestling (or at war) with flesh and blood, (people) but against the kingdom of darkness, the dominion of Satan, and because of Jesus and what He did on the Cross, we are then given God’s Armor to help us “resist the devil” and overcome the “wicked one.” And because of this spiritual War against Satan (Jesus destroyed the works of the devil in 1 John 3:8) he, the devil has influenced men (mankind, both men and women) and have told others that God said, Man shall Rule over Woman, and tricked the Corinthian church into believing and teaching that women were to keep silent, but that is NOT what God commanded, if he had, he would have said it BEFORE the fall, after He created both Adam and Eve, but He didn’t, on the contrary, He gave both Adam and Eve Dominion over everything IN the Garden, BUT NOT OVER ONE ANOTHER.
It wasn’t until the Fall of both Adam and Eve that sin entered and with it brought Hostility between the Serpent, who is Satan and the Woman, which caused the man, because of sin, not by God’s order, to rule over the woman. This was the result of Satan’s work, a result of the CURSE because of the sin, NOT a part of God’s original plan. And we also see the equality of man and woman in 1 Peter 3:7, In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should (your equal) so your prayers will not be hindered.
THE GOOD NEWS!
JESUS, REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW! Galatians 3:13. He Redeemed us from sin and the affects of sin, (including sickness and disease along with sin, See Isaiah 53:4,5, Matthew 8:17, 1 Peter 2:24, Acts 10:38) and RESTORED, Delivered and Healed us, as the SECOND ADAM, to the GOOD that God originally planned and intended, and that includes the EQUALITY of man and woman in marriage, and Equality outside of marriage. We are ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS! He has given Gifts to ALL His people, Both men and Women. Glory to God!
To Learn more about Religion and how it is evil crept into many denominations and non-denominations through the doctrines of man (mans opinions and beliefs) and doctrines of demons, and how it has taken advantage of women and exploited them, see the following links:
Sexism has long been part of Southern Baptists:
The above article regarding Sexism in the Southern Baptists:
Interesting, before the fundamentalists came into the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) WOMEN were Allowed in the pastorate, and even today, Baptist churches are permitted to have women as Pastors, BUT if they do, they can no longer associate with the Baptist association:
Quote from Article above:
“In Baptist polity, local churches are autonomous and free to ordain and call as pastor whom they will. The Southern Baptist Convention has no official control over local churches.
As, however, local churches did ordain and call women to the pastorate, local Baptist associations “disfellowshipped” these congregations, excluding them from participating in the local association.’
(Article by: Susan M. Shaw ,Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Oregon State University
Photo by: Jeffrey McWhorter, Southern Baptist Convention messengers hold signs during a rally protesting the convention’s treatment of women in 2018.)
In Conclusion: Over the years the Lord has taught me to not strive the Gospel, to Love my enemies, to Bless and Not curse them, “Father Forgive them for they know not what they do.” He has told me to not pressure others to change their beliefs, instead, He has instructed me to PREACH THE TRUTH!
God’s Word says in Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. When we position ourselves by educating ourselves with what the Word of God says, then were equipped with the Armor of God to overcome the wicked one, the devil. Because ultimately that’s who God says is our enemy, 1 Peter 5:8,9
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brothers and sisters that are in the world.
Ladies, our strength is found in Putting on the Whole Armor of God! Equip yourselves with the Word of God that is Truth,
Ephesians 6:10-18,10 Finally, my brothers and sisters, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Amen.WOMEN IN THE PULPIT RESOURCES: Ann Graham Lotz on “Women in the Pulpit”
WOMEN PLANTING CHURCHES & LEAD PASTORS: Women Church Planters Hope to Give Christianity a Fresh Start
Pastor Nina on YouTube: Encourage My Daughters
