In a drug-store advertisement, I saw a coupon for some “intimacy enhancement cream.” Could I really purchase a product that would enhance my intimacy with my husband?  What about God?  Is there something I could purchase that would enhance my intimacy with Him?  Surprisingly enough, something indeed exists that I can use for a medium of exchange.  What is it?  The answer is quite simple.  My time.  He knows the difference when we are actually giving him some exclusive, quality time or when we’re merely working Him into our schedule fulfilling a “duty” we know we have. 

To the church at Ephesus, the Son of man, speaking through His servant John, said complimentary words about the church’s works, patience, and lack of compromise with those who are evil.  “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”  Could it be that the Lord is speaking this same word presently to many of us? 

Relationship—intimacy—communion with Him—nothing, absolutely nothing else, matters.  If He needed aloneness, then so do we.  We desperately need a time not only of being alone with Him but also with ourselves so that we can look at our human weakness and frailties square in the eye and confess our deep need of and entire dependence on the Father.  Isn’t this lack the reason why we remain so powerless?

Is your ministry THAT important?  Is it so important that you would allow it to excuse you from spending that quality time with Him?  Some of the old, worn-out reasons we have used on our own husbands are—“Honey, I’m just too tired.”  “Dear one, the kids have exhausted me today.”  “Sweetie, that meeting just lasted too long tonight.  You understand, don’t you?”  “I’ve got to have some time to prepare for the projects that are coming up tomorrow.”  And on and on and on.

Do we do the same thing to the Lord in the same way?  With everything falling apart all around us, have we understood that we’re the ones in deeper need of restoration than the world?  Do we see that above and beyond our society needing restoration and revival that we are in dire need of restoration ourselves?  How can we recapture that “first-love” experience?  I remember so well the fervent love and passion I had for my husband-to-be.  He was a student at the University of Texas in Austin—enough distance from Dallas that a once-a-month visit was all we could manage.  In the times in between, I either wrote him a letter or sent him a card every day.  I saved my nickels and dimes so I could talk to him on the telephone once a week.  Neither of us had a car so we had to seek creative ways to make those monthly face-to-face encounters happen.  “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” 

I remember him coming down the stairs to meet me.  “Coming” is a mild word.  He was leaping and bounding down those steps.  Needless to say, my heart was racing and my arms were open to him.  What a thrill!  Anticipation and expectation had been temporarily satisfied in my seeing him.  Are you getting the picture?  Where’s the fire and zealousness and passion we once had?  Has our experience led us to a “ho-hum” relationship with Him?  Have we ministered ourselves right out of intimacy with Him? 

Have we allowed ourselves to become caught up in the busyness and swirl of activity that is demanded by our jobs, families, culture, church and ministry?   Therefore, blinded as we became, we did not see the onerous burden we were assuming.  We have come to such a place that the Lord is saying, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”  He’s calling us back to that place of intimacy.  Want to come with me?  

Dear Friends:

We told you last fall that we were in the process of producing a beautiful new reformatted edition of God's Word to Women by Katharine Bushnell.  Our desire was to have had it printed and ready to sell this month.  However, it is going to cost much more than we had anticipated.  

Although we are looking at other printers for a better price, the cost is going to be more than we have on hand.  We believe that God has preserved this book for women everywhere and wants it published in a more readable format with an easier-to-read font, larger print, quality paper and nice margins.  Also, the retail cost needs to be held at $14.95 so that it remains affordable.   

All labor on this site is donated.  Except for minimal expenses, all money from books has been put in the fund to republish.  We thought we had plenty but were wrong.  We have $4,400 but need at least $6,000 more to print 2,000 copies and get the cost per book to a reasonable level.  Our best price for 3,000 copies is around $12,000.  If you believe this project is of God, you can help fund part of the shortfall by sending your tax-deductible, love offering to God's Word to Women, 600 Partridge Lane, Eagle Lake, Texas 77434
                  Gay, Barbara and Pat
 

Dr. Fuchsia Pickett Dies On  January 30, 2004. by Barbara Collins

The Di Vinci Code is fiction, pure and simple, and is not mixed with any fact.  The subject of the book is not our purpose, rather the way people have responded.  With 4.5 million copies in print, Dan Brown, the author, has stirred an unprecedented high level of interest, particularly among women.  The book has been on the best-seller list of the New York Times for the past 41 weeks. 

