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Question

I agree with a writer that Scripture (1 Timothy 2:12) is clear that women cannot be a Pastor in a church according to Paul’s standards. If a woman assumes authority of a Pastor, she will be wrong. God will NOT give a woman authority to be in charge of men’s souls as a shepherd in Church settings. Thus, a woman Pastor, even if she speaks with the Holy Spirit, or is a wise woman, or a highly educated woman, she will NEVER hold authority over men inside a church. Thus, what she says from the pulpit is a suggestion, not a command of authority, which can lead people wrongly. Agreed?

So here is the million dollar question:

Men and women, do you give your Church Pastor full authority over guiding your soul? If NOT, why NOT?

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Words Worth Reading!

Keyword: Bible Study

Expression:

Many, many Christians focus over and over and over again on material that is already known, and fail to delve deeper into Scripture with a mature mind that fears God but yearns more relationship with Him. Hebrews 6:1-8 speaks about this practice of repeating study, over and over, about the same things without advancing knowledge further.

Hebrews 6:1-8

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”

That Scripture is full of typological solutions to encourage Christians to move past the study of sin, faith, baptism in Christ, baptism in the Holy Spirit, death, resurrection and eternal judgment once those principles of the doctrine of Christ are known. Hebrews 6:4-5 speaks of the real change made in Christians who have received the Holy Ghost and partaken of the full Bible Study with gifts given to them by God. And it reminds believers not to crucify Christ again and again.

It is my opinion that most Church gatherings do exactly that. They speak the same words every week, according to the Church schedule. Each sermon is predictable and spoken to the lesser in the congregation. Mature Christian development is overlooked constantly. I would think that as mature Christians, we should not only learn the skills of hermeneutics, but recognize that as we grow in faith, depth in His Word demands our studies. This requires development of typological, analytical, and associative skills as well as the need to develop the recognition of patterns in His Word that can intrigue our exploration with His guiding.

Voice: Kathy L. McFarland

Circumstance: Discussion Board 4

Citation: Kathy L. McFarland, 201240 Fall 2012 NBST 652-D01 LUO, November 2012

Read More:
Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians: 001 Foundation

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Words Worth Reading!

Keyword: Baptism

Expression:

“Baptism shall be given to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ, and to all those who walk in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and wish to be buried with him in death, so that they may be resurrected with him and to all those who with significance request it of us and demand it for themselves. This excludes all infant baptism, the highest and chief abomination of the pope.”

Voice: Anabaptist Swiss Brethren

Circumstance: Statement of belief

Citation: The Schleitheim Confession (1527)

Read More:

Schleitheim Confession

Separation And The Sword In Anabaptist Persuasion: Radical Confessional Rhetoric From Schleitheim To Dordrecht (The C. Henry Smith Series)

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J. Hudson Taylor, Founder of the Interdenominational China Inland Mission

By
Kathy L. McFarland

James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) founded the interdenominational China Inland Mission in 1865.[1] He wrote China’s Spiritual Need and Claims (1865) to recruit workers; his other famous writings include A Retrospect (1894) and Union and Communion (1894).[2] When Taylor arrived in China in 1854, most Protestant missionaries focused their efforts in big cities along the coast of China. Taylor pushed past these places, and went into the vast interior of China, which became a crucial point that stirred Protestant missionaries to places that are less-developed, but hungry for the witness of Gospel.[3] But, he would never have been able to go to the interior if not for Presbyterian missionary William A.P. Martin inserting a clause in the Treaty of Tientsin (Tianjin) (1858) that gave permission for missionaries to go to the interior of China to propagate Christianity.[4]

It was a tough journey for missionaries to just reach China in the 1800’s. Taylor’s first trip to China took a half a year by ship. But, many Protestants focused their effort upon the 400 million unsaved Chinese, making China the largest Protestant mission field in the world between 1830 and 1949.[5] Once Taylor arrived, he began dressing and living like the people and speaking the Chinese language to those he was evangelizing; many severely criticized the assumption of likeness in the midst of heathens though this became one of the reasons for his successful ministry.[6]Eventually, it became popular for missionaries to follow Taylor’s example and live in the midst of those receiving the Gospel message.

