More Insights from 1 Timothy – chapter 2

Chapter 2 in 1 Timothy can be a difficult passage as it deals with women and their role in church. In this study, the study guide cross-referenced this passage with 1 Peter 3:1-6.

Women are to adorn:

• proper clothing
• modestly, discreetly
• good works
• hidden person of heart
• gentle & quiet spirit
• submissive

They are not to adorn:

• with braided hear
• gold, pearls
• costly garments
• external

The heart attitude is emphasized rather than outward things. They are not allowed to teach or exercise authority over men in God’s household because of the order of creation and her deception at the Fall.
Another cross-reference is 1 Corinthians 14:26-40
For women to speak – it is to be done properly and in orderly manner; to speak in turn; let all be done for edification, must have interpretation, 2 or 3 at the most. Women are not to participate in the tongues and prophecy. Women are not to teach men in a church setting, they are to teach women.

This issue is a controversial one and there are various interpretations out there regarding this passage. I am not sure where I fall on this issue.

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The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got this book through inter-library loan and I’m wishing that I owned it. I would probably have underlined half the book! 🙂
This is an excellent book on the need for Christians to practice discernment. Throughout Scripture, we are told to seek understanding and to test the spirits. The author defines discernment as “the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong.”
The reasons for lack of discernment are addressed (low view of Scripture, low view of theology) and the importance of it in the Christian’s life. It is discussed as a spiritual gift, but not limited to just a few. Every Christian should seek to be discerning. At the end, he takes us through the steps of practicing discernment with a practical example.

I get discouraged as I see so much lack of discernment in the Christians in this country. This is a much needed discipline! We need to be able to separate truth from error, to know right from wrong and to live this out in our daily lives. One reason I see for the lack of discernment is biblical illiteracy. It’s hard to practice discernment when you don’t know the truth to begin with. The book emphasizes the importance of knowing the truth in order to recognize what is false. Rather than trying to learn what is false, we need to be saturated with the truth so that when error is introduced, we can easily recognize it as not being the truth that we know so well.
I highly recommend this book for Christians as a primer in learning how to be more discerning.

Memorizing Scripture

I am passionate about God’s Word and the importance of reading it and studying it. I also think it’s important to memorize Scripture, another way of learning it and being able to apply it to our daily living. I recently memorized the passage of 2 Corinthians 4. In college I was able to memorize the whole book of Philippians. I am hoping to re-memorize it. Growing up, Awana was a huge part of my life and the reason I learned so much Scripture as a child. Nowadays, besides Awana, Bible quizzing is another great way for kids to memorize Scripture.

Memorizing with others is a great way to motivate and encourage each other. Do Not Depart is hosting a memory challenge to memorize Ephesians 1 together. This will be a 12 week venture, starting September 16th.

To join, you can go to this link and sign up. There is also a Facebook group and a group on ScriptureTyper that you can join for the accountability and encouragement. Who wants to join me?

Bible in 90 Days – group for 2014

I plan to read through the Bible in 90 Days again, this time straight through instead of chronologically. Tentative dates are February 1 – May 1. I would love for others to join me if interested in doing this challenge. I have started a group on Facebook for doing this together. You will need to friend me on Facebook in order to join the group (https://www.facebook.com/debi.t.martin.1).

There is a website with resources dedicated to this challenge. For my post on why I did this last time, you can check it out here.

Other posts on my journey through the Bible in 90 Days:

The Bible in 90 Days

Bible in 90 Days Chronological

Bible in 90 Days Week 1

Bible in 90 Days Week 2

Bible in 90 Days Week 3

Bible in 90 Days Update

Bible in 90 Days – Psalms

Bible Reading Plans

Isaiah in Bible in 90 Days

Bible in 90 Days Completed

If you are interested in taking up this challenge and joining me, the group is on Facebook here. You will likely need to friend me first to be able to join, so send me a friend request and then ask to join.