My wildest dream would be that the questions that have been raised would drive the seekers of truth to the Book that is the truth.  “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God . . .” says II. Tim. 3:16.  Therefore, where the scriptures are silent so also should we be silent.  The preposterous idea that Jesus married Mary Magdalene is credible to some because it is said the importance of women is elevated and that the suppression of this so-called marriage rejected the role of women as spiritual leaders.

In an article from The Dallas Morning News, January 16, 2004, the writers tell how the book has “spawned countless discussions in book groups, Sunday school classrooms and casual chat, especially among women.”  Donna Cressman, owner of a bookstore in DeSoto, says that what’s great about a book like this is it gets people talking, thinking and researching.  Why are women attracted to this book?  One particular reason for women’s magnetism is “the book’s portrayal of pre-Christian worship of the ‘sacred feminine’—that there is a female as well as a male deity, and each is required to make the other spiritually whole, in contrast to the church’s later views of women as sinning temptresses of men.”  If only the church knew the mischief it has caused by its inaccurate representation of women, it would  rise above its platitudes and speak up and speak out!

People haven’t been able to accept Paul’s views on women because those views have been inaccurately interpreted and portrayed.  If they only knew what Paul really meant . . . 

The article tells of two women’s response after having read the book that centers on “an important historical puzzle—whether the early Christian church had suppressed the role of women as leaders.”  That these women are even asking the question is heartening.  Both of these women thought “that if both the masculine and the feminine were combined in the world, maybe the way that they should be, there would be less war.”

Let me add that the world is waiting to see what a Deborah and a Barak combination in this day would produce.  Deborah, the judge, prophet, deliverer and mother in Israel, went against the “norm,” which kept women at home and quiet about public affairs.  She gave Barak the encouragement to go against Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army with its chariots and multitude.  Barak concluded, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”  (Judges 4:8).

When men in the Body of Christ ask women to go up with them to battle the enemy, then (and only then) will our inheritance and possession truly bring us a life of victory corporately and individually.  Deborah reminded him that there would be no glory for him, for the Lord was going to sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.  Deborah, then, went up with him and told him when the exact day came that the Lord would deliver Sisera to him.  Barak indeed fulfilled the word of the Lord.  All the army of Sisera was killed, and not a man was left except Sisera himself.  Fleeing along on foot, Sisera went to Jael’s tent.  The battle that Deborah started, Jael would finish.  Won’t you pick up your tent peg and hammer and join Jael’s company?

In the flurry of questions following The Di Vinci Code that have provoked many,  including women, here’s your opportunity to clarify what a true Christian believes and to separate fact from fiction, especially about the role of women in God’s eternal plan.  

Want to know if something is on the website?  Try out the  search engine.  You can access it at the top of most pages. It will give you a list of every place on the website that your subject is found.  

Covet to Prophesy by Katharine Bushnell.  A rare copy of the booklet was sent to us by Ruth Hoppin, the author of Priscilla's Letter.  From Genesis to Paul, Bushnell takes on tradition stating, "There is no middle ground safe for the Church. She should either silence women altogether in every activity that would make her voice heard in the Church as a teacher or preacher, or else give a tardy assent to the truth of Paul’s sweeping assertion that 'there can be no male and female' distinctions as to call and privilege that the Church is authorized to make, or can make, without mischief to the body of believers."   Covet to Prophesy is a real find.  Enjoy!

My Life as a Modern-Day Slave  by Joseph Winter.   Interview with Mende Nazer, who was just 12 when one night her village was targeted by Arab slave raiders, and she was taken to be a slave in  Khartoum. Her full story is told in the book Slave.

Healing After Abuse  by Wanda Boone.  An excellent article that notes the rising incidence of abuse and the need for Christians to realize that coming to Christ is only the first step in healing.  Faith in conjunction with work, discipline and determination are required for the work to be completed. 

God's Word to Women by Katharine Bushnell.  A carefully proofed copy of the book is now up in ten-lesson sections.  The dictionary and index are now included.

SALE!  $10.00  GOD'S WORD TO WOMEN  BY KATHARINE BUSHNELL

THE GOD'S WORD TO WOMEN WEBSITE IS IN THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING A  BEAUTIFUL NEW REFORMATTED EDITION OF GOD'S WORD TO WOMEN BY KATHARINE BUSHNELL.  

WE HAVE A FEW BOXES OF THE LAST EDITION STILL AVAILABLE TO SELL AT THIS BARGAIN PRICE.  WHILE THE PRINT IS A BIT SMALLER,  THE CONTENT OF THIS EDITION IS THE SAME AS THE NEW. 

SOLD OUT