The Chinese mission fields led by Taylor provided education for Chinese girls which was unheard of at the time.[7]He supported the idea of single women in the missionary field without the supervision of a male head; this support was also rare.[8] The participation of women in China missions soon spread throughout the mission field; by 1898, evangelical missions were being filled by women, and The Women’s Missionary Movement prospered.[9] His China Inland Mission also differed from most because he refused to solicit funds from donors and instead trusted God alone to supply its needs.[10] Though the China Inland Mission has been renamed to the Overseas Missionary Fellowship [International] in modern-day, the policy to trust God for sole support has not changed.[11]

Statistics of Protestant Missionaries success rates amongst the 400 million Chinese that includes Taylor’s efforts and all other missions conflict Taylor’s fame.In the years of 1865-1898, about 500 Protestant missionaries baptized about 100,000 Chinese of about 400 million population.[12]But, those initial baptized grew in numbers; by 1911, there were 207,747 baptized Protestants; by 1996, there were over 36 million baptized Protestants.[13]This made the total amount of Protestants & Catholic baptized Christians to be about 4.3 percent, or 1 in 23.[14] Though some scholars argue that the actual baptisms did not make significant difference in showing successful missionary conversions in Taylor’s time, the accumulated total seems to represent his effort well.

As a side note, Hudson Taylor suffered a deep and crippling depression that led him close to taking his own life during his ministry times.He battled despair or was lifted to higher and higher euphoric faith expressions.[15]The mania in his mind never cancelled out his determination he had since his youth to become a missionary and go to China.His calling and his faith were strong and sure, and he changed the Christian missionary world through his practice of adapting local dress and language to participate in spreading the Gospel to inland China. And, even with statistics that seem light in actual baptisms, when the final numbers are looked upon, it is apparent that Taylor’s missionary work started a flame that began lighting the path of thousands of Chinese that promises to spread Christ as Savior to others today, that first began with him.

Bibliography

Chao, Samuel. “Hudson Taylor & Missions to China.” Christian History, no. 52. http://www.christianhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/wS8wVsy62N/chm52-IX_tC.pdf.

Cross, F.L. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 3rd ed. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christian Missions in China; Tony Lambert, Omf (International); Statistics of the People’s Republic of China, 1929.

Rusten, Sharon. The Complete Book of When & Where in the Bible and Throughout History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005.

Footnotes:

[1] F.L. Cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 1591.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Samuel Chao, “Hudson Taylor & Missions to China,” Christian History, no. 52. http://www.christianhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/wS8wVsy62N/chm52-IX_tC.pdf.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Sharon Rusten, The Complete Book of When & Where in the Bible and Throughout History (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005), 369.

[7] Chao.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christian Missions in China; Tony Lambert, Omf (International); Statistics of the People’s Republic of China (1929).

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Chao.

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Becker Professional Theology Academy and Becker Bible Ministries, Inc.

Becker Bible Ministries, Inc. is an American NON-PROFIT 501(c) (3) legally formed, in good standing Institution. Becker Professional Theology Academy is our present school which we use to train up and ordain those qualified students to represent our ministries.

There has been a terrible law change. Though we are in very good standing with all governments that we operate within, our state government for which we are registered has decided to charge us $5000.00 per student to offer them a diploma. We believe it is to give them government control over what we teach, how we teach it, and who we teach it to. Further, we suspect that the State likes to have money coming in for all kinds of licensing’s, and they have found a new way to make money.

This is not acceptable to Becker Bible Ministries. We have taken the following steps:

1. I have moved my business and declared a new state as residency.

2. I have dissolved the Non-Profit part of our organization, which removes most government control off of us.

3. I stay committed to offering Bible Studies to Christian leaders and others that are brought to me by the LORD God.

4. If you are one of the thousands that have enrolled in some of our classes, your transcripts are preserved.

5. My prayers to the Lord have been reassuring. However, I am not certain what form these teachings will take, and maybe not even where they will be. Wherever we go, it will have to be FREE of CONTROL and allow me to teach the Word of God FREE of CHARGE.

6. Though this transition will be difficult, I recommend you follow me here on Facebook. The things I put on here, are some of the things you should learn anyway.

7. And please give me your spiritual support as much as you can. 2023 was a terrible year!

I recommend you participate as fully as you can in discussions on Facebook and stay present in these postings. Let me see you adding significant discussion and supporting the ideas of Becker Bible Ministries.

We all know the things that are indicative of these approaching Last Days. This dissolution of our Non-Profit is just one of many attacks that will be coming towards Christians and trying to disrupt the teaching of the Word of God. While we have Facebook, we will use it, and look to God to help us establish a FREE place that is not in the hands of Government Control.

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Words Worth Reading!

Keyword: Scripture

Expression:

“Unless I am convicted of error … by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God’s Word, I cannot and will not recant of anything, for to act against our conscience is neither safe for us, nor open to us. Here I stand. I can do no other. May God help me! Amen.”

Voice: Martin Luther

Circumstance: Spoken by Martin Luther to defend his stance at the Diet of Worms in 1521 according to unconfirmed traditional account

Citation: James P. Eckman, “Exploring Church History” (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002), 48-49.

