| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
GWTW Newsletter (Click here for web version)
Contents:
A married couple will spend the rest of their lives becoming one. Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This scripture is so vital to our understanding of marriage, it is repeated in the New Testament as well in Ephesians 5:31.
Did He really expect humankind (man and woman) to spend a lifetime in the process of becoming? Although we’ve been on the marriage road a number of years, Phil and I aren’t there yet! If you’re married, have you entered into oneness? After all, we were created in His image, or so the Word says. Or, does it? Is the Genesis 1 reference made to the “adam” He first created in His image who allowed sin to mar that image? A marred vessel cannot be fixed or repaired but must be made into an entirely new vessel which only the potter sees. (Jeremiah 18:2-4) The Word says in Genesis 5:3 that Adam begat a son in his own likeness. Likewise, do we birth children in Adam’s image who must be re-created in Christ’s image? Actually, the three of them—God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit—set us upon a path as an entirely new vessel to achieve our ultimate destiny which is to be “conformed to the image of His Son.” (Romans 8:29). Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Is it possible that two new creations in Christ can actually become one? Only if both yield to each other in such a way that the re-created image looks just like Him, and not like either of them. Here’s GWTW’s stand and belief about marriage.
A Rose by Any Other Name Everyone loves the sleepy little town of Mayberry. In this hamlet of by-gone days, Sheriff Andy Taylor rarely ran into the dangerous underbelly of society. No, his days were usually filled with jaywalkers, moon-shiners and the hilarious deeds of his renowned Deputy, Barney Fife. But occasionally, real criminals did come to town. Of course our good-natured but competent sheriff always caught the bad guys and locked 'em up. Now as jails went, none topped Mayberry County Jail. Decorated with flowers and Aunt Bea’s homemade doilies, Sheriff Taylor made sure his prisoners were not only well cared for, but had all the comforts of home. Those scoundrels were served hot, delicious home-cooked meals, and sometimes Andy would even sing to them, strumming along on his guitar. But no matter how well they ate or how much they were entertained, those outlaws were still in jail! Now, if forced to choose between the brutality of an Alcatraz and the hominess of Mayberry, any criminal in his right mind would pick Mayberry. But every prison, no matter how charming, is still a prison. And each prisoner, regardless of treatment, has still been denied their freedom. This is exactly what the Church has taught husbands to do to their wives today: lock them away behind beautifully decorated and well-kept bars. Oh, it’s quite lovely in there, having been adorned with such words as “servant leader” and “high priest of the home.” But Christian wives have still been locked out of the decision-making process and forced to serve out a life sentence their Righteous Judge never did hand down. [continue here] Felicity Dale has authored Getting Started and An Army of Ordinary People, and, with Tony, is co-author of Simply Church and a soon-to-be published book, Reformation. Women2WomenConnect is part of House2House Ministries. The mission of the Women2WomenConnect team is "to encourage, activate and empower women to fully participate as co-laborers in His Kingdom." They are doing this, at least initially, by means of an e-letter telling the stories of how God is using women today. These stories are designed to inspire and challenge other women to move into all that God has for them. You can sign up for this monthly e-letter at this link. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
home | about us | book | |||||||||||||||||||||||||