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Who's the boss?

Early church father John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-107) said “God maintained the order of each sex by dividing the business of life into two parts, and assigned the more necessary and beneficial aspects to the man and the less important, inferior matters to the woman.” That statement should have you falling about the room with laughter! Some of you may also remember how we laughed and were entertained by a television show a number of years ago starring Judith Light and Tony Danza when they tried to work on their complicated relationship in ‘Who’s the Boss’. Relationship issues are not so funny however when it is happening a little closer to home.    I am often asked questions about who makes the final “judgement call”, who is the boss or priest in the home? My answer always is simply ‘the one who has the toolbox’. If two people in a close relationship cannot reach a decision then the person who has the experience or the one most affected by the decision is the one who makes the call. My
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Could you embrace equality for all?

Alfred Brittain writes in “Women of Early Christianity” about the inferior position of women in the first Century. He says “A common prayer was: "O God, let not my offspring be a girl: for very wretched is the life of women." It was said: "Happy he whose children are boys, and woe unto him whose children are girls." Public conversation between the sexes was interdicted by the rabbis. "No one", says the Talmud, "is to speak with a woman, even if she be his wife, in the public street." A close friend once said to me ‘I am following Jesus but at a distance’. She explained that while growing up, she had internalised the message from the Bible that God was only interested in men. How sad to have this perception of Jesus who loved and valued women differently to what culture dictated and to whom women responded with love and gratitude. Women like Joanna gave up the comfort of being the wife of Herod’s business manager in order to travel on th
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Act Wisely, Leave While You Can

ACT WISELY, LEAVE WHILE YOU CAN By Ethel Schultz Pittaway This is the story of Abigail and Lizzie (not her real name). Abigail, as the Bible tells us, was married to a mean, dishonest fool called Nabal.   Lizzie lived with her partner, the father of her children, who was abusive and a drunk. In the story of Abigail (1 Samuel 25) David, who had been camping nearby, sent a request during shearing time which also was feast time, to Abigail's husband, Nabal to remind him of the protection his workers had enjoyed and requested some payback.   It was also culturally accepted that hospitality was shown to travellers.   All David got for his trouble were some pretty rough insults and Nabal saying that he didn't know who the heck David was! David's response was one of anger and threats. Nabal's servants knowing who to go to when trouble was brewing, found Abigail and warned her that David had taken these insults personally. The servant said "You'd better
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When Love Turns to Contempt

TV fans know that soapies are not happy stories.  The story of Michal in the Bible (1 Samuel 18) appears to be such a story. Movies, commentators and preachers have shown her in an unfavourable light but she was a woman betrayed by the two men in her life, David and her father, King Saul.  From the beginning it seems that the concerns of Michal's father, the servants and David revolved around David becoming the king's son in law. Michal however loved David who appears to have had the good looks of a young Brad Pitt. This is the only time in the Old Testament when we are told that a woman loved a man. We are never told that David loved Michal. When things did not go well for David and Michal's father, Saul, tried to kill him, Michal saved David's life and helped him escape.  No sooner was David out the way that her father married her off to another man, Palti (1 Samuel 25:44). In the next episode of this good soapie material we discover that David had been v
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The Woman Who Gave God A Name

There is a story in the bible of an African woman who was harassed not only for being a woman and black but also because she was a slave. Hagar's story begins after years had passed and there was no sign of a child for Abraham and his wife Sarah, Hagar's mistress. Sarah decided a solution was for Hagar to be a surrogate mother! (Genesis 16:1-3). However relationships at home become unbearable between the two women when Sarah started ill-treating Hagar and she  decided to flee. The Angel of the Lord found her at the road leading to Shur and told her to return to Sarah but not before making her the amazing promise that she would be the ancestress of a multitude that could not even be numbered. (Genesis 16:9-12).   She was also given a name for the child, Ishmael, meaning, "God hears".   In response Hagar does what no male or female had ever done before! She gives God a name. She calls God, El-roi, "the God who sees me". She is amazed that she can say, &q
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Mary Magdalene Was Not A Prostitute!

Tradition continues to call Mary Magdalene a prostitute. The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives “reformed prostitute” as the meaning of Magdalene and preachers continue to tell us the gospels tell us so! The musical Jesus Christ Superstar and Mel Gibson’s movie do too.   However, nowhere does the Bible state that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. The Bible tells us that she was cured of possession of evil spirits. Where did this misunderstanding begin and why is it so important to set the record straight?   Mary Magdalene is mentioned more frequently in the Gospels than any woman other than Mary, Jesus’ mother and more than most of the disciples. She was a devoted follower of Jesus who accompanied the Lord and His disciples and provided funds for them as they ministered (Luke 8:3).   Mary was at the crucifixion when the rest of the disciples except John had fled (John 19:25). She was the one the Lord appeared to at the tomb and whom He appointed as history’s first witness to his
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Belief in a 'Dog-Eats-Dog' World

The story of Deborah cannot be told without telling the story of Jael, the one prophesied about in Judges 4:9. Jael was the wife of Heber of the Kenites who were known for their metalworking skills. (Judges 4:17-22). Perhaps it was good for business to be seen not taking sides so the Kenites choose to not live with the Israelites even though they were the descendants of the father in law of Moses. During the battle between Barak and Jabin's armies, Sisera, commander of Jabin's army, fled on foot due to the chariots being stuck in the mud and arrived exhausted at the tent of Jael.   Sisera knew that Jabin, the king, was friendly with the family of Jael’s husband and according to the custom Jael’s hospitality guaranteed protection for Sisera. Jael treated Sisera like a mother. She gave him milk to drink and even tucked him in with a rug. When he was sleeping like a baby she took a hammer and a tent peg and drilled him from temple to temple and fastened his head to the g
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