Read More:

“Exploring Church History”

“Here I Stand – A Life Of Martin Luther”

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Stay in your lane if God is in it!

Recently, I’ve been trying to get various Christian leaders on Facebook to realize how invaluable their ministry is going! Many of them are starting to get known on Facebook and are being asked to expand their ministry on Facebook and move to preaching and teaching in a virtual or real brick and mortar.

Facebook ministries that I am seeing in these Last Days are reaching more people with the Word of God, Encouragement, Testimony, Warnings, Praise, Guidance, and Love, with much more hidden contact than we will ever know. Though it seems safer to move on up to the brick and mortar churches, and certainly more profitable and popular reputation builder, it seems counterintuitive to the things God is moving in these times.

Staying in our lane that God has placed us in our ministry using Facebook seems like the wisest and easiest choice to reach everyone God chooses us to reach. In-country missionaries of the past should be applauded and upheld for their tremendous works done for the Lord in scary and destitute places. But now, God’s ministry is speeding up to reach everyone that can be reached by His choice.

I believe that Facebook, at this moment, is developing into becoming one of the furthest reaching vehicles we have. Christian Leaders! Stay in your lane, and don’t leave us alone. Every ministry that is based on the Word of God fully is needed in these tough times!

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Words Worth Reading! (Studying the Word of God)

Expression:

“And why this strange contradiction? It is because of the difficulties which studying the Bible presents. We must agree that on beginning it, there are many difficulties and obscurities; and, as much labour is required to clear them up, and the mind of man is naturally idle and lazy, we lose courage little by little and limit ourselves to reading the same scriptures over and over again. This unvaried sort of study hardly penetrates beneath the surface, nor does it learn new things; but always going over the same things repeatedly, inspires in us a kind of weariness, as if the Word of God was not interesting-as if it was not as inexhaustible as God Himself! Beware of thinking, however, that these difficulties are insuperable. No, my friends; but we must be prepared to take trouble; and there, as in prayer and in all parts of the Christian life, God wants man to be co-worker with Him. Knowledge of the Bible, taste for the Bible is the fruit and reward of this humble, sincere and persevering labour…If anyone, using by faith the resources which God puts at his disposal, and relying on God to guide him, follows out these thoughts of mine, which I can at this moment do little more than sketch, he will discover in the Word of God treasures which he never even suspected were there. Then it will become for him as firm a support as it was for Jesus, when He was tempted in the wilderness. And it will become for him what it was for the saints, in both the New Testament and in the Old Testament; what it was for David, and for Daniel, for Paul and all the saints of God.”

Voice: Adolphe Monod

Circumstance: Teaching

Citation: Monod, Adolphe. “A Dying Man’s Regrets 2”. The Study of the Word of God. 20 January 1856, 67.

Read More:
Living in the Hope of Glory: A New Translation of a Spiritual Classic

Adolphe Monod’s Farewell To His Friends And To The Church

Life And Letters Of Adolphe Monod, By One Of His Daughters (s.m.).

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Sexual scandal with Christian leadership

I’m not taking a stance yet about the popular gossip going on against one of the popular Christian leaders. The Lord hasn’t given me understanding or words yet, and I will await His direction. However, I do have my personal thoughts concerning the dangerous position of Christian Leadership with regards to the devil’s lust that is constantly thrown upon them.

Please let me be blunt. Christian leadership in modern history has tried all sorts of techniques to avoid exposure to the tempting lusts of this world, especially when it comes to sexual lusts and perversities. It is a real problem, that is destroying many churches of all denominations, and ruining many victims lives and destroying faith opportunities and works.

Becker Bible Ministries, Inc. loves that their employees, contractors, and representatives take their spouses with them to do our works for the Lord. We believe that an important ministry needs all sorts of support, and a spouse is that best support to help ground the ministries and help raise the arms of leadership. However, as a guard against drifting toward lust, we are not convinced that anything will hinder it, should the Christian leader choose to be tempted.

We believe submitting to temptation is a choice, not a slip-up, of Godly men and women. Recent news in America showed an advanced Christian College leader, who refused to be alone with any female in the most arrogant and attention-seeking ways but used his wife for his sexual perversities to have sex with others as he watched.

Leadership can be as publicly careful as they can and give all kinds of signals that they are following the “Billy Graham” way and refusing to be in the company of the opposite sex alone. But, when you examine it closely, you find that there are many straying leaderships out there of both sexes, tempted by the devil to lust in their heart, and complete the sexual acts soon after.

Quite frankly, I have been at the other side of the “Billy Graham” approach, where religious leaders and political leaders fail to meet with me because of my “female” status, and their wives being unavailable. It is insulting and humiliating; the jobs I do for the Lord Jesus Christ are timely and very important. I have no interest in their sexual proclivities, and one look at me, with consideration of my professional attitude, will shout that out. To not meet with females’ leaders because the wifey is not available is ridiculous!

On the other hand, spouses, if your Christian leader has strayed in the past, don’t let him or her out of your sight as they do the works of the Lord. The ministry can come crashing down quicker than a tornado hitting an old shack should the leader stray toward the lusts when he or she is tempted.

Sadly, with the ways of the world, it is the most difficult sin that leadership confronts. We need to watch each other’s backs, counsel quickly if we see temptation or straying, involve spouses when
apparent harlotry is present or sensual dress, dances, and actions are in your face. But most importantly…

Christian Leadership! Walk the standards of Christ! Quit looking and considering each of the temptations that come your way. You are a Holy Vessel of the LORD God who dwells within your heart. Please do not share that heart with pornography, perversions, and lust. Avoid the world! We have a strong task given us by the Lord Jesus Christ to go out and teach and preach to those that He chooses to bring our way. Your heart cannot be big enough to share both the ministry and the “feel goods” of improper sexual release.

If you are unable to control sexual lusts for the same sex, opposite sex, or God forbid, children, or animals, please let the Lord know now and get it fixed before His works are destroyed. Your status as a sinning lustful Christian leader is not viable. One slip-up can destroy every good work you have done in His name.

Please, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, commit to a heart of God that is free from the lusts of this world.

In Jesus Christ’s Name I Pray! Amen.

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Carla

She was fourteen-years-old and already had a tiny life growing inside her womb. It was a different time and a different place, and she was not a bad girl. She was in love with her classmate, and they would be married by the time the summer was ended, before the swell of her tummy was seen, before the talk among the magpies scattered dirt along her path. She promised her mother to keep the secret, to move through the small town with the innocence she possessed just two months earlier.

Church Camp was awkward, but her secret remained safe among the giggling girls that gathered to play. The hot days of Bible Study turned into a life changing call to accept Jesus Christ as Savior on the last night, and many girls rushed forward to be counted as His.

She held back, feeling the unworthiness of her soul as a result of her careless sin. The leader of worship saw her watching from the shadows with a look of longing, and he went to her with a personal invitation to come as she was to the Lord.

That Holy Night, she accepted Jesus into her life, and the angels in Heaven rejoiced that another one of His had surrendered her life to Him.

Just as they had planned, as the end of summer drew near, vows of promise and hope were exchanged by the ones that loved. There was some talk heard amongst the embittered that maybe the wedding was necessary for reasons other than love; but, most that witnessed the ceremony saw that the union was meant to be.

As the witnesses gathered together in the church reception hall just next door, to receive the marriage in celebration, the still and quiet voice began singing at the altar, sharing of devotion to God and her new husband.

The crowd hushed and peered through the cracked door as she sang with the truth of her soul of how He had joined them together, and “There is Love.” Not a dry eye of the hidden spectators remained as they quickly closed the doors to their privacy, and prepared for the reception. The witnesses were a little wiser to the real marriage that had taken place.

Some of the words to the wedding song of “There is Love” written by Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary)

“…Now to be among you at the calling of your hearts
Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.
The union of your spirits, here, has caused Him to remain
For what whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name…

There is Love.

A man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home
And they shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning is now and till the end.
Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.

And there is Love.
There is Love.

Well then what’s to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here or love that brings you life?
And if loving is the answer, then who’s the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you’ve never seen before?

Oh there’s Love.
There is Love.

The union of your spirits here has caused Him to remain
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name
There is love…oh, there is love.”

The next week the newlyweds prepared together to enter into their new life as husband and wife at their High School. They hugged tightly with their new school clothes crinkling underneath their nervousness of the moment. First days of school were always tough, and the awkwardness of their reality made it even tougher.

He had cleaned their car and buffed it to a shiny glistening the day before, and they bravely jumped into the carriage that would carry them to their tomorrows…

They say that they had only a moment of pain. The drunk ran through the stop sign and plowed into their car head on. They were thrown almost 100 feet into a barbed wired wheat field, and when they found their bodies, they were together, hand in hand.

The funeral was held in the gymnasium as mourners came from miles around. There was the leader of worship who joyfully announced that she was in Heaven that same day she died as a result of her walking in faith toward her Savior that past summer. And her husband was in Heaven that day as a direct result of her sharing her faith. And the precious baby that was was in their arms in Heaven as a result of them allowing him life.

As they closed the lid on the white gowned wife and mother, a still and quiet voice in the midst of the gathered crowd started to sing the song of devotion, that had been sung by her with such tenderness, just the week before…

“There is Love”

Matthew 18:18–20 (KJV 1900)
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.